HK1262944A1 - A gas cylinder monitoring system - Google Patents

Description

Gas cylinder monitoring system

The present invention relates to a cylinder monitoring system, and more particularly to a cylinder monitoring system using cylinders for: clinical gases such as, for example, oxygen, argon, nitrous oxide, xenon, nitric oxide, helium, and mixtures thereof, and industrial gases such as oxygen, nitrogen, and argon, and mixtures thereof, are provided to the patient.

It is known to supply cylinders to processes including filling, transportation, storage and use, and then return the cylinders to the supplier for refilling and then recycling in the process. The tracking of cylinders and management of gas supply at various locations within the process is problematic because, for example, it is sometimes difficult to monitor the location of the cylinders and the data associated with the cylinders, and it is important that the cylinders remain for the time before the gas is exhausted.

It is also known to provide a gauge to the cylinder system that displays the pressure of the gas remaining, but manual intervention is required to retrieve the information, and some users may find it difficult to interpret the provided information and may make incorrect determinations regarding important data such as the total time of remaining gas supply. Still further, it is difficult to locate a gas cylinder system that may be past its date of use or may be old or unsuitable for a particular location.

In an attempt to overcome the above problems, known gas cylinders are provided with an electronic monitoring system attached to the gas cylinder to monitor data associated with the gas cylinder and to be able to determine the position of the gas cylinder. The monitoring system may wirelessly transmit the data to a remote computer that includes a management system to analyze the data and determine the cylinder location. Such monitoring systems ensure that the cylinders are in the correct condition for the location where they reside.

Because gas cylinders are often moved from one location to another, such as from a storage station to a hospital ward, the monitoring system itself is battery powered. One problem with battery powered monitoring systems is the energy intensive nature of the wireless transmission, which results in the batteries being quickly drained and ultimately the monitoring system ceasing to operate, and thus the state and/or location of the gas cylinder being unknown.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a less energy intensive cylinder monitoring system that is capable of determining the status and location of a cylinder.

Thus, according to the present invention, there is provided a cylinder monitoring system comprising a cylinder for receiving and dispensing gas contained therein; a first monitoring system associated with the cylinder operable to monitor data associated with the cylinder and having a transmitter operable to broadcast the data in discrete advertising packets at controlled times and/or intervals; and a second monitoring system associated with one or more locations in which the first monitoring system may reside and having a receiver operable in a first mode to receive advertising packets broadcast from the first monitoring system when the second monitoring system is within range of the first monitoring system.

By broadcasting the advertisement packets at controlled times and/or intervals, less data is transmitted and, therefore, less energy is consumed than in a system where data is not transmitted in control or continuously.

Furthermore, by broadcasting the data in discrete advertisement packets (typically in less than 50 ms), the energy consumption is further reduced.

Turning to data transmission, it is generally known to transmit data between devices using different wireless standards. One such criterion isWireless technology standards. More specifically, one device is considered to be in a discoverable mode, i.e., it is continuously transmitting data that is connected to a second device when the two devices are within range of each other. Once the two devices are connected or paired, data may be transferred between the two devices. It should be appreciated that when the second monitoring system may operate in the first mode to receive advertisement packets from the first monitoring system, the first and second monitoring systems do not behave as if they use conventional wireless transmission standards (such as) Become connected or paired as well. Instead, the advertising packets are sent as discrete packets from the first monitoring system and received by the second monitoring system without pairing or connection. This results in less energy being consumed than devices that are connected or paired to each other to effect data transfer.

Preferably, the advertising package includes data associated with the cylinder and/or the patient and/or the environment. The data itself falls into two categories, one is fixed data, which does not change with the cylinder, patient, or environment, and the other is a second variable data category. Examples of fixed data include cylinder identification number, cylinder size, firmware version, expiration date, and cylinder type. Examples of variable data include cylinder pressure, cylinder operating mode, battery life, tamper status, remaining gas supply time, ambient temperature, gas usage, gas content, fill time, gas usage rate, internal cylinder gas pressure, internal cylinder gas temperature, usage data, transportation data, and remaining gas. By broadcasting variable data, the advertising package can be considered dynamic in the sense that the packaging content will change depending on the operation of the cylinder and/or the patient and/or the environment, in contrast to known systems where the data is fixed.

Analysis of the data by the processor of the first monitoring system determines when and/or at what time interval the broadcast packet was broadcast. For example, advertising packets are sent more frequently as the time remaining until the cylinder empties to approach a critical lower threshold, or the rate of gas consumption increases. Conversely, if the cylinder is in the storage state and the variable data is not changing, the advertising packets are sent less frequently. By varying the time and/or time interval at which the advertisement packets are transmitted, less energy is consumed, which is made possible by being able to monitor and broadcast variable data. Analysis of the data by the first monitoring system may also control the output of the gas cylinder, such as disabling an alarm if muting is required (e.g. in a hospital room), or controlling the gas flow to titrate (titrate) the patient based on the oxygen saturation in the patient's blood, closing the gas valve if a hazard is detected or the cylinder expiration date has passed.

