Environmental containment and monitoring system

Abstract

An environmental containment and monitoring system includes a blower, and a damper coupled to the blower. A controller is coupled to the damper to control the air flow from the containment area to the outside, and a processor is in communication with the controller. In addition, the system includes an outside pressure sensor in communication with the processor, and an inside pressure sensor in communication with the processor, where the inside pressure sensor is positioned inside the containment area. The system also includes a particle count sensor in communication with the processor. The processor transmits a signal to the controller to remotely adjust the damper or blower in response to receiving pressure sensor data from the outside and inside pressure sensors, and the processor is also configured to transmit an alert to a remote device in response to detecting particle count data exceeding a predefined limit.

1 . An environmental containment and monitoring system comprising:
 a containment area defined by a plurality of physical barriers to isolate a construction area from a patient care area;   a blower configured to provide an air flow;   a damper coupled to the blower and configured to adjust the air flow from the blower;   a duct coupled to the damper and the duct having a first end extending into the containment area, and a second end extending outside of the containment area to an outdoor area;   a controller coupled to the damper and configured to control the air flow from the containment area to the outdoor area by adjustment of at least one of the damper and blower;   an outdoor pressure sensor positioned outside of the containment area and configured to generate outdoor pressure data;   an inside pressure sensor positioned inside the containment area and configured to generate inside pressure data;   an outside particle count sensor positioned outside of the containment area and configured to generate outside particle count data; and   an inside particle count sensor configured to be positioned inside of the containment area and configured to generate inside particle count data.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising a computer in communication with the controller, wherein the computer comprises a microprocessor coupled to a memory. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the computer is configured to transmit a signal to the controller to remotely adjust at least one of the damper and blower in response to receiving the inside pressure data and the outside pressure data. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 3 , wherein the computer is configured to transmit an alert to a remote device in response to detecting inside particle count data exceeding a predefined limit. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of physical barriers comprises plastic sheeting that encloses the containment area. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising an actuator coupled to the damper and configured to adjust a volume of airflow in response to the controller. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the computer is configured to calculate a pressure differential using the outdoor pressure data and the indoor pressure data to determine whether a negative air pressure is being maintained within the containment area. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the particle count sensor comprises an optical particle counter. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising an air filter coupled to the blower and configured to remove contaminants from the air flow. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 9 , further comprising a filter controller configured to control an operation of the air filter remotely. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the computer is configured to generate a baseline air quality map using the inside particle count data. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the computer is configured to generate a visual display of a trend of air quality extracted from the inside particle count data. 
     
     
         13 . An environmental containment and monitoring system to isolate a construction area from a patient care area, the system comprising:
 a computer having a microprocessor coupled to a memory;   a blower configured to provide an air flow;   a damper coupled to the blower and configured to adjust the air flow from the blower;   a duct coupled to the damper and the duct having a first end configured to extend into the construction area, and a second end configured to extend outside of the construction area to an outdoor area;   a controller in communication with the computer and coupled to the damper and configured to control the air flow from the construction area to the outdoor area by adjustment of the damper;   at least one outdoor pressure sensor configured to be positioned outside of the construction area and in communication with the computer;   at least one inside pressure sensor configured to be positioned inside the construction area and in communication with the computer;   at least one outside particle count sensor configured to be positioned outside of the construction area and in communication with the computer; and   at least one inside particle count sensors configured to be positioned inside of the construction area in communication with the computer.   
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the computer is configured to transmit a signal to the controller to remotely adjust the damper in response to receiving pressure sensor data from the at least one outdoor pressure sensor and the at least one inside pressure sensor. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the computer is configured to transmit an alert to a remote device in response to detecting particle count data from the at least one inside particle count sensor exceeding a predefined limit. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 13 , further comprising an actuator coupled to the damper and configured to adjust a volume of airflow in response to the controller. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the computer is configured to calculate a pressure differential using an outdoor pressure reading from the at least one outdoor pressure sensor and an indoor pressure reading from the at least one indoor pressure sensor to determine whether a negative air pressure is being maintained within the construction area. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the computer is configured to generate a baseline air quality map using data from the at least one inside particle count sensor. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the computer is configured to generate a visual display of a trend of air quality extracted from particle count data from the at least one inside particle count sensor. 
     
     
         20 . A method to monitor a containment area defined by a plurality of physical barriers to isolate a construction area from a patient care area, the method comprising:
 calculating a pressure differential using the outdoor pressure data and the indoor pressure data to determine whether a negative air pressure is being maintained within the containment area;   transmitting a signal to a controller to remotely adjust a damper in response to receiving inside pressure data and outside pressure data;   generating a baseline air quality map using inside particle count data;   generating a visual display of a trend of air quality extracted from the inside particle count data; and   transmitting an alert to a remote device in response to detecting the inside particle count data exceeding a predefined limit of the baseline air quality map.