WO2013109275A1

WO2013109275A1 - System and method for cable identification

Info

Publication number: WO2013109275A1
Application number: PCT/US2012/021811
Authority: WO
Inventors: Bernd Rosenfeldt; Clifford Mark RISHER-KELLY; Antonietta Vittoria BIZZARRO; Jolyn Rutledge; Heidi MURPHY; Jan METZNER
Original assignee: Draeger Medical Systems, Inc.
Priority date: 2012-01-19
Filing date: 2012-01-19
Publication date: 2013-07-25

Abstract

A method and system for configuring a patient monitoring device is provided. A first cable that connects to a patient to a first patient monitoring device is connected, the first cable includes a first memory device embedded therein storing data representing at least one characteristic of the first cable. An association is stored between the at least one cable characteristic data and a particular patient. The first cable is disconnected from the first patient monitoring device and reconnected to a second different patient monitoring device. Data representing the at least one cable characteristic is retrieved from the first memory device in the first cable and compared with the stored association data. The second patient monitoring device is automatically configured by automatically associating the second patient monitoring device with the particular patient using the at least one cable characteristic data stored in the first memory.

Description

System and M ethod for Cable I dentif ication

Field of the Invention

This invention concerns a system and method for patient monitoring devices and, more specifically, identifying a cable type upon connection with a patient monitor device and automatically configuring the patient monitoring device based on the cable type.

Background of the Invention

In the course of providing healthcare to patients, it is necessary to monitor vital statistics and other patient parameters. One type of patient parameter monitoring includes using a plurality of electrodes that are affixed to predetermined locations on the body of the patient in order to sense electrophysiological signals of the patient and using these signals to determine a particular patient parameter. One example of this type of monitoring is electrocardiography which utilizes a plurality of electrodes designated as leads to sense and amplify electrical impulses generated by the body when the heart depolarizes after each heartbeat. In view of advancements made in the patient monitoring field, patient monitoring devices are now able to monitor a plurality of different types of patient parameters using different cables connected to the patient. Additionally, patient monitoring within a healthcare enterprise is increasingly mobile such that patients are frequently transported to different units within the healthcare enterprise in order to receive treatment. This movement between units frequently requires disconnection of the patient from one monitoring device and reconnect! on to a second different device. One attempt to decrease the need to reconnect patients to monitoring devices was the advent of telemetry monitors which enable ambulation of patients through the various care units. However, a drawback associated with telemetry monitors is the finite battery life requiring frequent recharging of the battery at one of a bedside or a central station charging device. Thus, the continual and manual need to reconfigure patient monitoring devices and identify patients to which these devices are associated with still exists. Often times, healthcare professionals (e.g. nurses, clinicians, doctors, etc.) must manually associate monitoring devices with patients and reconfigure the monitors to monitor the particular parameters for the patient. This process istime consumi ng and subject to human error.

Further advancements in patient monitoring include using a cable having sets of sensors which remain connected to the patient even upon disconnection from the monitoring devices when a patient treatment plan calls for a patient to be moved between care units. However, while this may alleviate certain problems associated with telemetry monitoring schemes, the above discussed drawbacks associated with patient identification and device configuration still remain.

Therefore, it is desirable to provide a patient monitoring scheme that enables patient ambulation between locations while minimizing the amount of time and human error associated with patient monitoring device configuration. A system accordi ng to i nventi on pri nci pi es addresses def i ci end es of known systems.

Summary of the I nvention

I n one embodiment, a method of configuring a patient monitoring device is provided. A first cable connects a patient to a first patient monitoring device. The first cable includes a first memory device embedded therein storing data representing at least one characteristic of the first cable. An association is stored between the at least one cable characteristic data and a particular patient. The first cabl e i s di sconnected from the f i rst pati ent moni tori ng devi ce and reconnected to a second different patient monitoring device. Data representing the at least one cable characteristic is retrieved from the f i rst memory device i n the f i rst cable and compared with the stored association data. The second patient monitoring device is automatically configured by automatically associating the second patient monitoring device with the particular patient using the at least one cable characteri sti c data stored i n the f i rst memory.

I n another embodi ment, a pati ent monitori ng cabl e for conf i guri ng at I east one pati ent monitoring device is provided. A first cable has a first end selectively connectabl e to a patient for sensi ng data from the patient. A second end of the f i rst cabl e i s sel ecti vel y connectabl e to a f i rst pati ent moni tori ng devi ce. The cabl e i ncl udes a memory devi ce embedded i n the f i rst cabl e havi ng data represent! ng at least one cable characteristic stored therein. Upon connection of the second end of the first cable to the first patient monitoring device, the first patient monitoring devi ce i s automati cal I y conf i gured usi ng the at I east one cabl e characteri sti c data to identify the patient to which thefirst end isconnected and configure at least one setting of thefirst patient monitoring device.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Figure 1 is an exemplary block diagram of a patient monitoring cable for use with the cable identification system according to invention principles;

Figure 2A depicts an exemplary block diagram of an intermediate cable connecting the patient monitoring cable to a patient to a patient monitor according to invention principles;

Figure 2B depicts an exemplary block diagram including two patient monitoring cables each connected to a patient monitor via respective intermediate cabl es accordi ng to i nventi on pri nci pi es.

Figure 3 is an exemplary block diagram of a memory device localized in a patient monitoring cable according to invention principles;

Figure 4 is an exemplary block diagram of a patient monitoring system according to invention principles;

Figure 5 is an exemplary block diagram of an alternate embodiment of the patient monitoring system according to invention principles; and

Figure 6 is an exemplary flow diagram detailing operation of the patient monitoring system according to invention principles.

Detailed Description

A cable identification system is provided and incl udes a first cable having sensors that are selectively connected to a patient for sensing data representing at least one patient parameter. The first cable is also selectively connectable to at least one type of patient monitoring device able to monitor at least one patient parameter using data sensed by the sensors. The first type of cable includes a memory device having a unique identifier associated therewith and allows for at least one type of data to be stored therein. The memory device embedded in the first type of cable may be an electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM) device that advantageously allows different types of data to be stored therein and used for different purposes during the course of providing medical treatment to a patient. The memory device enables automatic patient identification upon connection with a patient monitoring device using at least one of the unique cable identifier associated with the cable and a patient identifier that may be selectively provided to and stored in the memory device upon connection of the first type of cable with a particular patient monitoring device. The automatic patient identification and association performed by the first cable advantageously enables different patient monitors in different care units in a healthcare enterprise to recognize the particular patient and automatically configure the patient monitor with patient specific monitoring settings. Since the sensors of the first cable remain affixed to the patient, patient parameter monitoring is easily facilitated upon reconnection with a different patient monitoring device. The memory device of the first cable advantageously enables storage and use of multiple different types of data. The types of data may include data that is associated with at least one of (a) providing patient care; (b) cable usage data; and (c) cable characteristic data. In another embodiment, the cable identification system includes a second type of cable having a second memory device. The second type of cable may be an intermediate cable that is selectively connected between the first cable and a patient monitoring device and enables the patient to be positioned at a greater distance from the patient monitori ng device in order to i mprove the range of motion of the patient. The patient monitori ng device may selectively communicate and store data in the second memory device i ndependentl y of the f i rst memory devi ce i n the f i rst type of cabl e. Data associ ated wi th the f i rst type of cabl e may be stored i n the memory devi ce of the second type of cable to ensure that the patient monitor is properly configured upon connection thereto. The second type of cable also includes a unique identifier and the unique identifier may be used to associate the cable with the patient to which it is connected. However, as the second cable is an intermediate cable, a patient identifier is generally not stored in the second memory device. By only using the unique cable identifier to associate the intermediate cable with the patient, the cable identification system advantageously preserves patient confidentiality and avoids configuration errors that may result when a second cable is coupled to a different first cable that may be associated with a different patient. The cable identification system is shown in exemplary embodiments in Figures 1 - 6.