The advertising packets may also be broadcast at intervals that depend on the mode of operation of the cylinders, such as a deep sleep mode, a connected mode, a standby mode, a gas delivery mode, or a failure mode. As an example, the time interval is less than 2 minutes when the cylinder is in a critical mode (such as a gas delivery mode, typically between 30 seconds and 1 minute), and the broadcast of data is greater than 30 minutes when the cylinder is in a less critical mode, for example in a storage station or sleep mode. For non-critical modes other than, for example, storage or filling, the broadcast time in this area is 2 to 6 minutes.

The advertising package may also be broadcast at a time corresponding to a predefined event, for example, if the remaining gas supply time reaches a lower threshold, if the cylinder enters a failure mode, a gas delivery mode or a connected mode, or if the cylinder enters or leaves a gas filling station.

In one embodiment, if the motion of the first monitoring system is detected by the optional motion sensor, the advertisement package is immediately broadcast. Accordingly, alternative and additional sensors for monitoring the cylinders are provided to trigger the immediate broadcast of the advertising packets.

Preferably, the second monitoring system includes a plurality of hub stations at known locations, and the system includes a processor operable to identify the known locations of the hub stations receiving data from the first monitoring system to determine the location of the first monitoring system. By locating the hub station at different locations in and within the broadcast range of the first monitoring system, and thus the gas cylinders, can be located. If more than one hub station is receiving data from the first monitoring system, signal strength between the first and single hub stations of the second monitoring system or triangulation between multiple hub stations may be used to determine the location of the first monitoring system. The advantage of using triangulation between hub stations is that the exact location of the first monitoring system can be determined, which is important because signal strength is not a reliable indicator of the proximity of the hub stations. For example, if an obstacle (such as a wall) is located between a first monitoring system and the nearest hub station, the signal strength is likely to be stronger between the first monitoring system and a different hub station that is farther away due to the wall that decreases the signal strength, and thus, the first monitoring may be incorrectly located by the farther away hub station. This may be critical if the nearest hub station is an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and the nearest hub station detected based on signal strength is a storage station or other location where the status of the cylinders associated with the first monitoring is less important.

In one embodiment, instead of the first monitoring system processing the data and determining the time and/or time interval at which the advertisement package is broadcast, the analysis of the data may be performed by a processor of the second monitoring system or a further device having instructions based on the data subsequently transmitted to the first monitoring system. The instructions may configure the advertising package, change the time and/or time interval at which data is broadcast from the first monitoring system, or control the output of the cylinders.

In addition to broadcasting advertisement packets at times and/or time intervals that depend on data associated with the cylinders, packets may also be broadcast at times and/or time intervals that depend on the location of the cylinders, which is determined by association with one or more hub stations. The location of the cylinders may also be inferred from data within the advertising package being broadcast, for example when filled or delivering gas, and thus whilst it is advantageous to be able to determine the location of the first monitoring system from the hub station, it is not necessary to enable controlled broadcast of the advertising package.

The transmitters and receivers associated with the first and second monitoring systems may use wireless technology, such as Wi-Fi or bluetooth. Preferably, the transmission between the first and second monitoring systems uses bluetooth, most preferably Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), while the data transmission between the second monitoring system and the computer or cloud or further device uses Wi-Fi.

This is advantageous because the use of bluetooth transmission and reception with the first monitoring system further reduces energy consumption and preserves battery life of the first monitoring system, while the second monitoring system is connected to the mains power supply and therefore involves less power consumption.

While the normal mode of operation of the system is a first mode in which the first and second monitoring systems are not connected or paired, but this is more than 95% of the time, the receiver may also operate in a second mode to connect the second monitoring system to the first monitoring system to enable data transfer therebetween.

The invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

fig. 1 is an overview of a system according to a first aspect of the invention;

figure 2 is a general illustration of a gas cylinder according to a second aspect of the invention; and

fig. 3 is a detailed view of a portion of the system shown in fig. 2.

Referring now to the drawings in general, and to fig. 1 in particular, it will be appreciated that the cylinder system 14 may be located in any one of a number of positions throughout its life cycle, and it is often difficult to simply locate cylinders known in the supply chain. A typical supply chain includes a number of locations including, but not limited to, a filling station (a), a transport vehicle (B), a storage facility (C), and any one of a number of use locations, such as at D through F. These use locations may include a hospital ward (D), surgery (E), or home (F), as shown in fig. 2.

