Technological prospecting of patents related to monitoring accidents due to falls in hospitals

Abstract

Objectives: to map the production of technologies aimed at monitoring falls in a hospital environment protected by registered patents. Methods: a technological prospecting of international patents, with a quantitative approach, with search carried out between February and March 2022 in the Derwent Innovations Index database with descriptors fall, hospital, monitoring. Results: 212 patents were found, with the majority filed and published since 2010, by Tran B (9) and Cerner Innovation Inc (9), focused on health technology. Universities were responsible for 13% of deposits. There was a predominance of records from the United States (43.4%), China (21.7%) and Japan (12.3%), in addition to technological strategies classified as devices for the environment (80.7%) and for preventing falls (66.5%) as well as trend towards resources with multiple functionalities in the same technology. Conclusions: the plurality of functions in the same device reflects the search for optimizing resources and the concern with comprehensive care.