Figure 1 is an exemplary block diagram of a first cable 102 of the cable identification system 100 connected to a front end socket 101 of a patient monitoring device. The first cable 102 may include any type of cable able to monitor signals using at least one sensor 122. The at least one sensor 122 is selectively connected to predetermined locations on the body of a patient 118 in order to sense data used in determining at least one type of patient parameter. In one embodiment, the first cable 102 may be an ECG cable having a plurality of electrodes (sensors) that are selectively connected to the patient and are able to sense el ectri cal i mpul ses associ ated wi th a pati ent' s heart to generate ECG data. I n another embodiment, the first cable 102 may selectively connect a sensor that senses blood oxygen saturation data associated with a patient to generate Sp02 data In a further embodiment, the first cable 102 may be used to sense electrical impulses in a patient's brain to generate electroencephalographic data (EEG). In a further embodiment, the first cable 102 may include a plurality of different types of sensors abl e to sel ecti vel y sense different si gnal s from the pati ent to determi ne a plurality of different types of patient parameters. As the particular types of sensors are not germane to the present invention, they are not specifically represented in greater detail. However, persons ski lled in the art of patient parameter monitoring and medical devices will understand the sensors 122 connected to the first cable 102 are the conventional sensors used to sense the associated signals from the patient used in determi ning particular patient parameters. For example, the sensors may be electrodes for sensing electrical impulses or light emitter and corresponding photodetectors f or sensing amount of light.

The f i rst cabl e 102 i ncl udes a pi ug 110 that enabl es sel ecti ve connecti on to a front end socket 101 of a patient monitoring device. The plug 110 includes a connector 116 that i ncl udes at I east one sensor contact 119 from whi ch at I east one wire 120 extends The at least one wire 120 is surrounded by a shielding device 121 (shown in dashed lines) to minimize external interference. The at least one wire 120 is coupled to at least one sensor 122 connected to the patient 118 for sensing data from the patient 118. In the embodiment shown in Figure 1, the connector 116 of the pi ug 110 i ncl udes si x sensor contacts 119 havi ng si x shi el ded wires connecting six sensors 122 to the patient 118. This is shown for purposes of example only and the connector 116 of the first cable 102 may include any number of sensor contacts 119 having any number of shielded wires associated with any number of sensors 122. Alternatively, the wires 120 connected to their respective sensor contacts 119 may be unshielded as determined by the type of patient parameter being monitored.

The plug 110 further includes an auxiliary contact 112 having a memory device 113 connected thereto. The memory device 113 is also connected at point 114 to a shield 121 of a respective one of the plurality of wires 120. The memory device 113 may bean EEPROM that includes two pins, one for input/output and a second to connect to ground (e.g. the shield 121). The memory device 113 may include at least one read only section having a unique cable identifier stored therein. The memory device 113 may also include at least one read/write storage sector that enables at least one particular type of data associated with the particular first cable 102 to be stored therein and accessed by an external device (e.g. patient monitor). The memory device 113 will be described in greater detail hereinafter with respect to Figure 3. The memory device 113 being a two pin EEPROM is described for purposes of example only and the memory device 113 may be any type of memory device that is able to retain data in memory when external power has been removed.

The plug 110 of the first cable 102 may be selectively connected to the patient monitoring device by the socket 101. The socket 101 includes a socket connector 104 having a plurality of socket contacts 106 and a communication contact 108. The number of socket contacts 106 may correspond to the number of sensor contacts 119 such that, upon interconnection, a respective sensor contact 119 is coupled to a respective socket contact 106 enabling signals sensed by sensors 122 to be received by the patient monitoring device. Additionally, upon interconnection between the plug 110 and socket 101, the communication contact 108 in the socket 101 is coupled with the auxiliary contact 112 of the plug 110 as indicated by a connection 109 represented as a solid line extending between the communication contact 108 and the auxiliary contact 112. While connection 109 is shown as a line, it should not be viewed as a wi re connection but rather, connection 109 may be any type of electrical connection between the communication contact 108 and auxiliary contact 112. In one embodiment, the sensor contacts 119 may be formed as male pins and the socket contact plug 104 may be formed as correspondi ng female ports that selectively receive a respective one of the plurality of sensor contact pins therein. The connection 109 between the communication contact 108 and the auxiliary contact 112 advantageously enables the patient monitoring device to perform read/write operations with the memory device 113. Thus, upon connecting a plug 110 to a socket 101 of a patient monitoring device, the patient monitoring device may be able to selectively obtain data stored in the memory device 113 that isassociated with the first cable 102. Similarly, during monitoring operation, the patient monitoring device may generate data that is provided to the memory devi ce 113 of the f i rst cabl e 102 and stored i n the memory devi ce 113 for later use by at least one of (a) the patient monitoring device; (b) a different patient monitoring device; (c) a central monitoring station; and (d) a remote computer system or healthcare information system or another different patient monitoring device.

Figure 2A illustrates another embodiment of the cable identification system including a second cable 207 that isconnected between the first cable 102 and the patient monitoring device. As shown herein the first cable 102 and the socket 202 include similar elements as described in Figure 1 and are labeled as such herein. The second cable 207 may be an intermediate cable that provides additional distance between the first cable 102 and the patient monitoring device thereby improving patient comfort and range of motion. The second cable 207 may include an intermediate plug 210 having a plurality of sensor contacts 216 and an intermediate socket 218 having a plurality of sensor contacts 220 corresponding to the number of sensor contacts 216 in the intermediate plug 210. A plurality of wires 219 connects sensor contacts 216 and 220 to one another. In one embodiment, the wires 219 are shielded wires to minimize interference.

The plug 210 may be similar in form and function to the plug 110 of the first cable with one difference. The intermediate plug 210 includes a second memory device 213. However, unlike the plug 110 in the first cable 102, the intermediate plug 210 includes an additional wire on which the second memory device 213 is connected. The second memory device 213 in the intermediate plug is connected to an intermediate communication contact 212 in the intermediate socket 218 via a communication wire 215. The memory device 213 is also connected at connection point 214 to a shield of one of the respective wires 219. The second memory device 213 may be an EEPROM that includes two pins, one for input/output and a second to connect to ground (e.g. the shield). The second memory device 213 may include at least one read only section having a unique cable identifier stored therein. The second memory device 213 may also include at least one read/write storage sector that enables at least one particular type of data associated with the particular second cable 207 to be stored therein and accessed by an external device (e.g. patient monitor). In another embodiment, the second memory 213 may selectively store data associated with the first cable 102.

The second memory device 213 is shown as being positioned within the intermediate plug 210 of the second cable 207 for purposes of example only and one skilled in the art would readily be able to recognize that the second memory device 213 may be localized in the intermediate socket 218 instead of the i ntermedi ate pi ug 210 and operate i n the same manner as di scussed above.