The cylinder system 14 comprises a cylinder 15 and a first monitoring system 16 for monitoring cylinder specific data associated with the cylinder 15. The first monitoring system 16 is powered by batteries (not shown) because connection to mains power is impractical because the gas cylinder system 14 is often moved from one location to another and within those locations, for example in a hospital.

The first monitoring system 16 is provided with a low energy Bluetooth (BLE) transmitter 22 for broadcasting data in the form of Advertisement Packets (APs). The first monitoring system 16 may also be provided with a receiver 26 for receiving data or command signals from the second monitoring system 18 or further devices. Each of these further devices will be discussed in more detail below. The first monitoring system 16 has an internal processor 23 which includes software for instructing the broadcast of Advertisement Packets (APs) at intervals and/or times dependent on the data being monitored.

Example content of an advertisement package is shown in table 1. It will be appreciated that the data in the advertising package may be selected according to data important to the management of the gas supply, and include fixed data and variable data.

TABLE 1 example advertisement Package

In fig. 2 and 3, one or more of each of the locations a through F is provided with a second monitoring system in the form of a hub station 18a-F, each hub station 18a-F including a receiver 19a-F, the receiver 19a-F being operable in a first mode to receive an Advertising Packet (AP) from the first monitoring system 16 without the first and second monitoring systems becoming connected or paired. Each of the hub stations 18a-f is at a known location and, in contrast to the first monitoring system 16, which is powered by batteries, is connected to a main power source because no movement of the hub stations 18a-f is required. Typically, the hub stations 18a-F will be fixed on the walls at locations A, C, D, E and F, and at convenient locations on the transport vehicle B.

Preferably and where appropriate, for example in locations covering large areas such as hospitals, each location is provided with a plurality of hub stations, such as hospital wards (D) and surgery (E) to ensure that at least one hub station can receive data from the first monitoring system 16 within that location. Preferably, the second monitoring systems 18a-f are each operable to monitor at least the location of any cylinder system 14 in which the first monitoring system 16 is provided, but they may operate as described below to monitor more data and/or initiate commands/transmit data received from the first monitoring system 16 to further equipment. The further device may be any one or more of a cloud-based server or computer system 20, a further device 60, or a human-machine interface system 70, each described in more detail below. Further apparatus 60 and/or human-machine interface system 70 may be provided with software applications to facilitate human interaction, including display and modification or control of information by manual input.

Referring now particularly to fig. 1, the cylinder system 14 is also provided with a cylinder-specific data monitor (CSDM) for monitoring cylinder-specific data such as cylinder identification, remaining gas supply time, expiration date, cylinder type, cylinder location, ambient temperature, gas usage, time since prime, gas usage rate, gas pressure within the cylinder, gas temperature within the cylinder, usage data, transmission data, battery life, and remaining gas.

The gas cylinder 15 may also include an environment-specific data monitor (ESDM) for monitoring environment-specific data and/or a patient-specific data monitor (PSDM) for monitoring patient-specific data. The environment-specific data may include any one or more of location, smoke, temperature, movement, or vibration, while the patient-specific data may include any one or more of oxygen saturation, patient identity, patient type, blood pressure, heart rate, respiration, and gas usage.

Each of the monitors may be operatively connected to the first monitoring system 16 via lines L1-L3 for communicating data thereto. The cylinder system 14 may also include a Global Positioning System (GPS) and transmitter (GPS), a Wireless Transmitter (WT), or any such similar device for broadcasting its location, as shown generally at 40.

The cylinder system 14 further comprises a controllable outlet valve 34 for controlling the gas output from the cylinder 15, and the first monitoring system 16 comprises a controller 16c operatively linked to the outlet valve 34, wherein the valve 34 is controllable in accordance with a received command to vary or prevent the flow of gas from the cylinder 15. Such commands are sent by a first monitoring system 16 which monitors the status of the gas cylinder 15. In one arrangement, the first monitoring system 16 may also be programmed to respond to one or more automatic valve closing commands upon receiving an adverse condition signal generated by detecting any one or more of: smoke, undesirable vibrations, undesirable movement, undesirable temperature, excessive or unprogrammed gas usage, excessive or unexpected gas pressure, gas distribution without receiving expiration date patient-specific data, or unexpected or unprogrammed locations of the gas cylinder system 14.

In an alternative embodiment, commands may be sent from the second monitoring system 18, the further device 60 or the human machine interface 70 to the first monitoring system 16. In this case, the first monitoring system 16 may also be programmed to respond to one or more automatic valve closing instructions upon receiving an adverse condition signal generated by detecting the absence of a command signal from the second monitoring system 18, further device 60, or human interface module 70.

The system may also include an automatic check and restart function for periodically checking the received data after the valve is closed due to the detection of an adverse condition signal and restarting gas flow if no further adverse condition signal is received. The system may include an automatic check and restart function, including a smart restart function, for allowing delivery of gas according to a predetermined control strategy. These functions may be provided in the first monitoring system 16, the second monitoring system 18, or in a further device such as a server or computer 20, as discussed below.

