US-12626790-B2 - Point-of-care testing (POCT) instrument and POCT system

US12626790B2US 12626790 B2US12626790 B2US 12626790B2US-12626790-B2

Abstract

A point of care testing (POCT) instrument for analyzing biological samples and a POCT system comprising a plurality of such POCT instruments is proposed. The POCT instrument comprises a housing, a measurement unit designed for collecting data indicative of at least one biological parameter of a biological sample, a main display, and an auxiliary display.

Inventors

Diego Delgrande
Ulrich Porsch
Nina Suter
Mathias Wilhelms

Assignees

ROCHE DIAGNOSTICS OPERATIONS, INC.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20210318
Priority Date: 20200323

Claims (20)

1 . A point of care testing (POCT) instrument for analyzing biological samples, the POCT instrument comprising: a housing; a measurement unit designed for collecting data indicative of at least one biological parameter of a biological sample; a main display; and an auxiliary display wherein the main display, the auxiliary display, and the measurement unit are each integrated into the same housing.
2 . The POCT instrument of claim 1 , wherein content displayed on each of the main display and the auxiliary display is visible from outside the housing.
3 . The POCT instrument of claim 1 , wherein the main display is arranged on a first side of the housing and the auxiliary display is arranged on a second side of the housing.
4 . The POCT instrument of claim 1 , wherein a circuitry of the auxiliary display is independent of a circuitry of the main display.
5 . The POCT instrument of claim 1 , further comprises, a first power source; and a second power source, wherein the main display is supplied by the first power source and the auxiliary display is supplied by the second power source.
6 . The POCT instrument of claim 1 , wherein the average number of pixels per area-unit of the main display is at least four times larger than that of the auxiliary display.
7 . The POCT instrument of claim 1 , wherein the housing comprises no openings or only openings for the measurement unit.
8 . The POCT instrument of claim 1 , wherein the main display comprises a touch functionality and the auxiliary display does not comprise a touch functionality.
9 . The POCT instrument of claim 1 , wherein the main display and the auxiliary display are arranged under a common transparent protective layer.
10 . The POCT instrument of claim 1 , further comprises, a switch unit designed for shutting off the main display but not the auxiliary display.
11 . The POCT instrument of claim 1 , wherein the main display is constructed based on a first display technology and the auxiliary display is constructed based on a second display technology.
12 . The POCT instrument of claim 11 , wherein the second display technology consumes less than half power per time unit per area than the first display technology.
13 . The POCT instrument of claim 1 , wherein the auxiliary display is designed for displaying content without power consumption.
14 . The POCT instrument of claim 1 , wherein the auxiliary display requires power for changing displayed content and wherein the POCT instrument is designed so that the command for changing content displayed on the auxiliary display and the necessary energy for this changing can be induced from an external source.
15 . The POCT instrument of claim 1 , wherein the auxiliary display is designed for displaying a constant content.
16 . The POCT instrument of claim 1 , wherein the visible area of the main display is at least three times larger than that of the auxiliary display.
17 . The POCT instrument of claim 1 , wherein the POCT instrument is designed for changing content displayed on the auxiliary display according to instructions inputted via an external input device.
18 . The POCT instrument of claim 1 , wherein the main display and/or a transparent protective layer arranged on top of the main display is arranged in a flush manner with a first side of the housing and the auxiliary display and/or a transparent protective layer arranged on top of the auxiliary display is arranged in a flush manner with a second side of the housing.
19 . The POCT instrument of claim 1 , wherein the main display and the auxiliary display are arranged on a same side of the housing and are not overlapping.
20 . The POCT instrument of claim 1 , further comprises, an authorization module for selectively authorizing a user of the POCT instrument to use certain functionality of the POCT instrument.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims priority to EP 20164926.6, filed Mar. 23, 2020, which is hereby incorporated by reference. BACKGROUND The present disclosure generally relates to a point of care testing (hereinafter referred to as “POCT”) instrument and a POCT system comprising such POCT instruments. POCT has a major effect on medical decisions as it allows providing physicians with decisive information and thus plays a vital role in public health care. POCT is performed mainly by nurses or medical staff trained for operating the POCT instruments available at the site of patient care, such as hospitals, emergency departments, intensive care units, primary care setting, medical centers, patient homes, a physician's office, a pharmacy, or a site of an emergency. POCT systems at a site often comprises a large number of POCT instruments and, in many cases, the staff applies sticky labels on the POCT instruments for organizational purposes, such as e.g., indicating a staff member or a unit to which the respective POCT instrument is allocated. However, sticky labels are considered hygienically problematic, since, in practice, it can be difficult to avoid accumulation of dirt on the sticky label, in particular, at edges and/or on the adhesive side of the sticky label if it partly detaches. The dirt can possibly lead to cross-contamination that could endanger personal and patients, in particular, since many sites in which POCT instruments are used are especially exposed to pathogens such as e.g., multi-resistant germs. Therefore, there is a need for providing POCT instruments that in practice can be kept hygienic with reasonable effort. SUMMARY According to the present disclosure, a point of care testing (POCT) instrument for analyzing biological samples is presented. The POCT instrument can comprise a housing, a measurement unit designed for collecting data indicative of at least one biological parameter of a biological sample, a main display, and an auxiliary display. Accordingly, it is a feature of the embodiments of the present disclosure to provide POCT instruments that in practice can be kept hygienic with reasonable effort. Other features of the embodiments of the present disclosure will be apparent in light of the description of the disclosure embodied herein. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS The following detailed description of specific embodiments of the present disclosure can be best understood when read in conjunction with the following drawings, where like structure is indicated with like reference numerals and in which: FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view on a POCT instrument in form of a portable device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 2 illustrates a perspective view on another POCT instrument in form of a portable device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 3 illustrates a front view of a POCT instrument in form of a portable device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 4 illustrates a front view of another POCT instrument in form of a portable device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 5 illustrates a schematic of a POCT instrument's electronics according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 6 illustrates a schematic of another POCT instrument's electronics according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 7 illustrates a front view of a POCT instrument in form of a benchtop device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 8 illustrates a POCT system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 9 illustrates a POCT system using Wi-Fi connections according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 10 illustrates a POCT system using RFID connections according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION In the following detailed description of the embodiments, reference is made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and in which are shown by way of illustration, and not by way of limitation, specific embodiments in which the disclosure may be practiced. It is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that logical, mechanical and electrical changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. A point of care testing (POCT) instrument for analyzing biological samples is proposed. The POCT instrument can comprise a housing, a measurement unit designed for collecting data indicative of at least one biological parameter of a biological sample, a main display, and an auxiliary display. According to some embodiments, the main display can be constructed based on a first display technology and the auxiliary display can be constructed based on a second display technology. According to some specific embodiments, the second display technology can consume less power than the first display technology, e.g., less than hal