BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The subject matter disclosed generally relates to a robotic tele-presence system.

2. Background Information

Robots have been used in a variety of applications ranging from remote control of hazardous material to assisting in the performance of surgery. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,762,458 issued to Wang et al. discloses a system that allows a surgeon to perform minimally invasive medical procedures through the use of robotically controlled instruments. One of the robotic arms in the Wang system moves an endoscope that has a camera. The camera allows a surgeon to view a surgical area of a patient.

There has been marketed a mobile robot introduced by InTouch-Health, Inc., the assignee of this application, under the trademark RP-7. The InTouch robot is controlled by a user at a remote station. The remote station includes personal computer with a joystick that allows the user to remotely control the movement of the robot. Both the robot and remote station have cameras, monitors, speakers and microphones to allow for two-way video/audio communication.

The InTouch RP-7 system is used by medical personnel to remotely â€œvisitâ€ a patient. The system is particularly useful for medical specialist. For example, medical personnel specializing in patient stroke care can remotely examine, diagnose and prescribe a patient management plan. With the proliferation of such robots it would be desirable to track and store data related to tele-presence sessions.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A robotic system with a robot that has a camera and a remote station coupled to the robot. The remote station controls the robot in a session that results in session content data. The system further includes a storage device that stores the session content data.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an illustration of a robotic system;

FIG. 2 is an illustration showing a user interface;

FIG. 3 is an illustration of a user interface displaying events and associated time stamps;

FIG. 4 is an illustration of a user interface with selectable fields;

FIG. 5 is an illustration showing the display of a pull-down menu;

FIG. 6 is an illustration showing a session field displayed in response to the selection of a field;

FIG. 7 is a schematic of an electrical system of a robot;

FIG. 8 is a graphical user interface of a user interface;

FIG. 9 is a graphical user interface at a remote station;

FIG. 10 is a graphical user interface at the remote station;

FIG. 11 is a graphical user interface when a NIHSS tab is selected;

FIG. 12 is a graphical user interface displayed when a t-PA table is selected

FIG. 13 is a graphical user interface displayed when a view images button is selected.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Disclosed is a robotic system that is used in a tele-presence session. For example, the system can be used by medical personnel to examine, diagnose and prescribe medical treatment in the session. The system includes a robot that has a camera and is controlled by a remote station. The system further includes a storage device that stores session content data regarding the session. The data may include a video/audio taping of the session by the robot. The session content data may also include time stamps that allow a user to determine the times that events occurred during the session. The session data may be stored on a server that is accessible to multiple users. Billing information may be automatically generated using the session data.

Referring to the drawings more particularly by reference numbers, FIG. 1 shows a robotic system 10. The robotic system 10 includes one or more robots 12. Each robot 12 may have a base station 14. The robot 12 is coupled to a remote control station 16. The remote control station 16 may be coupled to the base station 14 through a network 18. By way of example, the network 18 may be either a packet switched network such as the Internet, or a circuit switched network such has a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) or other broadband system. The base station 14 may be coupled to the network 18 by a modem 20 or other broadband network interface device. By way of example, the base station 14 may be a wireless router. Alternatively, the robot 12 may have a direct connection to the network 18 through, for example, a satellite.

The remote control station 16 may include a computer 22 that has a monitor 24, a camera 26, a microphone 28 and a speaker 30. The computer 22 may also contain an input device 32 such as a joystick or a mouse. The control station 16 is typically located in a place that is remote from the robot 12. Although only one remote control station 16 is shown, the system 10 may include a plurality of remote stations. In general any number of robots 12 may be controlled by any number of remote stations 16 or other robots 12. For example, one remote station 16 may be coupled to a plurality of robots 12, or one robot 12 may be coupled to a plurality of remote stations 16, or a plurality of robots 12.