In operation, the intermediate plug 210 is coupled to the socket 202 of the patient monitoring device such that sensor contacts 216 in the intermediate plug 210 are electrically coupled to the sensor contacts 206 of the socket 202. The communication wire 215 on which the second memory device 213 is connected to the communication contact 208 of the socket 202. The plug 110 of the first cable is coupled to the socket 218 of the second cable such that sensor contacts 116 of the first plug 110 are electrically coupled with sensor contacts 220 of the intermediate socket 218. Upon connection of the plug 110 of the first cable 102 with the intermediate socket 218 of the second cabl e 207, the socket communication contact 212 is electrically coupled with the auxiliary contact 112 of the plug 110. In this arrangement, an electrically conductive pathway is formed between respective sensors 122 on the patient and the patient monitoring device via the first and second cables 102 and 207, respectively. Additionally, the first and second memory devices 113, 213 are selectively accessible by the patient monitoring device. The first and second memory devices 113, 213 may be accessed in parallel or in series, depending on the type of operation being performed. Further, the inclusion of unique identifiers associated with each of the first memory device 113 and second memory device 213 enables devices to specifically communicate with and identify each of the first and second cables 102, 207, respectively.

Figure 2B illustrates a further embodiment of the cable identification system that includes a second set of cables coupled to a patient monitoring device 202a in addition to the first and second cables 102 and 207, respectively. The second set of cables includes a third cable 250 having at least one sensor 122b that is selectively connected to a predetermined position on a patient for sensing physiological signals representing at least one patient parameter. The third cable 250 also includes a third memory device 252. The third cable 250 includes similar elements and components as described above with respect to the first cable 102 and i s caused to operate i n a si mi I ar manner thereto.

The sensors 122b on the third cable 250 may be used, in conjunction with the sensors 122 of the first cable 102, to sense data associated with at least one of (a) the same patient parameter; and (b) a different patient parameter. Additionally, the thi rd cabl e 250 may have any number of I eads coupl i ng any number of sensors 122b thereto. I n one embodi ment, the thi rd cabl e 250 i ncl udes one of (a) a number of leads and sensors equal to the number of leads and sensors of the first cable 102; (b) a number of leads and sensors less than the number of leads and sensors of the first cable 102 number; and (c) a number of leads and sensors greater than the number of I eads and sensors of the f i rst cabl e 102.

The second set of cables further includes a fourth cable 260 connected between the third cable 250 and the patient monitoring device 202a. The fourth cable 260 may be an intermediate cable that provides additional distance between the third cable 250 and the patient monitoring device 202a thereby improving patient comfort and range of motion. The fourth cable 260 includes similar elements and components as described above with respect to the second cable 207 in Figure 2A. In particular the fourth cable 260 includes a fourth memory device 262. Thus, the fourth cable 260 operates in a similar manner as the second cable 207.

The specif i c components and arrangement of components i n the thi rd cabl e 250 and fourth cabl e 260 are substanti ally similar to thefirst cabl e 102 and second cable 207, respectively. In this arrangement, an electrically conductive pathway is formed between (a) respective sensors 122 and the patient monitoring device 202 via the first and second cables 102 and 207, respectively; and (b) respective sensors 122b and the patient monitoring device 202 via the third and fourth cables 250 and 260, respectively. Additionally, thefirst, second, third and fourth memory devices 113, 213, 252, 262 are selectively accessible by the patient monitoring device 202a. The first, second, third and fourth memory devices 113, 213, 252, 262 may be accessed simultaneously in parallel or in series, depending on the type of operation being performed. Further, the inclusion of unique identifiers associated with each of the first, second, third and fourth memory devices 113, 213, 252, 262, respectively, enables devices to specifically communicate with and identify each of the first, second cables, third and fourth cables 102, 207, 250 and 260, respectively.

In operation, this embodiment may be used when connecting two different sets of sensors 122 and 122b for use in monitoring a single patient parameter. For example, the patient monitoring device 202a may be an ECG monitor and the first cable 102 may include sensors having 6 leads for sensing data representing standard ECG data associated with the patient which is received by the ECG monitor via the second cable 207. In this example, the third cable 250 may include auxiliary sensors 122b for sensing additional data for use in determining ECG data for the patient. The sensed additional data may be received by the ECG monitor via the fourth cable 260. Thus, the third cable 250 may include four auxiliary leads that may be positioned on a patient's chest and data sensed by the auxiliary leads may be used in determining data representing a 12 lead ECG. When connected in this manner, the patient monitoring device may associate the respective cables with the particular patient and store information associated with the type of patient parameter sensed thereby.

In another embodiment, the first and second cables 102 and 207 may be used for sensing a first set of physiological signals from a patient associated with aa first patient parameter and the third and fourth cables 250 and 260 may be used for sensing a second set of physiological signals from a patient associated with a second different patient parameter. In this embodiment, the patient monitoring device may use the unique identifiers of the respective cables in order to associate the cables with the particular patient as well as identify the type of patient parameter being sensed thereby.

Figure 3 is a block diagram of an exemplary memory device 302 that may be employed in either of the first cable 102 or second cable 207. Memory device 302 includes an input/output (I/O) pin 301 and a ground pin 303. The I/O pin 301 is able to selective receive read/write requests from an external controller (e.g. patient monitoring device) in a known manner. The memory device 302 includesa memory controller 306 that selectively controls the manner in which data is written to the memory device and read from the memory device. A read only memory (ROM) 304 is coupled to the memory controller 306 and includes a unique cable identifier 305. The unique cable identifier 305 may be pre-stored in the ROM by the manufacturer of the memory device 302. Additionally, the unique cable identifier may be within a range of unique identifiers that are associated with a particular cable manufacturer such that each cable is uniquely identified along with the manufacturer of the cable.

The memory device 302 includes a data memory 310 connected to the memory controller 306 that is able to store a plurality of different types of data therein. The memory controller 306 may query data stored in the data memory 310 in response to a read request received via the I/O pin 301. A buffer 308 connected between the memory controller 306 and the data memory 310 may also be provided. The buffer 308 advantageously enables temporary storage of data recei ved by the memory control I er 306 vi a the 110 pi n 301 pri or to stori ng the data at a location in the data memory in response to a write request. The temporary storage of data in the buffer 308 allows for confirmation of the write request and reduces errors associ ated wi th stori ng i ncorrect data i n the data memory 310.

The memory controller 306 may selectively determine a permission level associ ated wi th each respecti ve type of data stored i n the data memory 310. In one embodiment a particular data type may be stored as read only" thereby ensuring that the particular data will remain resident in the data memory 310 until the memory controller receives a discharge request to erase all data values presently stored in the data memory 310. In another embodiment, a particular datatype may be set as fead/write" allowing continual (or incremental) updating of the particular data value in the data memory 310. The manner in which memory controller 306 causes data values to be stored in the data memory 310 is done usi ng a conventi onal memory addressi ng scheme.

As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the memory device 302 advantageously enables different types of data representing at least one characteristic of the first cable and associated with the monitoring of a particular patient and/or parameter to be stored in the data memory 310 of a particular cable type. The ability to store and access different types of cable characteristic data associated with patient monitoring allows at least one of patient specific information and monitoring specific information to be retained within a particular type of cable. By storing this information in the data memory 310, the information may be made readily available to a plurality of different types of devices that may be used in providing healthcare to the particular patient to enable rapid identification of the particular type of cable and the patient with which that cable is associated. The following is an exemplary discussion of different types of data values representing cable characteristics that may be selectively stored and/or accessed by the memory device 302 in at least one of the first type of cable 102 and the second type of cable 207. Generally, the discussion will refer to storage and access of the memory device 302 as a whole. However, one skilled in the art will understand that the particular access and storage operations are performed in known manners as described above.