The first monitoring system 16 may include an operational mode in which it is fully operational and a sleep mode in which it is not fully operational but can be returned into the operational mode upon detection of gas cylinder activity (such as a valve being opened) or receipt of a signal from the second monitoring system 18 to cause the first monitoring system 16 to adopt the Operational Mode (OM) or Sleep Mode (SM) when required. However, it will be appreciated that such signals may be transmitted from any other suitable functional device. Such other suitable devices include a human interface module 70 for providing information or warnings to a user or accepting cylinder operation command inputs from a user. Preferably, the human-machine interface module 70 has a plurality of operating modes, and the first monitoring system 16 is operable to change the operating mode of the interface module 70 in accordance with input signals from the second monitoring system 18. Such input signals may include position signals that, when received by the first monitoring system, result in a change in state that triggers one or the other or both of the valve position and/or the state of human interface module 70.

When the gas cylinder is in a particular position or is absent of a position having a second monitoring system, the position of the valve may change, such as to prevent or allow or limit or control gas delivery. The human-machine interface may be changed, such as to: enable or disable an audio alert; muting such an alarm; enable or disable visual alerts; reducing the light output of such alarms. Any audio or visual alarm or display may be provided separately to other portions of the interface 70 and may include discrete alarms or displays located at convenient locations on the gas cylinder system 14 or in close proximity to the gas cylinder system 14. Human-machine interface module 70 is operable to change or cancel any one or more of: audio output, visual output, operational command output, user accessibility, user interface functionality, or operational capability. The human machine interface module 70 may also be used to receive and display patient-specific data to hospital staff, patients, or others. The system 10 may also include a memory 101 for retrievably storing any one or more of patient-specific data, cylinder-specific data, and environment-specific data. The memory is accessible by the human machine interface 70, such as to allow hospital staff to view patient-specific data, such as to make treatment decisions based thereon. This arrangement is particularly useful when the reservoir 101 is associated with the cylinder system 14 such that it moves with the cylinders. This would enable hospital staff to quickly and easily read patient-specific data for an incoming patient or new patient and integrate that data into any patient management or any patient treatment plan. The memory may also be operatively linked to the first monitoring system 16 to allow the second monitoring system 18 to access it.

The second monitoring system 18 may also be used to transmit any one or more of patient-specific data, cylinder-specific data, or environment-specific data to the further device 60, the human-machine interface 70, or the computer system 20 for subsequent analysis by any one of a plurality of staff persons who may access the further device or the human interface 70.

The further device 60 mentioned above may be mounted on the gas cylinder itself, or may be a stand-alone computer 62 with a display, a handheld computer device, a mobile phone or any such similar device. Such devices are easy to integrate into the system 10, and their use will allow data, such as patient-specific data, to be more easily shared between people who need it. Such data sharing will inevitably improve patient care.

Communication between any of the devices 16, 18, 20, 60, 70 may be through a wired connection W or a wireless connection WL. Software applications may be provided for further device 60 and/or human-machine interface system 70 to facilitate human interaction, including information display and modification or control through manual input.

Referring now more particularly to fig. 3, the system may further include a computer system 20 for receiving any one or more of patient-specific data, cylinder-specific data, and/or environment-specific data. The computer 20 may be a mainframe computer or a cloud-based server in a hospital. Either arrangement of the computer 20 may be operatively connected to the management system 30 to allow management of one or more cylinder systems 14 when desired. Such a management system 30 may further comprise an input device such as a keyboard 32 or a screen or may be linked to a further device 60 or a human interface module 70. Typical management activities may include: controlling certain types of gas cylinders so that they cannot distribute gas at or beyond certain locations; limiting or stopping the supply of gas from the gas cylinder during certain times; emergency shut-down of the gas cylinder in the event of a fire or other dangerous condition; initiating an audio or visual alarm on the gas cylinder; disabling an audio or visual alarm on the cylinder in a sensitive environment or during quiet periods; communicate with hospital staff or patients through a human-machine interface or alarm; providing gas cylinder position information to staff; ordering replacement cylinders before gas expiration; if its expiration date is exceeded, the cylinder is disabled, etc.

It will be appreciated that the second monitoring system 18a-f is important to certain aspects of the present invention because it acts as a communicator between the devices. In particular, it allows data from the cylinders (via the first monitoring system associated therewith), the patient and the environmental monitoring system to be communicated to the computer 20 and/or any of a number of other devices and allows commands, instructions, information and communications to be communicated to the cylinders 15. The second monitoring systems 18a-f may also be used to allow communication between cylinders 15 and the passage of user-entered or system-generated information between cylinders 15.