Each robot 12 includes a movement platform 34 that is attached to a robot housing 36. The robot 12 may also have a camera 38, a monitor 40, a microphone(s) 42 and a speaker(s) 44. The microphone 42 and speaker 30 may create a stereophonic sound. The robot 12 may also have an antenna 46 that is wirelessly coupled to an antenna 48 of the base station 14. The system 10 allows a user at the remote control station 16 to move the robot 12 through operation of the input device 32. The robot camera 38 is coupled to the remote monitor 24 so that a user at the remote station 16 can view someone at the robot site such as a patient. Likewise, the robot monitor 40 is coupled to the remote camera 26 so that someone at the robot site can view the user. The microphones 28 and 42, and speakers 30 and 44, allow for audible communication between the robot site and the user of the system.

The remote station computer 22 may operate Microsoft OS software and WINDOWS XP or other operating systems such as LINUX. The remote computer 22 may also operate a video driver, a camera driver, an audio driver and a joystick driver. The video images may be transmitted and received with compression software such as MPEG CODEC.

The system 10 can be used to engage in a session that results in data. For example, the system 10 can be used by medical personnel to remotely examine, diagnose and prescribe a patient management plan for a patient 50 in a medical session. Either the patient, or a bed supporting the patient, may have a radio frequency information device (â€œRFIDâ€ ) 52. The RFID 52 may wirelessly transmit information that is received by the robot 12 through antennae 46. The RFID information can be used to correlate a particular session with a specific patient. The receipt of RFID information may initiate the storage of session data. Although a medical session is described, it is to be understood that other types of sessions may be conducted with the system 10. For example, the system 10 may be used to move the robot(s) about a factory floor wherein the user provides remote consultation. Consultation session data may be stored by the system 10.

The system can store and display session content data. Session content data is information regarding the substance of a session. For example, in a medical application, session content data would include physician notes, diagnosis and prescription information. In a factory-equipment repair application, session content data would include repair methodology and replaced parts. Session content data would not be mere time entries associated with the logging on and termination of a robot session.

The system 10 may include a records server 54 and/or a billing server 56 that can be accessed through the network 18. The servers 54 and 56 may include memory, processors, I/O interfaces and storage devices such as hard disk drives, as is known in the art. Records server 54 may have a storage device(s) 57 that stores session data. The server 54 may receive and store session data during a session. For example, the server 54 may receive and store video and audio captured by the robot camera 38 and microphone 42, respectively. To reduce bandwidth requirements during a session the session data, such as video/audio segments, can be transmitted from the robot 12 to the server 54 after the session has terminated. For example, when the user logs off the system. Timestamped progress notes are also simultaneously uploaded. The server 54 may contain other medical records of a patient such as written records of treatment, patient history, medication information, laboratory results, physician notes, etc. Video/audio segments can be timestamped and associated with the identification of the control station and the robot, and a unique identifier which can be cross-referenced with progress notes and other session data. These video/audio segments can then later be used to substantiate and reference the various progress notes and other events in a visual fashion. The system can track all head and base movements made during the course of the associated portion of the session, to allow correlation of those movements with the actions taken.

The system 10 may include a user interface 58 that allows a user at the remote location to enter data into the system. For example, the interface 58 may be a computer or a computer terminal that allows a user to enter information about the patient. The robot 12 can be moved into view of the patient through the remote station 16 so that patient information can be entered into the system while a physician is viewing the patient through the robot camera. The physician can remotely move the robot 12 to obtain different viewing angles of the patient. The user interface 58 may be a separate computer and/or be integral with the robot 12. The billing server 56 may automatically generate a bill from the information provided by the session data on a periodic basis. The billed elements may be based on either actions performed or outcomes achieved, or both. Alternatively, a user can manually generate bills through a user interface to the billing server.

The billing server 56 may receive session data during a session or upon termination of a session. Additionally, the billing server may poll a robot to retrieve data from its hard drive. The session data may be organized so as to automatically populate certain fields of a billing statement or report. The billing information can be automatically sent to an insurance carrier.