Various address ranges of the data memory 310 of the memory device 302 may be organized to store particular types of data. The address schemes may be implemented in known manner so long as there are enough addresses in the address range to store values associated with the plurality of different types of data

The data memory 310 may store patient association data indicating that the particular cable has been associated with a particular patient. Patient association data may be stored when a patient monitoring device uses the unique cable identifier 305 to store an association between the unique cable identifier 305 and a patient identifier associated with a particular patient. For example, upon initial connection of the first cable with a patient monitoring device configured for use with a particular patient having a unique patient identifier, the unique cable identifier 305 may be accessed an association between the unique cable identifier 305 and a patient identifier may be stored in a mapping table. The mapping table may be selectively accessible by other patient monitoring devices such that, upon disconnection of the cable from the original patient monitoring device and reconnection to a second different monitoring device, the unique cable identifier 305 may be mapped back to a particular patient using the associated patient identifier. When an association between the cable and patient occurs in this manner, a data value indicating this association is stored as patient association data This val ue may be stored i n data memory as a flag to i ndicate whether or not an association exists. This advantageously enables automatic identification and association of patient monitoring devices with the particular patient using only the cablethat isactively connected to the patient. The data memory 310 may also store unique patient identification data obtained from a patient monitoring device configured for monitoring a particular patient. Patient identification data includes data that identifies the particular patient associated with the particular cable. This advantageously enables any subsequent patient monitoring devices to automatically query the memory device 302 to determine if patient identification data is stored therein. The patient monitoring device may use the patient identification information to at least one of (a) obtain patient information from a patient record and (b) automatically configure a patient monitoring device to operate in a particular manner that was previously set by a healthcare professional .

By using at least one of patient association data and patient identification data to identify, associate and configure patient monitoring devices, the cable identification system advantageously enables patients to easily be transported between different care units without transporting patient monitoring devices between units. This advantageously facilitates transporting patients because, during transport, only the first cable remains connected to the patient. Additionally, logistical overhead associated with keeping track of monitoring devices that move between care units is reduced because the automatic association and configuration of patient monitoring devices usi ng at least one patient association information and patient identification data allows for the patient to be connected to any patient monitoring device able to monitor the particular patient parameter. It is important to note that the first cable may be connected to a plurality of different types of patient monitoring devices (e.g. bedside monitor or telemetry monitor) and each different type of patient monitoring device may selectively query the memory device 302 in the first cable 102 to determine if one of (or both) patient association data or patient identification data is stored therein in order to automatically associate and configure the monitor for use with the particular patient. This advantageously reduces the amount of data entry needed to be performed by clinicians upon admitting the patient to a different care unit because patient record information may be automatically acquired in response to association or configuration of the monitoring device in the new care unit. Further, the potential for error is reduced as well because all relevant patient information is automatically acquired upon association and/or configuration of the patient monitoring device using the data stored in the memory device in the first cable 102.

Storing patient association data and/or patient identification data in the memory device 302 of the first cable further advantageously reduces the need for bedside charging devices in which telemetry monitors must be docked for recharging. The need for each patient area to have a bedside charger to selectively recharge a telemetry device adds to the cost of providing healthcare to patients. However, the cable identification system described herein advantageously stores at least one of patient association data and patient identification data that will automatically associate and configure a new telemetry monitor when the battery of the previous telemetry monitor has been discharged. By minimizing bedside chargers, a plurality of telemetry monitors can be recharged in a single mass recharge station at a central monitoring station and the patient monitors can readily be switched because the monitor will automatically be configured upon connection with the first cable (as shown in Fig. 1) or a second cable connected to afirst cable (as shown in Fig. 2A and 2B).

The data memory 310 may also store device configuration information that may be used to automatically configure particular patient monitoring devices with patient specific settings. Device configuration information may include alarm thresholds associated with the particular patient. Device configuration information may also include at least one of (a) types of patient parameters to be monitored for a particular patient and (b) patient parameter monitoring algorithms for monitoring particular patient parameters. After initial connection and set up of a first patient monitoring by a clinician, device configuration information including some or all settings set by the clinician may be stored in the data memory 310 in the first cable 102. Therefore, upon disconnection from the first patient monitoring device and reconnection to a second different patient monitoring device, the second patient monitoring device can query the data memory 310 in the first cable for device configuration information and automatically set corresponding parameters and features of the second monitoring device to be the same as those entered by the clinician on the first monitoring device. Additionally, device configuration information may be acquired and provi ded to a heal thcare i nf ormati on system to update the pati ent record to i ncl ude information about the type of device used to monitor the patient and the various settings employed during patient monitoring.

In addition to device configuration information, the data memory 310 may store patient category information. Patient category information identifies the type of patient. The patient type may include (a) neonatal; (b) pediatric and (c) adult. The patient category identifier may be used for general configuration of a patient monitoring device. For example, there are different ECG monitoring algorithms that are used when determi ni ng ECG data for a neonatal patient as compared to an adult patient. By storing patient category information, a subsequent patient monitoring device may be automatically configured, at least partially, upon connection of the first cable even in the instance where there is no patient specific device configuration information. The subsequent patient monitor will automatically be made aware of the type of patient being monitored and configure the device to use only the monitoring algorithms associated with the patient type.

Unit configuration information may also be stored in data memory 310. Unit configuration data may indicate particular care unit-specific configuration settings for particular types of patient monitors. Unit configuration information may include similar data values as those discussed above with respect to device configuration information and/or patient category data thereby enabling a particular device to be automatically configured for the particular care unit. For example, a patient may be moved from a patient room to an operating room and operating room configuration information may be used to configure the particular device. For example, the operating room configurati on information may automatically configure the particular device to turn off patient specific alarm settings and automatically engage ESU filters.

In a further embodiment, the data memory 310 may store usage data that indicates the manner and way the first cable is being used. Usage data may i ncl ude cabl e counter data that represents a number of ti mes that a parti cul ar cabl e bas been coupled with different patient monitoring devices. The cable counter data may include a data value that is selectively incremented upon connection to a patient monitoring device. The counter data may be provided to a central monitoring station or other hospital information system to determine if the cable is approaching or has exceeded its useful life. This i s particularly useful in connection with first cables that are disposable. Typically, the disposable cables are designed for use with a single patient and, the counter data may be used in conjunction with the patient association data and/or the patient identification data to determine if the cable is being used improperly. By querying counter data, a central station or other hospital information system may selectively disable the particular cable upon determining that counter data has reached or exceeded a threshold. Alternatively, clinicians may be notified that the cable is approaching the end of its life when it is determined that the counter data has reached a predetermined data value below the threshold data In this instance a notification may be communicated to a clinician or other healthcare professional that the cable may cease to operate if connected to many more patient monitoring devices. In another embodiment, counter data may be selectively communicated to a third party for use in generating usage statistics.

