System and method for storing and forwarding data from a vital-signs monitor

Abstract

A vital-signs patch for a patient monitoring system that includes a housing containing a sensor that makes physiological measurements of a patient, a transmitter, a receiver, a memory, and a processor. The processor periodically takes a measurement from the sensor, converts the measurement to a data record, and stores the data record in the memory. Upon receipt of a signal from another device, the processor retrieves at least a portion of the data record, converts the retrieved portion of the data record to a vital-sign signal, and causes the transmitter to transmit the vital-sign signal to the other device.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of storing and forwarding vital-sign data, comprising:
 wirelessly receiving, at a computing device, vital-sign data from a vital-sign sensor configured to monitor a vital-sign of a user;   storing the vital-sign data in a memory;   listening for a signal from a server device until the signal is received; and   when the signal is received from the server device:   retrieving at least a portion of the vital-sign data from the memory; and   transmitting the retrieved portion of the vital-sign data to the server device.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 retaining the vital-sign data until a signal is received from the server device confirming that the vital-sign data was successfully received by the server device; and   erasing the vital-sign data from the memory responsive to receiving the signal.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein wirelessly receiving the vital-sign data comprises wirelessly receiving physiological measurements related to at least one of a body temperature, cardiac pulse rate, oxygen saturation, respiration rate, and blood pressure of the user. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the vital-sign sensor is configured for placement on a human body, wherein the method further comprises:
 taking vital-sign measurements of a vital-sign of the user; and   wirelessly transmitting the vital-sign measurements to the computing device in the vital-sign data.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the vital-sign data received from the vital-sign sensor is in a form of a data packet that comprises a data packet identification value and a data integrity value, and wherein the method further comprises:
 using the data packet identification value to determine if the data packet is a duplicate of a previously received packet;   discarding the data packet if it is a duplicate data packet;   using the data integrity value to verify the integrity of the data packet; and   transmitting a request to the vital-sign sensor to retransmit the data packet if the integrity of the received data packet has been corrupted.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 before wirelessly receiving the vital-sign data, wirelessly transmitting a signal to the vital-sign sensor that will cause the vital-sign sensor to transmit the vital-sign data.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the vital-sign data is received as successive vital-sign measurements, further comprising:
 storing the successive vital-sign measurements in the memory as successive data records.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , further comprising:
 storing the successive data records in a circular buffer within the memory; and   when the circular buffer becomes full of data records and a new data record is received:   creating a lost-data record that comprises information associated with an oldest data record,   storing the lost data record outside of the circular buffer, and overwriting the oldest data record with the new data record.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving the vital-sign data in a form of a data packet comprising a data packet identification value and a data integrity value; and   verifying, based on the data packet identification value, that the data packet is not a duplicate of a previously received packet, verify the integrity of the data packet based on the data integrity value.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 determining, by the computing device, irregular time intervals for the computing device to receive the vital-sign data from the vital-sign sensor; and   instructing, by the computing device, the vital-sign sensor to transmit the vital-sign data to the computing device at the irregular time intervals determined by the computing device, the irregular time intervals not being synchronized with measurement intervals for monitoring the vital-sign of the user.   
     
     
         11 . A system for storing and forwarding vital-sign data, comprising:
 a vital-sign sensor configured to take vital-sign measurements of a vital-sign of a user and to wirelessly transmit vital-sign data; and   a bridge device configured to perform operations comprising:
 wirelessly receiving the vital-sign data from the vital-sign sensor; 
 storing the vital-sign data in a memory; 
 listening for a signal from a server device until the signal is received; and 
 when the signal is received from the server device:
 retrieving at least a portion of the vital-sign data from the memory; and 
 transmitting the retrieved portion of the vital-sign data to the server device. 
 
   
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 retaining the vital-sign data until a signal is received from the server device confirming that the vital-sign data was successfully received by the server device; and   erasing the vital-sign data from the memory responsive to receiving the signal.   
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein wirelessly receiving the vital-sign data comprises wirelessly receiving physiological measurements related to at least one of a body temperature, cardiac pulse rate, oxygen saturation, respiration rate, and blood pressure of the user. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the vital-sign sensor is configured for placement on a human body, wherein the operations further comprise:
 taking vital-sign measurements of a vital-sign of the user; and   wirelessly transmitting the vital-sign measurements to the bridge device in the vital-sign data.   
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the vital-sign data received from the vital-sign sensor is in a form of a data packet that comprises a data packet identification value and a data integrity value, and wherein the operations further comprise:
 using the data packet identification value to determine if the data packet is a duplicate of a previously received packet;   discarding the data packet if it is a duplicate data packet;   using the data integrity value to verify the integrity of the data packet; and   transmitting a request to the vital-sign sensor to retransmit the data packet if the integrity of the received data packet has been corrupted.   
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the bridge device is configured to wirelessly communicate with the vital-sign sensor via a network. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the vital-sign data is received as successive vital-sign measurements, and wherein the operations further comprise:
 storing the successive vital-sign measurements in the memory as successive data records.   
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 17 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 storing the successive data records in a circular buffer within the memory; and   when the circular buffer becomes full of data records and a new data record is received:   creating a lost-data record that comprises information associated with an oldest data record,   storing the lost data record outside of the circular buffer, and   overwriting the oldest data record with the new data record.   
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 receiving the vital-sign data in a form of a data packet comprising a data packet identification value and a data integrity value; and   verifying, based on the data packet identification value, that the data packet is not a duplicate of a previously received packet, and verify the integrity of the data packet based on the data integrity value.   
     
     
         20 . A non-transitory machine-readable medium having instructions stored thereon that, when executed by a machine or computing device, cause the machine or computing device to perform operations for storing and forwarding vital-sign data, comprising:
 wirelessly receiving, at a computing device, vital-sign data from a vital-sign sensor configured to monitor a vital-sign of a user;   storing the vital-sign data in a memory;   listening for a signal from a server device until the signal is received; and   when the signal is received from the server device:   retrieving at least a portion of the vital-sign data from the memory; and   transmitting the retrieved portion of the vital-sign data to the server device.