It will be appreciated that any one or more or all of the computer 20, management system 30, memory 101, further apparatus 60 or human machine interface 70 may be provided on or closely associated with the actual gas cylinder system 14 so as to be movable therewith. Such an arrangement would enable hospital staff to immediately access the data and control the supply of gas to the patient. In addition, the management system 30 is operable to monitor patient-specific data, such as heart rate and/or oxygen saturation, and modify the delivery of oxygen to the patient according to predefined or specified control requirements. These control requirements may include any one or more of the following:

a) inputting maximum and/or minimum oxygen saturation to be maintained

b) Monitoring oxygen saturation of a patient

c) Adjusting oxygen delivery based on received data regarding actual oxygen saturation

d) Adjusting oxygen delivery and/or oxygen delivery according to a predefined control algorithm

e) Oxygen delivery was adjusted manually.

The system operates as follows:

the first monitoring system 16 broadcasts Advertisement Packets (APs) in a first mode at given time intervals according to its location and operational status.

The location of the first monitoring system 16 (and thus the cylinders) is determined by identifying which hub station 18a-f (whose location is known) is receiving data from the first monitoring system 16 broadcasting an Advertisement Packet (AP) in a first mode. If an Advertisement Packet (AP) broadcast by the first monitoring system 16 is received by more than one hub station 18a-f, the location of the first monitoring system 16 is determined by triangulation between hub stations.

The status of the cylinder and/or patient data and/or environmental data is determined by analyzing data within the Advertising Package (AP). In table 1, and by way of example, the Advertisement Packet (AP) shows that the offset byte 7 has a new value of 6 to indicate that the cylinder is filling, and the internal processor 23 instructs the transmitter 22 to no longer broadcast the advertisement packet until the status and/or position of the cylinder changes.

In this embodiment, the internal processor 23 of the first monitoring system 16 comprises software for instructing the broadcasting of Advertisement Packets (APs) at time intervals and/or times that depend on the data being monitored, i.e. the Advertisement Packets (APs) do not need to be broadcast from the first monitoring system to the second monitoring system 18 or to a further device, such as a computer system, in order to determine the time and/or time interval at which the Advertisement Packets (APs) should be broadcast.

The software within the first monitoring system 16 may be configured such that an Advertising Package (AP) is broadcast when a cylinder arrives at a filling station to identify the gas content of the cylinder, and when the cylinder leaves the filling station to confirm that the cylinder has been filled, and is not broadcast during filling.

After filling, the cylinder system 14 is typically delivered in some way by means of, for example, a delivery truck 200, which delivery truck 200 may also be equipped with a second monitoring system in the form of a hub station 18 b. It will be appreciated that in the case of the truck 200, only one hub station 18b is required, as the broadcast range of the bluetooth transmitter 22 of the first monitoring system 16 is sufficient to cover all locations within the truck 200. The hub station 18b may send a signal to the first monitoring system 16 of the cylinder system 14 to ensure that gas cannot be dispensed during transit and/or to ensure that the audible alarm is set to maximum volume and may also be used to place the cylinder system 14 in a sleep mode in order to manage the power requirements of the cylinders. The environment-specific data may be used to control cylinder valves and/or alarms in the event of adverse environmental events such as smoke detection, unexpected temperature changes, or adverse vibrations. In the case of a truck 200 being used or the cylinder system being transported, for example in an ambulance (not shown), the second monitoring system 18 may communicate its location by GPS transmission which in turn identifies the location of the cylinder system 14, the cylinder system 14 broadcasting data and being identifiable by the second monitoring system. Knowing the location of the cylinders and the data associated with the cylinders enables the hospital to check whether the ordered cylinders are in transit and inform the staff of the number of cylinders, gas type and cylinder type being transported. The software within the first monitoring system 16, or alternatively in the computer system 20 or any further device in communication with the first monitoring system 16, may be configured such that a broadcast package (AP) is broadcast to confirm the content when the cylinders 15 are unloaded or unloaded from the truck 200, and further no or limited broadcasts are made during transport. The location of the cylinder system 14 is identified in the same manner as described above, except that the location of the hub station is determined by GPS.

Upon delivery to storage location C, the second monitoring system 18C will identify the cylinder system 14 in the same manner as described with respect to the filling station. Likewise, the second monitoring system 18 may be used to manage any aspect of the gas cylinder system 14 mentioned herein, but in particular it may be used to manage power by placing the gas cylinder in a sleep mode and may prevent gas from being delivered by activating an auto-off mode on the gas cylinder valve 34. Still further, the environment-specific data may be used to control cylinder valves and/or alarms in the event of adverse environmental events such as smoke detection, unexpected temperature changes, adverse vibrations, and the like.