Another type of usage data stored in data memory 310 may include duration data identifying the duration that a particular cable has been connected to a particular patient. Similarly to the count data, certain cables may be designed for use for a predetermined amount of time before certain components degrade and thereby reduce signal quality. This is particularly useful in the case where a particular patient is under long term care. Upon initial connection to the patient and a first monitoring device, duration data including at least one of a data and timestamp is stored in the data memory 310. This data may be compared to predetermined permitted duration data stored in the ROM 304, for example to determine if the duration of use has exceeded the predetermined duration of use for the particular cable. If the duration data stored in data memory 310 as determined by the initial connection and configuration exceeds the predetermined duration data, then a notification may be transmitted to a user notifying the user to replace the cable. Duration data may also include warranty data that is used to mark a beginning of a warranty period for a particular cable. By storing at least one of a date and timestamp in the device memory, a cable manufacturer, when presented with a claim under a warranty, will be able to automatically query and determine if the duration of usage was within the agreed upon warranty period. The warranty data may also be used to mark an end date for the warranty. Thus, the duration data may i ncl ude a pre-stored warranty end date data val ue and, with each subsequent connection to a patient monitoring device, the patient monitoring device may query the warranty data and compare the warranty end date data with a current date and time to determine if the particular cable is currently under warranty. Thus, warranty end date data may be provided to a hospital ordering system to notify personnel that a certain cable is no longer under warranty indicating that additional new cable types should be ordered. Warranty data may also include a manufacturing date for the cable identifying when the cable was manufactured. The manufacturing date data may be selectively provided by the patient monitoring device to at least one of a technician and the manufacturer for purposes of servi ci ng the f i rst cabl e.

Usage data may further include error data identifying any events that may be representative of errors that appear to have occurred during the course of monitoring a particular patient. While the cable will be unable to determine if the error data is an actual error requiring the cable to be at least one of changed or serviced, the error data stored in device memory 310 advantageously provides an picture of how the device may be operating. In particular, error data may include information describing what the error is believed to be as well as the particular device to which the cable was connected when the error occurred. For example, if the monitor determines that there is repeatedly high impedance on a particular lead connected to a particular patient, this information may be stored as error data and may be used to identifying a prematurely failing cable. By also storing the particular device information, a clearer picture may be presented to a technician or clinician for troubleshooting purposes.

In another embodiment, cable characteristic data may be stored in the data memory 310 of the devi ce memory i n the f i rst cabl e. Cabl e character! sti c data may include any type of data that describes the particular type of cable. Cable characteristic data may be pre-stored by the cable manufacturer and thus may be used by a patient monitoring device upon initial connection thereto. Pre-stored cable characteristic data may include at least one of a (a) a type of cable; (b) sensor configurations available for use with the cable; (c) length of a cable; (d) maximum length of an intermediate cable able to be connected between the first cable and a patient monitor; (e) mode information identifying available operation modes that the cable may be used (f) origin of manufacturing of cable and serial number; and (g) counter for number of times the cable has been used.

Cable characteristic data identifying a type of cable may indicate how the cable is to be used. For example, cable characteristic data may include data identifying that the cable is radio translucent and thus is able to be used in an imaging environment (e.g. X-ray) because the radio waves emitted by the imaging apparatus may pass therethrough and allow for a clear image of the patient to be acquired. Should a patient be transferred to a radi ology unit, the patient monitoring device in the radiology unit may query the cable characteristic data field to determine if the pre-stored cable characteristic matches the requirement for the parti cul ar type of uni t. Thi s may be accompl i shed usi ng i nf ormati on stored in the patient monitoring device or it may be accomplished using a location identifier associated with the care unit to acquire and compare accepted cable characteristics with cable characteristic data stored in the data memory 310 of the memory device 302. Alternatively, type of cable data may include information descri bi ng a mated al from whi ch the cabl e, wi res and/or sensors are made. Thi s i s particularly advantageous in magnetic imaging units which cannot use monitoring equipment that is formed from metal because the magnetic imaging units would heat up the metal thereby potentially causing burns on the patient. Thus, a patient monitoring unit may query the data memory to identify the type of material from which the cable is made and, if the material data matches a set of acceptable materials that are usable in a particular care unit, no action is taken. However, if the material data does not match any of the accepted materials for the particular care unit, the patient monitoring device may automatically generate at least one of a local alert on the patient monitoring device and an alert provided to personnel at a central monitoring station indicating that the fi rst type of cable (e.g. sensor cable) needs to be replaced before care unit specific treatment (e.g. an MR image) is provided to the patient.

Cable characteristic data identifying acceptable patient monitoring modes in which the first type of cable may be used isalso selectively storable in the data memory of the device. Based on the type of material and other characteristics describing the first cable, the cable manufacturer may store information identifying suggested usage modes for the particular cable. Thus, in response to connection with a patient monitoring device and configuration of the monitoring device to operate in a specific mode, the patient monitoring device may query the cable characteristic data identifying acceptable operational modes. If the configured mode matches at least one acceptable type of mode of operation, the configured operation proceeds without any issue. However, if the configured mode does not match any of the acceptable operational modes, the cable may be prevented from functioning with the patient monitor in that mode. In one embodiment, a clinician may manually override the operational mode check and the cable will be able to operate in the configured mode despite the configured mode not being an acceptable operational mode. As an example, a patient may be transferred to an operating room to have an electrosurgery procedure performed. To perform electrosurgery, a patient monitoring device must be specifically configured with particular settings to prevent injury to the patient as well as to ensure patient monitoring continues. The patient monitoring unit automatically queries the cable characteristic field in the cable memory device including acceptable operational modes. Should ESU mode not be present in data memory, the first cable is prevented from operating and the ESU configured patient monitoring device automatically notifies a clinician that the first cable is not rated for ESU operational mode. The clinician may replace the first cable with a properly rated first cable and continue with the ESU procedure. Alternatively, if the ESU procedure is being performed on a portion of the body that is sufficiently di stal from any of the sensors of the f i rst cabl e, then the cl i ni ci an may overri de the operational block imposed by the cable and continue with the procedure. An example of this overriding may occur if the first patient monitoring cable is an ECG monitoring cable for monitoring ECG data and the ESU procedure is being performed on the patient's leg.

Cable characteristic data may also be user modified and stored upon initial configuration and association with a patient. An exemplary set of user modifiable cabl e characteri sti c data may i ncl ude sensor type data that i denti f i es the parti cul ar types of sensors being used to monitor the particular patient. Sensor data may also include sensor configuration data that identifies a configuration of the sensors used in monitoring the particular patient. In one embodiment, upon initial association with a patient and configuration of the patient monitoring device, the patient monitoring device may cause sensor data identify the sensors as a set of ECG leads and sensor configuration data identifying the type of lead configuration (e.g. 3 lead, 5 lead, 6 lead) to be stored in the data memory 310. This advantageously enables a subsequent patient monitor to which the first cable is connected to automatically know the sensor type and configuration associated with the first cable thereby reducing false positives indicating an error. For example, if the sensor configuration data indicates that the sensors are a 3-lead ECG configuration, a subsequent patient monitoring device would understand that no signal being received on lead 4 of the sensor configuration is not an error and is expected because the first cable is configured as a 3-lead ECG cable. Thus, the cable characteristic data may also be used to at least partially configure patient monitoring devices to perceived errors in patient monitoring.