The server 54 can be accessible through a web page or other means for accessing information through a network 18. FIG. 2 shows a user interface 62 displayed at a remote station 16, or any other terminal that can access the server 54. The interface 62 can for example, provide a date and time that various physicians had sessions with different patients. FIG. 3 shows another user interface 64 that displays time stamps 66 that are associated with certain events 68. Records can be retrieved by various filters including physician name, patient name, time of session and services performed during the session. The event data can be initially stored in either the robot 12 or the remote station 16 and then loaded into the server 54, either during or after a session. Alternatively, event data can be directly loaded into the server without storing it locally on the robot or remote station.

The session data can be organized into a plurality of data types. FIG. 4 shows a plurality of different data types. For example, the session data can be organized into ENCOUNTER PROFILE data 70, PATIENT PROFILE data 72 and CLINICAL MANAGEMENT PROFILE data 74, with each having subfields such as EVENT and HISTORY. FIG. 5 shows a pull-down screen 78 that is displayed when a DEMOGRAPHICS field 76 is selected. FIG. 6 shows a field 80 that displays a number of sessions that match a selected HISPANIC field 82. The session data can be searched with Boolean operators such as AND and OR to search for multiple terms, data types, etc. The user can display all hits for the search, or have a statistical analysis performed based on the matching sessions.

In a factory equipment-repair application, the equipment being repaired during the session would replace the patient name in FIG. 2; and steps for repair would replace the event list in FIG. 3. Repair methodologies and affected part numbers would replace the search criteria in FIGS. 4, 5 and 6. Captured video and audio would show the steps in the repair process, and would be timestamped and cross-referenced to the data in FIG. 3.

Referring to FIG. 1, the system 10 may also include an image server 84 and a registry server 86. The image server 84 may include medical images. For example, the medical images may include CT scans of a patient's brain. The images can be downloaded to one of the remote stations 16 through the network 18. The registry server 86 may store historical data on patients. The historical data can be downloaded to a remote computer 16 through the network 18.

FIG. 7 shows an embodiment of a robot 12. Each robot 12 may include a high level control system 160 and a low level control system 162. The high level control system 160 may include a processor 164 that is connected to a bus 166. The bus is coupled to the camera 38 by an input/output (I/O) port 168, and to the monitor 40 by a serial output port 170 and a VGA driver 172. The monitor 40 may include a touchscreen function that allows a user to enter input by touching the monitor screen.

The speaker 44 is coupled to the bus 166 by a digital to analog converter 174. The microphone 42 is coupled to the bus 166 by an analog to digital converter 176. The high level controller 160 may also contain random access memory (RAM) device 178, a non-volatile RAM device 180 and a mass storage device 182 that are all coupled to the bus 172. The RAM 178, NVRAM 180 and/or mass storage device 182 may contain session data that is transmitted to the remote station and/or server. The robot antennae 46 may be coupled to a wireless transceiver 184. By way of example, the transceiver 184 may transmit and receive information in accordance with IEEE 802.11b.

The controller 164 may operate with a LINUX OS operating system. The controller 164 may also operate MS WINDOWS along with video, camera and audio drivers for communication with the remote control station 16. Video information may be transceived using MPEG CODEC compression techniques. The software may allow the user to send e-mail to the patient and vice versa, or allow the patient to access the Internet. In general the high level controller 160 operates to control communication between the robot 12 and the remote control station 16.

The high level controller 160 may be linked to the low level control system 162 by a serial port 186. The low level control system 162 may include components and software that mechanically actuate the robot 12. For example, the low level control system 162 provides instructions to actuate the movement platform to move the robot 12. The low level control system 162 may receive movement instructions from the high level controller 160. The movement instructions may be received as movement commands from the remote control station or another robot. Although two controllers are shown, it is to be understood that each robot 12 may have one controller, or more than two controllers, controlling the high and low level functions.

The system may be the same or similar to a robotic system provided by the assignee InTouch Technology, Inc. of Santa Barbara, Calif. under the name RP-7, which is hereby incorporated by reference. The system may also be the same or similar to the system disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,292,912, which is hereby incorporated by reference.