The software within the first monitoring system 16, or alternatively in the computer system 20 or any further device in communication with the first monitoring system, is configured such that the broadcast Advertising Package (AP) is broadcast as the cylinders enter or leave the storage location, with no or less frequent broadcasts during storage. The location of the cylinder system is identified in the same manner as described above. Typically, when a cylinder is stored, an Advertisement Packet (AP) will be broadcast approximately every 30 minutes.

The cylinder system 14 may remain in storage C for a period of time or may be subsequently transferred forward to locations where gas is expected to be dispensed, such as those shown as locations D through F by way of example. In such a position, it is expected that the cylinder 15 will need to deliver gas, and therefore the control of the cylinder valve 34 is modified accordingly to allow such delivery. The control may be modified on a time basis to prevent delivery of gas during periods when delivery of gas is not desired and/or to prevent delivery of gas without patient-specific data. In the example of location D, a cylinder system 14 is present on the hospital ward D and communicates with the hub station 18D to communicate cylinder-specific information and/or patient-specific data and/or environment-specific data to the computer 20, further devices 60 or human interface module 70, all as discussed above. As noted above, it is likely that in a hospital ward, more than one hub will be needed to ensure that there is always at least one hub within the broadcast range of the first monitoring system 16.

It will be appreciated that when the cylinder is at position D, E or F, the time interval for data broadcast will be reduced, as it is important to periodically update the status of the cylinder and other data, particularly the remaining air supply time. When the cylinder 15 is used to deliver gas, the first monitoring system 16 detects that the cylinder valve 34 is not only open but also delivering gas, and so broadcasts advertising packets at given intervals (e.g. every 60 seconds), with typical broadcast times for these locations being 30 seconds to 2 minutes. If the first monitoring system detects that gas is no longer being delivered, but the valve remains open, the time interval of the broadcast is increased to, for example, 5 minutes. If the first monitoring system detects that no gas has been delivered for a period of time, the time interval will again be increased until gas delivery is again commenced, or some other change in the state of the cylinder or environment requires an immediate or more frequent broadcast.

The software may also be configured to broadcast data immediately when key cylinder data reaches a certain threshold, for example, when the remaining gas supply time is low. The software may be further configured to increase the frequency of broadcasts (reduce the time interval between broadcasts) during certain events such as gas delivery, and also further reduce the time interval between broadcasts when critical levels of data are approached, for example, if the gas supply is insufficient, or if the battery level of the first monitoring system is approaching such that the first monitoring system is inoperable, which itself needs to be avoided.

When the cylinder system 14 is in position D, it may be desirable to reduce the volume of any alarms at night or at any other time, and it may also be desirable to ensure that cylinder-specific data (such as remaining gas) is of increased importance in order to ensure continuity of supply when significant or unexpected use occurs. In particular, patient-specific data may be broadcast to inform staff of patient parameters that they may make clinical decisions. The transfer of patient-specific data may also include patient-specific data stored in memory 101. Further information such as gas demand and gas flow may be broadcast to allow an alarm or control signal to be generated if delivery does not match demand or the patient does not respond to gas delivery in the desired manner. Such an alarm would allow for early investigation and modification of treatment or modification of gas delivery or any investigation and resolution of e.g. delivery problems. Such problems may include the patient lying on the gas delivery supply or the supply disconnecting from the patient. The environment-specific data may be used to close cylinder valve 34 upon detection of smoke or any other adverse environment-specific data. As the patient is smoking, smoke may be detected, which may have a significant safety hazard if the gas delivered is oxygen. The environment-specific data may be used to modify the volume of any alarm or to change the control of the cylinder in any other way.

It will be appreciated that the management system 30 may be provided on the gas cylinder system 14 itself, so as to provide the medical personnel with an instantly available control system 10 without the aid of further equipment. It will also be appreciated that the gas cylinder system 14 may include a human machine interface module provided.

Use in surgery (position E) may require disabling or modifying the audio alarm so as not to interfere with other alarms, and the system 10 may be used to cause patient-specific data to be transmitted to the computer 20 or shared with other members of the staff outside the operating room or to the further device 60 or human-machine interface module 70 for sharing in another manner. During surgery, the time interval between data broadcasts may be smaller than the time interval on the patient room (location D) (e.g., every 30 seconds).

Use in the home (location F) may require simple instructions to be displayed by the human machine interface 70 to the patient P in order to allow self-resolution of technical or medical problems. In addition, the volume of the audio alert may be increased and any manual override may be disabled.

The system 10 described above may also be used to broadcast or communicate information or commands or alarms between or to the various cylinder systems 14. For example, since each gas cylinder system 14 includes an alarm and each gas cylinder system 14 is connected to the system 10, the system may be used to communicate an evacuation alarm to each gas cylinder system 14 to allow personnel to respond accordingly.

Additionally, instructions may be sent to the home patient at location F. It will be appreciated that any form of data or command may be transmitted to or from the gas cylinder system 14 at any one or more of the locations a to F, and that modifications, deletions and changes to the data being transmitted, creation or modification of alarms and controls being implemented are possible. Accordingly, the specific examples described above are merely illustrative.

