Patent #5,987,519
Inventor(s)
Peifer; John W. , Atlanta, GA
Hopper; Andrew , Atlanta, GA
Burrow; Michael , Lawrenceville, GA
Sudduth; Barry , Lawrenceville, GA
Panchal; Samir , Norcross, GA
Quay; Andy , Kennesaw, GA
Price; W. Edward , Smyrna, GA
Searle; John R. , Houston, TX
Applicant(s)
Georgia Tech Research
Corporation, Atlanta, GA
Issued/Filed Dates
Nov. 16, 1999 / Sept.
19, 1997
Abstract
The present invention provides a packet-based
telemedicine system for communicating video, voice and medical
data between
a central monitoring station and a patient monitoring station which
is remotely-located with respect to the central monitoring station.
The patient monitoring station obtains digital video, voice and
medical measurement data from a patient and encapsulates the data
in packets and sends the packets over a network to the central
monitoring station. Since the information is encapsulated in packets,
the information can be sent over multiple types or combinations
of network architectures, including a Community access Television
(CATV) network, the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), the
Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN), the Internet, a local
area network (LAN), a wide are network (WAN), over a wireless communications
network, or over an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) network. Thus,
a separate transmission protocol is not required for each different
type of transmission media. Rather, a single transport/network
layer protocol is used for encapsulating the information in packets
at the sending end and for de-encapsulating the information at
the receiving end. Furthermore, by sending the information in packets,
the video, voice and measurement data can be integrated and sent
over a single network.
What is claimed is:
1. A telemedicine system for transmitting voice, video and medical
data between a central monitoring station and a patient monitoring
station over a network, the telemedicine system comprising:
- a first
control unit located at the patient monitoring station, the control
unit receiving medical data from one or more medical
instruments in communication with the control unit and delivering
the medical data to a first communication device in communication
with the control unit, the communication device encapsulating
the medical data in packets in accordance with a preselected
communication
protocol and outputting the packets onto the network; and
- a second
control unit located at the central monitoring station, the
second control unit being in communication with a second
communication device, the second communication device receiving
the packets output
by the first communication device onto the network, the second
communication device de-encapsulating the packets to reconstruct
the medical data,
the reconstructed medical data being provided to the second
control unit;
- wherein the first control unit receives video and
voice data from videoconferencing equipment in communication
with the
control unit
and delivers the video and voice data to the first communication
device, the communication device encapsulating the video
and voice data in packets in accordance with the preselected
communications
protocol and outputting the packets onto the network, wherein
the
second communication device receives the packets encapsulating
the video and voice data and de-encapsulates the packets
to reconstruct the video and voice data, the second communication
device providing
the video and voice data to the second control unit. 2. The
telemedicine system of claim 1, wherein the telemedicine
system
is for transmitting
voice, video and medical data between a plurality of central
monitoring stations and a plurality of patient monitoring
stations, each patient
monitoring station comprising said first control unit and
each of
said central monitoring stations comprising said second control
unit.
3. The telemedicine system of claim 1, wherein
the network is a community access television (CATV) network.
4. The telemedicine system of claim 3, wherein the communications
protocol is TCP/IP.
5. The telemedicine system of claim 1, wherein the network is
an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) network.
6. The telemedicine system of claim 5, wherein the communications
protocol is TCP/IP.
7. The telemedicine system of claim 1, wherein the network is
the Internet.
8. The telemedicine system of claim 7, wherein the communications
protocol is TCP/IP.
9. The telemedicine system of claim 1, wherein the network is
a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN).
10. The telemedicine system of claim 9, wherein the communications
protocol is TCP/IP.
11. The telemedicine system of claim 1, wherein the network is
an Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN).
12. The telemedicine system of claim 11, wherein the communications
protocol is TCP/IP.
13. The telemedicine system of claim 1, wherein the network is
a local area network (LAN).
14. The telemedicine system of claim 13, wherein the communications
protocol is TCP/IP.
15. The telemedicine system of claim 1, wherein the network is
a wide area network (WAN).
16. The telemedicine system of claim 15, wherein the communications
protocol is TCP/IP.
17. The telemedicine system of claim 1, wherein the network is
a hybrid network consisting of a combination of one or more networks
selected from the group consisting of: a community access television
(CATV) network, an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) network, the
Internet, a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), an Integrated
Services Digital Network (ISDN), a local area network (LAN), or
a
wide area network (WAN).
18. The telemedicine system of claim 17, wherein the communications
protocol is TCP/IP.
19. A method of acquiring and transporting data in a telemedicine
system, the method comprising the steps of:
- generating medical
device command data and application-level data in a control unit
located at a central monitoring station,
the data
being represented by one or more bits;
- encapsulating the data
in packets in accordance with a preselected communications
protocol, each packet comprising a designation
of a patient monitoring station to which the packet is being
sent;
- outputting the packets onto a network;
- receiving the packets
at the patient monitoring station designated by the designation
comprised in the packets;
- de-encapsulating the packets to reconstruct
the data;
- providing the reconstructed data to a control unit
located at the patient monitoring station;
- obtaining video
and voice data from videoconferencing equipment located at
the central monitoring station;
- encapsulating the video and voice
data in packets in accordance with the preselected communications
protocol, each packet
comprising the designation of the patient monitoring
station;
- outputting the packets onto the network;
- receiving the packets
at the patient monitoring station;
- de-encapsulating the packets
to reconstruct the video and voice data; and
- providing the
reconstructed video and voice data to the control unit located
at the patient
monitoring
station.
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