FIG. 8 shows a graphical user interface 250 can be provided at the user interface 58. The graphical user interface 250 includes a plurality of data fields 252 that can be filled by the user. The data fields 252 can request patient information such as name, age, etc. The data fields may also include request for medical data such as heart rate, glucose level and blood pressure (â€œSBPâ€ and â€œDBPâ€ ). The data entered into the fields 252 can be included in the session data that is transmitted and stored by the system 10. Filling the data fields may be designated an â€œeventâ€ that is given as associated time stamp and displayed by a user interface.

FIG. 9 shows a display user interface (â€œDUIâ€ ) 260 that can be displayed at the remote station 16. The DUI 260 may include a robot view field 262 that displays a video image captured by the camera of the robot. The DUI 260 may also include a station view field 264 that displays a video image provided by the camera of the remote station 16. The DUI 260 may be part of an application program stored and operated by the computer 22 of the remote station 16. The video and any accompanying audio displayed by the robot and station view fields may be transmitted and stored by the system 10 as session data.

The DUI 260 may contain a â€œprogress notesâ€ text editing field, which enables a â€œdocument as you treatâ€ methodology. As the physician conducts treatment, he can document both the treatment steps and outcomes in the progress notes field. Each note may be manually timestamped by the physician, or automatically timestamped by the software based on when the physician began typing each note. In the application of factory floor equipment repair, the progress notes would detail the various examinations and repair steps taken.

FIG. 10 shows a graphical user interface 270 that can be displayed by the monitor of the remote station 16. The interface 270 includes a â€œPATIENT INFOâ€ tab 272, a â€œNIHSSâ€ tab 274 and a â€œt-PAâ€ tab 276. Selection of the PATIENT INFO tab 272 displays various data fields 278 including patient name, age, weight, heart rate, etc. This may be the same information entered through the user interface 250. This information may be included in the session data that is transmitted and stored by the system 10. The usage of this interface may be tagged as an event with an associated time stamp.

FIG. 11 shows an interface 280 when the â€œNIHSSâ€ tab 274 is selected. The interface 280 has a data field 282 that provides a questionnaire to rate the severity of a stroke victim using the NIHSS stroke scale. This provides a readily available medical tool for the physician. The results of the questionnaire can be included in the session data and be tagged as an event that has an associated time stamp.

FIG. 12 shows an interface 290 when the â€œt-PAâ€ tab 276 is selected. The interface 290 may include a data field 292 that provides the patient's weight, a â€œTOTAL DOSEâ€ data field 294, a â€œBOLUS DOSEâ€ data field 296 and an â€œINFUSION DOSEâ€ data field 298. The interface 290 may also include a â€œCALCULATEâ€ button 300. When the CALCULATE button 300 is selected the data fields 294, 296 and 298 are automatically populated with a calculated dosage. This provides a patient management plan for the physician to review. The interfaces 270, 280 and 290 also have a â€œVIEW IMAGESâ€ button 302 that when selected displays an interface 310 shown in FIG. 13. The interface 310 includes a data field 312 and an image field 314. The image field 314 can provide a plurality of medical images such as a CT scan of the patient's head.

The calculated dosage and images can be included in the session data that is transmitted and stored by the system. The automatic population of the data fields may be tagged as an event with an associated time stamp. Likewise, the selection of the data and/or image fields may be tagged as events with time stamps.

The system is useful for allowing a physician to remotely view and treat a stroke patient. The system provides patient information, NIHSS stroke severity assessment, calculated t-PA dosage and CT head images that allow the physician to provide real time remote patient treatment. The system also allows such sessions to be audited so that medical personnel, healthcare institutions, insurance carriers, etc. can audit sessions. Such audits may include viewing video/audio captured by the robot during a session.

While certain exemplary embodiments have been described and shown in the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that such embodiments are merely illustrative of and not restrictive on the broad invention, and that this invention not be limited to the specific constructions and arrangements shown and described, since various other modifications may occur to those ordinarily skilled in the art.