It will be appreciated that when the second monitoring system is not within range of the Wi-Fi network, for example during transport of a truck or ambulance, the data may be transmitted to the further device via a mobile network, a cloud-based server or a remote computer.

The first monitoring system may also be provided with a motion detector (not shown) to detect movement of the gas cylinder, in particular the gas cylinder is changing position. If movement is detected, the software may be configured to immediately broadcast data to the second monitoring system to identify the location of the cylinder and its status.

The second monitoring system may send additional data, such as command signals, to the first monitoring system 16 in order to control the operation of the gas cylinder system 14 to prevent inadvertent gas delivery and/or automatic closing and holding of the shut-off valve 34 within the filling station during adverse events such as a fire or excessive vibration caused by, for example, an earthquake. These control parameters may be applied to any of the positions a to F detailed above and in the following description. The cylinder-specific data and/or the environment-specific data is broadcast to the second monitoring system for further transmission throughout the system 10. Information such as the date of filling can be used to calculate an expiration date to ensure good gas safety management. The environment-specific data may be used to control cylinder valves and/or alarms in the event of adverse environmental events such as smoke detection, unexpected temperature changes, adverse vibrations, and the like.

In an alternative embodiment, the data processing for determining the time and/or time interval at which the Advertisement Packet (AP) is broadcast may be determined by a processor in the second monitoring system or a processor in the computer system 20, rather than being internal to the first monitoring system 16. If the processor is in the second monitoring system, an advertisement packet is received from the first processing system via a Bluetooth transmission. If the processor is in the computer system 20, the computer system 20 receives Advertisement Packets (AP) via broadcasts from the first monitoring system 16 using Bluetooth transmissions and from the hubs 18a-f via a Wi-Fi network. The calculated time and/or time interval for broadcasting an Advertisement Packet (AP) from the first monitoring system 16 is transmitted from the hub station 18a-f to the first monitoring system directly via bluetooth transmission or from the computer system over a Wi-Fi network and using bluetooth transmission from the hub station 18a-f to the first monitoring system 16. It will be appreciated that the first monitoring system 16 and the hub stations 18a-f must be close enough to each other to enable data to be transmitted using bluetooth, which has a shorter range than Wi-Fi transmissions. The distance between the computer system and the hub is less limited due to the longer distance over which data can be transmitted using Wi-Fi. The time and location at which the Advertisement Package (AP) is broadcast may also be determined within the computer system 20 or with any further devices in communication with the first monitoring system 16 either directly or through the second monitoring system 18.

It will be appreciated that the first monitoring system 16 and the second monitoring system 18 do not become connected or paired when the systems operate in the first mode. The system may also operate in a second mode in which the first and second monitoring systems are connected or paired to enable data transfer therebetween. When a connection is made between two monitoring systems, it may be more appropriate to transfer certain types of data than to send the data without a connection or pairing. Examples of data include instructions to the first monitoring system to control cylinder operation or alarm status, or to reconfigure advertising packets, although such data may also be sent to the first monitoring system without a connection.

In the above-described embodiment, data is broadcast from the first monitoring apparatus by the advertisement packet, although at different time intervals. Thus, a first monitoring device may be considered to act like a beacon broadcasting data, which is then received by a second monitoring device when within range using bluetooth transmissions. The data content of the advertising package also varies depending on the state of the system, which means that the cylinders, patients and environment and hence the packaging are dynamic in nature. The second monitoring system may also send data and/or instructions to the first monitoring system using bluetooth or other wireless communication if the first monitoring system is properly enabled. Using bluetooth to send data has the following advantages: firstly, less energy is consumed for any given broadcast, and secondly, less energy is consumed by reducing the number of broadcasts according to the monitoring data and location associated with the first monitoring system compared to known continuous bluetooth transmissions which require pairing and therefore continuous connection. In battery powered systems, it is clearly important that the energy requirement of the first monitoring system is reduced during the broadcasting or receiving of data. The sending and receiving of data and information from the second monitoring system to further devices, clouds or computer systems relies on Wi-Fi, which is necessary for more distant transmission but is more energy consuming.

However, the energy consumption is less important than for the first monitoring system because the second monitoring system is connected to the mains power supply.

Claims (32)

1. A gas cylinder monitoring system (10) comprising:

a) a gas cylinder (15) for receiving and dispensing the gas contained therein,

b) a first monitoring system (16) associated with the cylinder, the first monitoring system (16) being operable to monitor data associated with the cylinder (15) and having a transmitter (22), the transmitter (22) being operable to broadcast data in the form of discrete Advertising Packets (AP) at controlled times and/or intervals, and,

c) a second monitoring system (18a-F) associated with one or more locations (A-F) in which the first monitoring system (16) can reside and having a receiver (19), the receiver (19) being operable in a first mode to receive the advertising package broadcast from the first monitoring system (16) when the second monitoring system (18) is within range of the first monitoring system (16).