Second cable data may also be stored i n the device memory 310 of the f i rst cable. Second cable data may include data values identifying particular second cables that have been connected between the first cable and different patient monitoring devices. Upon connection of a second cable between the first cable and the patient monitoring device, the patient monitoring device automatically stores the unique cable identifier associated with the second cable in the data memory. This advantageously enables subsequent patient monitoring devices to be aware that configuration data stored in data memory 310 provides for a configuration that anticipates an intermediate cable being connected between the patient monitoring device and the first cable.

While the above types of data are described as stored within the data memory 310 of the memory device 302 in a first cable 102, one skilled in the art will understand that similar data types may be stored in a memory device in a second cable and be used in similar manner. This is particularly advantageous in the case of usage data and cable characteristic data because often times, the second cable will be used more frequently with a larger number of patients because the second cable is generally an intermediate extension cable. An important difference is that while the memory device in the second cable may store patient association information and/or patient identification information, those data types may not be stored in order to prevent inadvertent misconfiguration of a patient device with configuration information associated with a different patient. Additionally, this prevents inadvertent disclosure of confidential patient information to a person other than the patient. Thus, the second cable makes use of usage data and cable characteristic data in conjunction with the patient specific data stored in the first cable in order to aid in properly configuring the patient monitoring device to make use of a longer patient monitoring cable and ensure that the second cable is being used properly in the correct unit for the correct purpose. The data memory 310 may be selectively erasable upon receiving a discharge command from a patient monitoring device. In response to receiving the discharge signal any patient specific data that was stored in the data memory by a patient monitoring device during the course of patient monitoring is erased. Other types of data such as predetermined usage data or cable characteristic data that notifies a respective monitoring device about information describing the first or second cable type is not erased. Additionally, the discharge signal will not erase information that may be utilized by a vendor to provide support for the first or second cable.

An exemplary cable identification system is shown i n Figure 4. The system includes patient monitoring device 400 having the first type of cable 102 with at least one sensor 122 connected to a patient 118. The patient monitoring device 400 includes a front end socket 101 for receiving the plug 110 of the first cable 102. The plug 110 of the first cable 102 also includes a memory device 302 connected i n the manner descri bed above with respect to Figure 1.

The patient monitoring device 400 includes a controller 402 that selectively controls all operational functions thereof. The controller 402 is connected to the at least one sensor 122 via the first cable 102 upon coupling of the plug 110 with the front end socket 101. The controller 402 is also coupled to the memory device 302 when the plug 110 is coupled with the front end socket 101. During monitoring operation, the controller 402 may execute a monitoring algorithm that monitors data sensed by the at least one sensor and determines at least one patient parameter based on the data sensed by the at least one sensor. In one embodiment, the monitoring algorithm is an ECG monitoring algorithm used to determine ECG data for a patient. In another embodiment, the monitoring algorithm may be blood saturation measurement algorithm used to determine Sp02 data. In a further embodiment, the at least one sensor 122 includes a plurality of sensors connected to different locations on the patient and the controller 402 implements a plurality of patient monitoring algorithms to determine a plurality of patient parameters.

A memory 404 may be connected to the controller 402 and the communication processor 408. The memory 404 includes a data storage medium able to store at least one of analog or digital data therein. The controller 402 that selectively determines patient parameter data received from the at least one sensor 122 may store the determined patient parameter data in the memory 404 at predetermined time intervals for predetermined durations. Additionally, the controller 402 may selectively query the memory device 302 of the first cable 102 and selectively acquire cable-specific data from the memory device 302 and store the acquired cable specific data in the memory 404 of the patient monitoring device 400.

A communication processor 408 may also be selectively coupled to each of the controller 402 and the memory 404. The controller 402 may generate communication control signals that control the communication processor 408 to selectively communicate data to at least one of a display unit 410 or an alarm unit 412. The communication processor 408 may be connected to at least one remote computing system via a communication network 414. The controller 402 may cause at least one of data stored in memory 404 or memory device 302 to be communicated across the communications network 414 for receipt by at least one remote computing system. Examples of remote computing systems may include at least one of (a) a hospital information system 420; (b) a central monitoring station 422 charged with monitoring a plurality of patients in a particular care unit; (c) a portable device 424 (e.g. cellular phone, tablet, smartphone, notebook computer, netbook, ultrabook, etc); and (d) a vendor's computer system 426. In addition to communicating data from the patient monitoring device 400, the communication processor 408 may selectively receive requests from at least one type of remote computing system in order to obtain data that is stored in at least one of the memory 404 and memory device 302.

The different types of data able to be stored in memory device 302 and the manner in which the patient monitoring device 400 may make use of this data to implement a cable identification algorithm will now be discussed with reference to numerous embodiments. The particular embodiments are described for purposes of example only and any or all of the described embodiments may be implemented in any one cable identification algorithm.

A cable identification algorithm implemented by the controller 402 includes associating a particular first cable 102 with a particular patient. In one embodiment, upon connection of the first cable 102 with the patient monitoring device 400, the controller requests data represent! ng a unique cable identifier 305 (Fig. 3) stored in the ROM 304 of memory device 302. Upon receipt of the unique cable identifier 305, the controller 402 may compare the unique cable identifier 305 to a set of known cable identifiers and only enables operation of the cable if the unique cable identifier 305 matches one of the known cable identifiers. The unique cable identifier comparison ensures that the proper cable is used with the proper patient monitoring device. In this embodiment, the unique cable identifier 305 may be a serial number that is pre-stored in the ROM 304 of the memory device 302 by the memory device manufacturer and is specific to an entity that manufactures the first cable 102. This advantageously prevents the first cable 102 from operating with an unauthorized patient monitoring device 400 (e.g. a monitoring device that is manufactured by a different entity). Upon receiving the unique cable identifier 305 from the first cable, the controller causes an association between the unique cable identifier and a patient identifier to be stored in memory 404. Alternatively, the controller 402 may cause the association between the unique cable identifier 305 and the patient identifier to be stored at a memory device of a central monitoring station 422 for the particular care unit. Once the association is stored, the controller 402 issues a write request to write a data value to the patient association data field in the memory device 302 indicating that the first cable 102 is associated with a particular patient. The data stored in the patient association data field may be accessed and used by a subsequent patient monitoring device in order to associate and/or configure the subsequent patient monitoring device for use with the particular patient with whom the first cable 102 is associated.

In another embodiment, the cable identification algorithm advantageously automatically associates the first cable 102 with a particular patient 118 as discussed above. In this embodiment, after association, the controller 402 issues a write request to write data correspondi ng to a patient identifier associated with the particular patient to the patient identification data field in the memory device. The patient identifier stored in the patient identification data field advantageously enables access and use by a subsequent patient monitoring device in order to associate and/or configure the subsequent patient monitoring device for use with the parti cul ar pati ent wi th whom the f i rst cabl e 102 i s associ ated.

In afurther embodiment, upon initial connection of the first cable 102 with the patient monitoring device 400, the controller 402 selectively queries the data memory of the memory device to identify at least one of (a) cable characteristic data and (b) cable usage data for use in automatically configuring at least one setting of the patient monitoring device. Cable characteristic data and cable usage data may also be used to determine if the first cable is able to be operated at a particular time. In one embodiment, the patient monitoring device is associated with a particular patient care unit and must perform a check to determine if the first cable 102 is rated for operation in the particular patient care unit. In this instance, the controller 402 queries at least one of the cable characteristic data field and the cable usage data field to determine if the cable is operable in the particular care unit.

