INFUSION APPARATUS AND METHODS
This apparatus relates to infusion apparatus of the kind including an infusion reservoir, a code associated with the infusion reservoir, and a code reader associated with the apparatus by which the code associated with the reservoir can be read.
In order to reduce the risk of incorrect administration of medication to patients it has been proposed that medication reservoirs such as pre-filled syringes and infusion bags or the like be marked with machine-readable markings that can be read by the infusion device. The machine-readable markings are most conveniently printed bar codes. Conventional bar codes comprise a row of vertical lines and spaces of varying widths, which are read by scanning along the row. These bar codes enable about twenty- five characters to be represented in a convenient length. This enables the medication reservoir to be given a unique serial number by the pharmacy, which can be stored in the infusion apparatus. If the infusion apparatus and the pharmacy are linked by a common database system, the infusion apparatus can use the serial number to obtain information about the medication and how it is intended to be used so that this information can be used by the apparatus. Where the infusion apparatus is not linked into a common database, however, the nature of the bar code limits the amount of information that can be provided and hence restricts the functions of the infusion apparatus that can be controlled.
It is an object of the present invention to provide alternative infusion apparatus and methods.
According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided infusion apparatus of the above-specified kind, characterised in that the code is a 2-D code and the reader is a 2- D code reader operable to read the 2-D code such that information contained therein is utilized by the apparatus.
The information contained in the 2-D code is preferably selected from a list comprising: information about the nature of the infusate; batch number; expiry date; date of intended use; time of intended use; name of intended patient; weight of intended patient;
body surface area of intended patient; name of prescriber; name of consultant; allergies of intended patient; restricted drugs of intended patient; name of nurse; priority level of nurse; and information about infusion apparatus on which the nurse has trained. The information contained in the 2-D code preferably includes a plurality of items of information selected from the list. The infusion reservoir preferably contains an infusate, the infusate being a medicine. The infusion apparatus may be an infusion pump. The pump preferably includes a housing supporting the infusion reservoir, a pumping mechanism and a processor within the housing, the 2-D code reader being connected directly with the housing.
According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a system including infusion apparatus according to the above one aspect of the invention and a patient identification label carrying a 2-D code thereon containing information about the patient, characterised in that the 2-D code reader is adapted also to read the 2-D code on the patient identification label.
According to a further aspect of the present invention there is provided a system including infusion apparatus according to any one aspect of the invention and a care giver identification label carrying a 2-D code thereon containing information about the care giver, characterised in that the 2-D code reader is adapted also to read the 2-D code on the care giver identification label.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention there is provided an infusion reservoir having a 2-D code thereon for use in an apparatus or in a system according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the code includes data about fluid within the reservoir.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of infusing fluid to a patient including the steps of providing the fluid in a reservoir having a 2-D code associated therewith, reading the code with a 2-D code reader and supplying information from the reader to infusion apparatus to control operation of the apparatus.
The method may include the step of using the 2-D code reader to read a 2-D code on a patient identification label. The method may include the step of using the 2-D code reader to read a 2-D code on a care giver identification label.
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of infusing fluid to a patient including the steps of printing a 2-D code containing data about the fluid to be infused on a medium associated with a fluid reservoir, reading the code with a 2-D code reader and supplying information from the reader to infusion apparatus to control operation of the apparatus.
A syringe pump according and its method of operation according to the present invention, will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Figure 1 is a simplified elevation view of the pump and a syringe containing medication; and
Figures 2A to 2E show examples of different forms of 2D codes
The pump is conventional in many respects and may be of the kind described in EP 1186311 and EP 1188454, comprising a housing 1 with a recess 2 on one surface adapted to receive a syringe 3. A drive mechanism 4 within the housing 1 is controlled by a processor 5 to displace a plunger pusher mechanism 6, which engages and pushes the plunger 7 of the syringe 3 into the barrel 8 so as to provide a pumping mechanism for dispensing fluid medication in the syringe to a catheter 9 connected to its nose 10. It will be appreciated that the pump includes various conventional control and safety features well known to those in this field.
The syringe 3 has a label 30 adhered to it bearing a two-dimensional printed, optically-readable code 31, although this code could be printed directly onto a part of the syringe such as by ink jet printing. Alternatively, the code could be associated with the syringe in other ways such as being carried on packaging for the syringe or on an
accompanying paper sheet or the like. The code is printed on a medium such as the syringe barrel or a label applied to the syringe by the hospital pharmacy.
The pump includes a 2-D code reader 40 of conventional construction, such as including a moving beam laser scanner or a CCD scanner, connected with the pump processor 5 via a cable 41 and connector 42. Alternatively, the reader could be connected with the pump by a wireless connection, such as an infra-red or radio frequency connection, or the reader could be built into the pump housing 1. It is not essential that the reader be connected directly with the pump since it could be comiected with an ancillary computer (not shown) interconnected with the pump in some way. The reader 40 is adapted to read the 2-D code associated with the syringe 3 and to transfer the data in that code 31 to the pump so that the operation of the pump is controlled in some way by the transferred data.
Two-dimensional codes are similar to conventional one-dimensional bar codes of the kind comprising a horizontal row of vertical bars and spaces of varying width except that information is also encoded in the vertical dimension. One form of 2-D code is referred to as stacked symbology or multi-row code because it comprises in essence a series of one- dimensional bar codes one above the other. Examples of this form of code is shown in Figures 2 A and 2B, which show a PDF417 and a MicroPDF417 code respectively. Another form of code is known as Matrix code where the data is represented by the position of dark spots within a matrix. Examples of this are shown in Figure 2C, which shows an example of a QR or Quick Response Code, in Figure 2D, which shows an example of a Data Matrix code and in Figure 2E, which shows an example of a MaxiCode. Each of the codes illustrated can represent 250 characters. This enables a considerable amount of data about the medication and its intended use to be contained within the code 31 itself. For example, the following information could be contained within the code:
- drug name, concentration and dose
- buffer name, concentration and dose
- batch number
- expiry date
- date and time of intended use
- name of patient for which the medication is intended, with his weight and body surface area
- details of any allergies or restricted drugs of the patient
- name of the prescriber
- name of the consultant
- name of the nurse intended to give the medication
- priority level of the nurse
- list of the pumps on which the nurse has been trained
It will be appreciated that the code 31 need not contain all this data and could contain other data.
The information in the code 31 is sufficient to enable the processor 5 in the pump to set up a suitable infusion protocol for the intended patient. The reader 40 can also be used to read a 2-D code 51 on a patient's name tag or other label 50 and a 2-D code 61 on a name badge 60 of a nurse or other care giver to confirm that the medication is being given to the correct patient and by the appropriate nurse.
This system can enable a reduction in medication errors by reducing the risk that inappropriate doses are administered. Although previous systems employing one-dimensional codes have enabled the pump to check the serial number of the medication, it has only been possible for the pump to obtain further information about the specific medication and its intended use if the pump is connected to the hospital's computer system. The present invention, by contrast, enables considerable information to be provided to the pump even when the hospital does not have a compatible computer system, or when the pump is used out of a hospital environment.
It will be appreciated that the invention is not confined to syringe pumps but could be used with other infusion apparatus such as volumetric pumps or gravity infusors. The invention is not confined to use with medication but could be used with other infusion fluids, such as saline, feeding fluids, blood or the like.