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the advertising package includes fixed data and variable data that are invariant to operation of the cylinder (15).

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the controlled time and/or time interval is dependent on the variable data.

4. The system of any preceding claim, further comprising a processor operable to identify the second monitoring system (18) receiving data from the first monitoring system (16) to determine the location (a-F) of the first monitoring system (16).

5. The system according to claim 4, wherein the controlled time and/or time interval is dependent on the position (A-F) of the first monitoring system (16).

6. The system of claim 4 or 5, wherein the second monitoring system is a plurality of hub stations (18A-F) at known locations, the processor operable to identify one or more of the plurality of hub stations (18A-F) to receive data from the first monitoring system (16) to determine the location of the first monitoring system (16).

7. The system of claim 6 wherein the processor is operable to identify the hub station (a-F) receiving data at a highest signal strength to determine the location of the first monitoring system (16).

8. The system of claim 6, further comprising a processor operable to triangulate between hub stations (18A-F) within range of a first monitoring system (16) to determine the location of the first monitoring system (16).

9. The system of any preceding claim, wherein the receiver (19) is further operable in a second mode to connect the second monitoring system (18) to the first monitoring system (16).

10. The system of any preceding claim, wherein the first monitoring system (16) and the second monitoring system (18) are operable to communicate additional data therebetween.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein the first and second monitoring systems are operable to connect to one another to communicate additional data therebetween.

12. The system of claim 9 or 10, wherein the additional data comprises data configuring the advertisement package.

13. A system according to any one of claims 9 to 12, wherein said additional data comprises data which changes the time and/or time interval at which said Advertisement Packet (AP) is propagated from said first monitoring system (16).

14. A system as claimed in any one of claims 9 to 13, characterised in that the additional data comprises data controlling the output of the gas cylinder (16).

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the output is one or more of enabling an alarm, disabling an alarm, or controlling airflow.

16. The system of any preceding claim, wherein the first monitoring system (19) is further operable to broadcast the advertising package at times and/or intervals dependent on the location of the first monitoring system (16).

17. A system as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the transmitter (40) is a bluetooth transmitter.

18. A system according to any preceding claim, wherein the advertisement packet is broadcast in less than 50 ms.

19. The system of any preceding claim, wherein the data relates to one or more of cylinder location, cylinder identification number, cylinder size, cylinder pressure, cylinder operating mode, battery life, tamper status, firmware version, time remaining for gas supply, expiration date, cylinder type, ambient temperature, gas usage, time since prime, gas usage rate, gas pressure within a cylinder, gas temperature within a cylinder, usage data, transmission data, and remaining gas.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the first monitoring system is operable to decrease the time interval as the remaining time of gas supply decreases.

21. A system according to claim 19 or 20, wherein the first monitoring system (16) is operable to broadcast the data immediately when the air supply time reaches a predetermined lower threshold.

22. The system of any preceding claim, wherein data from the first monitoring system (16) identifies a mode of operation of the gas cylinder.

23. The system of claim 22, wherein the time and/or time interval is determined by the operating mode.

24. The system of claim 22 or 23, wherein the operating mode of the gas cylinder comprises one or more of a deep sleep mode, a connected mode, a standby mode, a gas delivery mode, or a failure mode.

25. The system of claim 24, wherein the first monitoring system is operable to broadcast the data immediately if the gas cylinder enters a failure mode or a gas delivery mode or a connected mode.

26. The system of claim 24 or 25, wherein the time interval is less than 2 minutes when the cylinder is in a gas delivery mode.

27. The system of any preceding claim, wherein the known locations comprise one or more of a filling station, a storage station, a hospital ward, a patient's home, an ambulance, an operating room, and a transportation vehicle.

28. The system of claim 27, wherein the interval between broadcasts of the data is greater than 30 minutes when the cylinder is in a storage station.

29. A system according to claim 27 or 28, wherein the first monitoring system is operable to broadcast the data when the cylinder arrives at the filling station.

30. A system according to any one of claims 27 to 29, wherein the first monitoring system is operable to broadcast the data as the gas cylinder leaves the filling station.

31. The system of any preceding claim, further comprising a motion sensor (23), the motion sensor (23) operable to detect motion of the first monitoring system (16), wherein the first monitoring system (16) is operable to broadcast the data immediately if motion is detected.

32. The system of any preceding claim, further comprising a computer system (20) in communication with the second monitoring system (18), the computer system (20) being operable to receive information from the second monitoring system (18) relating to the data associated with the location of the gas cylinder (15) and/or the second monitoring system (18).