Upon initial connection of the first cable 102 with the patient monitoring device 400, a clinician may configure the patient monitor 400 with a plurality of monitoring settings and alarm thresholds for use in monitoring the particular patient. When initial configuration is completed, the controller 402 may automatically package the configured settings as configuration data and direct the configuration data to be stored in the configuration data field of the device memory 302. Further, in the event of a change in any setting that comprises the configuration data, the controller 402 will automatically update the configuration data in the device memory 302 with updated configuration data The data values in the configuration data field may be selectively used by subsequent patient monitoring devices to automatically associate and configure the subsequent patient monitoring device. Upon connection with a second subsequent patient monitoring device, a controller may query the configuration data field of the memory 302 of the first cable to determine if configuration data is present and, if so, use the configuration data to automatically configure the second patient monitoring device.

In a further embodiment, the controller 402 may selectively query usage data for use in obtaining service or other support from a vendor who at least one of manufactures or services the first type of cable 102. The usage data stored in the memory device 302 is acquired and provided to the communication processor 408. The communication processor 408 automatically communicates a set of usage data via communi cation network 414 to a vendor 426.

In a further embodiment, the controller 402 may automatically query the memory device 302 to obtain usage data and provide the usage data to a hospital information system 420 for use in updating a patient medical record. The controller 402 directs the communication processor 408 to communicate the acquired usage data to the hospital information system via the communication network 414.

While the above operation embodiments describe read or writing single types of data, it should be appreciated that the control I er 402 may operate to read and write any of the particular data types discussed above simultaneously and as part of a si ngl e cabl e i denti f i cati on al gori thm .

Figure 5 is an exemplary embodiment of the cable identification system having a second cable 207 disposed between the patient monitor 400 and the first cable 102. This embodiment includes similar features as those described above in Figure 4 and will not be discussed further herein. This embodiment differs from Figure 4 in that the controller 402 not only causes data to be read and written to the memory device 302 in the first cable but also in the memory device 213 in the second cable. The request for data and command to write data to the memory device 302 of the first cable 102 and the memory device 213 of the second cable may be i ssued si mul taneousl y . Typi cal I y the control I er 402 will query the memory 213 of the second cable for at least one of (a) cable usage data and (b) cable characteristic data and use this data in conjunction with the data derived from the first cable 102 in order to automatically and correctly configure the patient monitoring device 400.

Figure 6 is an exemplary cable identification algorithm. In step 602, a determination is made as to whether or not a first cable is associated with a particular patient. If no association is detected, the controller 402 associates the first cable with the particular patient in step 604. The association in step 604 may include acquiring a unique cable identifier stored in the ROM (304 in Fig. 3) of the memory device (302 in Fig. 3) of the cable 102. In another embodiment, the association step may include acquiring a unique cable identifier stored in a ROM in the memory device (213 in Fig. 2) of a secondary cable (207 in Fig 2). In the embodiment including the secondary cable, the acquisition of unique cable identifiers associated with the first cable 102 and the second cable 207 may occur simultaneously. The association step 604 may further include storing an association between the unique cable identifier and a patient identifier in a mapping table in one of the memory devices (302 in Fig 3 and/or 213 in Figure 2) and a memory of the patient monitoring device (404 in Fig. 4). In another embodiment, the mapping table including the stored association may be stored at the central monitoring station of the care unit. The association step 604 may also include updating a patient association data field in the memory of the first cable. In another embodiment, the association in step 604 may also include updating a patient identification field in the memory device of the first cable to include a patient identifier.

The first patient monitoring device is then configured for monitoring the particular patient in step 606 and configuration data identifying at least one setting is stored as configuration data in the memory of the first cable. In step 608, the first cable is disconnected from the first patient monitoring device and reconnected to a second different patient monitoring device in step 610.

Upon reconnection, the method reverts back to step 602. In order to determine if the first cable is associated with a particular patient, the controller queries the memory device 302 to determine patient association information from at least one of the patient association data field and the patient identification. Upon a positive determination in step 602, the second patient monitoring device is automatically associated with the particular patient in step 612 by at least one of (a) mapping the unique cable identifier back to patient identification information and (b) using the patient identifier to obtain patient information from a central monitoring station. In step 614, a determination is made as to whether or not the first cable has any configuration data stored therein. If the determination in step 614 is positive, the controller of the second patient monitoring device acquires configuration data from the first cable and automatically configures at least one monitoring setting of the second patient monitoring device using the configuration data in step 615.

If the determination in step 614 is negative, the controller in the second patient monitoring device may query the memory of the first cable for other types of data i ncluding at least one of (a) cable usage data identifying acceptable usages of the cable; (b) cable characteristic data to identify at least one characteristic associated with the cable; and (c) patient category data identifying a type of patient and particular algorithms to be used for monitoring the particular type of patient. If the determination in step 616 results in other type of data being present, the controller uses the other types of data to automatically configure the second patient monitoring device in step 618. If determination in step 616 is negative, a clinician is prompted to configure the monitor in step 620.

The apparatus described above with respect to Figures 1 - 6 advantageously automatically associates and configures a patient monitoring device using data stored in a memory of a sensor cable that is connected to the patient. This markedly improves the ease with which patients are transported between patient care units because there is a memory device in the sensor cable which remain attached to the patient and data from that memory device may be used to automatically associate, identify and configure a plurality of different monitoring devices in different care units. This advantageously minimizes an amount of set up time typically required by a clinician manually reconfiguring a patient monitoring device for a new patient as well as minimizes the change of erroneous configuration when being switched from a first monitoring device to a second monitoring device.

Although the invention has been described in terms of exemplary embodiments, it is not limited thereto. Rather, the appended claims should be construed broadly to include other variants and embodiments of the invention which may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and range of equi val ents of the i nventi on . Thi s di scl osure i s i ntended to cover any adaptati ons or vari ati ons of the embodi ments di scussed herei n.

Claims

CLAI MS What is daimed is

1. A method of conf i guri ng a pati ent moni tori ng dev i ce

compri si ng the acti vi ti es of :

connecting afirst cable that connects to a patient to a first patient monitoring device, the first cable including afirst memory device storing data representing at least one characteristic of the first cable;

storing data representing an association between the at least one cable characteristic data and a particular patient;

disconnecting the first cable from the first patient monitoring device;

reconnect! ng the f i rst cable to a second different patient monitoring device;

retrieving data representing the at least one cable character! sti c from the f i rst memory devi ce i n the f i rst cabl e;

compari ng data represent! ng the at I east one cabl e characteristic with the stored association data; and

automatically configuring the second patient monitoring device by automatically associating the second patient monitoring device with the parti cul ar pati ent usi ng the at I east one cabl e character! sti c data stored i n the f i rst memory device.

2. The method as recited in claim 1 , further comprising the activity of:

stori ng data represent! ng at I east one setti ng control I i ng the operation of the first patient monitoring devicein thefirst memory device.

3. The method as recited in claim 2, further comprising the activity of:

in response to reconnecting thefirst cable, automatically configuring the second patient monitoring device using the data representing at I east one setti ng stored i n the f i rst memory of the f i rst cabl e.

4. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein

data represent! ng the at I east one cabl e character! sti c i ncl udes at a unique cable identifier that is preset at manufacture of the memory device.

