Design and implementation of a wired intercommunication prototype for hospital care

Autor: Víctor Eduardo Vélez Vargas, Carlos Alberto Henao Baena, Andrés Felipe Calvo Salcedo
Jazyk: English<br />Spanish; Castilian
Rok vydání: 2018
Předmět:
Zdroj: Inge-Cuc, Vol 14, Iss 1, Pp 101-112 (2018)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 0122-6517
2382-4700
DOI: 10.17981/ingecuc.14.1.2018.9
Popis: Introduction: In health centers, communication between the medical staff and the patient is generally performed by an intercom. Some of these devices have evolved to simplify the duty of medical staff by introducing indicator systems that allow to report which rooms demand medical service. However, they present technical weaknesses, for example, high energy consumption or high loss of information packets. Objective: Design and build an instrumentation and a measurement prototype for hospital care that demands less energy consumption and gives a wide range of data transmission when compared to the works proposed in the literature. Methodology: In synthesis, the prototype uses a network of switches for emergency call generation. These are sent to an intercom which enables a channel. Then, the information is processed and transmitted to every visualization module through a microcontroller and an RS-485 serial communication bus. Finally, this information is decoded and displayed in a light indicator. Results: The testing protocol evaluates and compares the operation, performance and reliability of the equipment to that similar equipment in the same time window. A reading of energy consumption and loss of data packets was performed. In addition, a random experiment was carried out and the results were modeled from a Poisson stochastic process. The results showed a decrease of power consumption in a stable regime of 91% in comparison to the results mentioned in the literature. On the other hand, the equipment presented an information loss rate under 4% of average. Conclusions: The design process included a hardware and software strategy which allowed to reduce the energy consumption of the display module in a steady state and increased the equipment’s reliability. Furthermore, the equipment is technically efficient, scalable and maintenance friendly.
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals