Hand-held vital signs monitor
First Claim
1. A method of determining a pre-ejection period (PEP) for a patient using a wearable vital signs sensor system, the method comprising:
- adhesively retaining a sensor component on the body of the patient at a position overlying the patient'"'"'s sternum below the sternal notch, the sensor component comprising (i) an electrical sensor comprising an analog-to-digital converter and processing circuitry that is operably connected to primary, reference, and ground electrodes that measure electrical impulses from the patient indicative of cardiac activity, the electrical sensor generating a first time dependent waveform comprising electrocardiogram signals, and (ii) a piezoelectric sensor that measures low-frequency pressure waves from the patient'"'"'s heart, the piezoelectric sensor generating a second time-dependent waveform comprising pressure wave frequency components from 40-500 Hz;
receiving the first time-dependent waveform and the second time-dependent waveform at a microprocessor configured toprocess the first time-dependent waveform to identify a first signal indicative of onset of a cardiac cycle,process frequency components between 40-500 Hz in the second time-dependent waveform to identify a second signal indicative of end of the PEP in the cardiac cycle,determine a PEP for the cardiac cycle as the time separating the first signal and the second signal, andcause the PEP for the cardiac cycle to be displayed on a display element operably connected to the microprocessor; and
causing the sensor component and the microprocessor to determine and display PEP for the patient in a continuous fashion for a plurality of cardiac cycles.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The invention features a vital sign monitor that includes: 1) a hardware control component featuring a microprocessor that operates an interactive, icon-driven GUI on an LCD; and, 2) a sensor component that connects to the control component through a shielded coaxial cable. The sensor features: 1) an optical component that generates a first signal; 2) a plurality electrical components (e.g. electrodes) that generate a second signal; and, 3) an acoustic component that generates a third signal. The microprocessor runs compiled computer code that operates: 1) the touch panel LCD; 2) a graphical user interface that includes multiple icons corresponding to different software operations; 3) a file-management system for storing and retrieving vital sign information; and 4) USB and short-range wireless systems for transferring data to and from the device to a PC.
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Citations
5 Claims
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1. A method of determining a pre-ejection period (PEP) for a patient using a wearable vital signs sensor system, the method comprising:
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adhesively retaining a sensor component on the body of the patient at a position overlying the patient'"'"'s sternum below the sternal notch, the sensor component comprising (i) an electrical sensor comprising an analog-to-digital converter and processing circuitry that is operably connected to primary, reference, and ground electrodes that measure electrical impulses from the patient indicative of cardiac activity, the electrical sensor generating a first time dependent waveform comprising electrocardiogram signals, and (ii) a piezoelectric sensor that measures low-frequency pressure waves from the patient'"'"'s heart, the piezoelectric sensor generating a second time-dependent waveform comprising pressure wave frequency components from 40-500 Hz; receiving the first time-dependent waveform and the second time-dependent waveform at a microprocessor configured to process the first time-dependent waveform to identify a first signal indicative of onset of a cardiac cycle, process frequency components between 40-500 Hz in the second time-dependent waveform to identify a second signal indicative of end of the PEP in the cardiac cycle, determine a PEP for the cardiac cycle as the time separating the first signal and the second signal, and cause the PEP for the cardiac cycle to be displayed on a display element operably connected to the microprocessor; and causing the sensor component and the microprocessor to determine and display PEP for the patient in a continuous fashion for a plurality of cardiac cycles. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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Specification