5. The method as red ted i n cl ai m 1 , wherei n

the data represent! ng at I east one cabl e character! sti c i ncl udes at least one of (a) patient specific device configuration information; (b) care unit specific monitoring device configuration information; (c) at least one operating parameter of the f i rst type of cabl e; (d) cabl e usage data i dentifyi ng parameters that defi ne how the f i rst type of cabl e may be used (e) ti me stamp data i ndi cati ng the ti me that the f i rst cable has been i n use; (f ) origi n of manufacturi ng of cabl e and serial number and (g) counter for number of times the cable has been used.

6. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein

the first patient monitoring device is located in a first location and the second patient monitoring device is located in a second different location and further comprising the activity of

transporting the particular patient from a first patient care unit to a second patient care unit.

9. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising the activity of:

connecti ng a second cabl e between the f i rst cabl e and the f i rst patient monitori ng device; the second cable having a second memory device embedded therein; and

configuring the first patient monitoring device using data stored in at least one of the memory device of thefirst cableand data stored in the second memory device of the second cable.

10. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising the activity of storing data representing clinician-entered setti ngsfor thefirst patient monitoring device by thefirst patient monitoring device in thefirst memory device; and i n response to reconnect! ng the f i rst cabl e to th e second pati ent monitoring device, automatically configuring the second patient monitoring devi ce usi ng data represent! ng at I east one cabl e character! sti c and data represent! ng cl i ni ci an entered setti ngs.

11. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising the activity of receiving a discharge signal indicating that the particular pati ent is being discharged and

erasi ng at least one of (a) data represent! ng the at I east one cabl e characteristic; and (b) stored patient association data, in response to receiving the discharge signal.

12. The method as recited i n cl ai m 1 , wherei n

said activity of storing data representing an association between the at least one cable characteristic data and a particular patient includes

stori ng the data represent! ng an associ ati on i n a mappi ng tabl e, the mappi ng tabl e bei ng stored i n one of (a) a memory of a pati ent monitoring device; (b) the first memory device; and (c) on a storage medium of a central monitoring station.

13. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein

the data represent! ng at I east one cabl e charade ri sti c i ncl udes usage data i ncl udi ng any events representati ve of errors occurri ng duri ng pati ent monitoring.

14. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising the activities of:

connecting a third cable that connects to a patient to a f i rst patient monitoring device, the third cable including a third memory device storing data represent! ng at least one characteristic of the thi rd cable;

storing data representing an association between the at least one cabl e character! sti c data of the f i rst cabl e, the at I east one characteri sti c of the third cable and a particular patient; and

configuring the first patient monitoring device using data stored in at I east one of the f i rst memory devi ce of the f i rst cabl e and data stored i n the thi rd memory devi ce of the thi rd cabl e.

15. The method as recited in claim 14, further comprising the activity of:

connecting a fourth cable between the third cable and the first patient monitoring device; the fourth cable having afourth memory device therein; and

configuring the first patient monitoring device using data stored in at least one of (a) thefirst memory device of the first cable; (b) the second memory device of the second cable; (c) the third memory device of the third cable; and (d) the fourth memory device of the fourth cable.

16. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising the activity of usi ng the data representing the patient associati on to generate a unique patient identifier for use as a poi nter in adatabaseof acentral monitoring station; and

stori ng the uni que pati ent i dentif i er i n the f i rst memory devi ce i n thefirst cable; and

configuring one of thefirst and second patient monitoring devices using the unique patient identifier.

17. A pati ent monitori ng cabl e for conf i guri ng at I east one pati ent mon i tori ng devi ce compri si ng

a first cable having

a f i rst end sel ectively connectable to a pati ent for sensi ng data from the patient;

a second end selectively connectable to a first patient monitoring device; and

a memory devi ce embedded i n the f i rst cabl e havi ng data represent! ng at I east one cable characteristic stored therei n; wherei n upon connection of the second end to the first patient monitoring device, thefirst patient monitoring device is automatically configured using the at least one cable characteristic data to identify the patient to which the first end is connected and configure at least one setting of the first patient monitoring device.

18. The patient monitoring cable as recited in claim 17, wherein

upon connection of the second end to a second different patient monitoring device, the at least one cable characteristic is used to automatically configure the second patient monitoring by automatically associating the second pati ent mon i tori ng devi ce wi th the parti cul ar pati ent usi ng the at I east one cabl e character! sti c data stored i n the f i rst memory.

19. The patient monitoring cable as recited in claim 17, wherein

the at I east one cabl e character! sti c i ncl udes at I east one setti ng control I i ng the operati on of the pati ent moni tori ng devi ce i n the f i rst memory device.

20. The patient monitoring cable as recited in claim 17, wherein

upon connection of the second end to the first patient monitoring device, data representing an association between the at least one cable character! sti c data and a parti cul ar pati ent i s stored i n a mappi ng tabl e, the mapping table being stored in one of (a) a memory of a patient monitoring device; (b) the first memory device; and (c) on a storage medium of a central monitoring station.

21. The patient monitoring cable as recited in cl aim 20, wherein

a unique patient identifier generated in response to the data representing an association isstored in thefirst memory device in the first cable and used to configuring one of thefirst and second patient monitoring devices.

22. The patient monitoring cable as recited in claim 17, wherein

data representi ng the at I east one cabl e character! sti c i ncl udes at a unique cable identifier that is preset at manufacture of the memory device.

23. The patient monitoring cable as recited in claim 17, wherein the data represent! ng at I east one cabl e character! sti c i ncl udes at least one of (a) patient specific device configuration information; (b) care unit specific monitoring device configuration information; (c) at least one operating parameter of the f i rst type of cabl e; (d) cabl e usage data i dentifyi ng parameters that defi ne how the f i rst type of cabl e may be used and (e) ti me stamp data i ndi cati ng the ti me that the f i rst cabl e has been i n use.

24. The method as recited i n cl ai m 17, wherei n

the data representi ng at I east one cabl e charade ri sti c i ncl udes usage data i ncl udi ng any events representati ve of errors occurri ng duri ng pati ent monitoring.

25. The patient monitoring cable as recited in claim 17, further comprising

a second cable connected between the f i rst cabl e and the f i rst patient monitori ng device; the second cable having a second memory device embedded therein; and

upon connecti ng the second cable between the f i rst cable and the the first patient monitoring device data stored in at least one of the memory device of the f i rst cabl e and data stored i n the second memory devi ce of the second cabl e isused to automatically configure operation of thefirst patient monitoring device.

26. The patient monitoring cable as recited in claim 17, further comprising

a thi rd cabl e connected between a pati ent and a f i rst pati ent monitoring device, the third cable including a third memory device storing data representing at least one characteristic of the third cable, and upon connection of the third cable to thefirst patient monitoring device, data representing at least one of (a) a cable character! stic data of thefirst cable and (b) a cable characteristic of the thi rd cabl e i s used to automati cal I y conf i gure operati on of the f i rst pati ent monitoring device.

27. The patient monitoring cable as recited in claim 17, further comprising

a fourth cable connected between the third cable and the first patient monitoring device; thefourth cable having afourth memory device therein; wherein upon connection of thefourth cable to the patient monitoring device, the first patient monitoring device uses data stored in at least one of (a) the f i rst memory devi ce of the f i rst cabl e; (b) the second memory devi ce of the second cable; (c) the third memory device of the third cable; and (d) thefourth memory device of thefourth cable to automatically configure the first patient monitoring device.