Defibrillators customized for anticipated patients

• US 20040249419A1
• Filed: 03/26/2004
• Published: 12/09/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 04/02/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Physio-Control Incorporated (Stryker Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Physio-Control Incorporated (Stryker Corporation)
• Inventors: Nova, Richard C., Owen, James M., Kavounas, Gregory T., Hampton, David Robert, Young Mitchell, Rene Ann, Stickney, Ronald Eugene, Daynes, John Carlton, Niskanen, Robert, Chapman, Fred William
• Granted Patent: US 7,805,190 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 607/5
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/3925 Monitoring; Protecting
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/3993 User interfaces for automatic external defibrillators
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/25 using biometric data, e.g. fingerprints, iris scans or voice recognition

Abstract

An external defibrillator is customized for at least one person, i.e., an anticipated patient, through creation of a profile for the anticipated patient that allows the defibrillator and users of the defibrillator to provide customized treatment to the patient. The profile may include treatment parameters for the anticipated patient, such as defibrillation therapy parameters selected for the patient. The profile may also include a baseline recording of a physiological parameter of the patient, and medical history and personal information regarding the patient. In some embodiments, the external defibrillator stores a profile for each of one or more anticipated patients within a memory. In other embodiments, a profile for an anticipated patient is stored within a medium associated with that anticipated patient. The medium may, for example, be a removable medium for external defibrillators.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

determining whether a patient is an anticipated patient; and

delivering therapy to the patient via an external defibrillator according to one of a general profile and another profile associated with the anticipated patient based on the determination.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining whether a patient is an anticipated patient comprises receiving an indication from a user via a user interface of the external defibrillator.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein determining whether a patient is an anticipated patient comprises receiving an indication from a patient identification device associated with the anticipated patient.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the patient identification device comprises a radio-frequency identification (RFID) device.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving information identifying the patient; and

selecting one of a plurality of anticipated patient profiles based on the identification,

wherein each of the anticipated patient profiles is associated with one of a plurality of anticipated patients, and delivering therapy comprises delivering therapy according to the selected anticipated patient profile.

6. The method of claim 1,

wherein the profile associated with the anticipated patient is stored within a memory associated with the patient, the method further comprising retrieving the profile associated with the anticipated patient from the memory associated with the anticipated patient to the external defibrillator, and

wherein determining whether a patient is an anticipated patient comprises determining that the patient is the anticipated patient based on receipt by the external defibrillator of the profile associated with the anticipated patient from the memory associated with the anticipated patient.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the memory associated with the anticipated patient is a removable medium for the external defibrillator.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the memory associated with the anticipated patient comprises a radio frequency identification (RFID) device that is interrogated by the external defibrillator.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein the memory associated with the anticipated patient comprises a memory within a consumer electronic device of the anticipated patient.

10. The method of claim 6, wherein the memory associated with the anticipated patient comprises a memory that is accessible by the external defibrillator via a network.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the profiles comprise defibrillation therapy parameters, and delivering therapy comprises delivering defibrillation therapy to the patient via the external defibrillator based on the parameters of one of the profiles.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the profile for the anticipated patient comprises a previous recording of a physiological parameter of the anticipated patient, and delivering therapy to the patient comprises:

acquiring a current recording of the physiological parameter via the external defibrillator;

comparing the current recording to the previous recording; and

delivering therapy based on the comparison.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising updating the profile associated with the anticipated patient based on the delivery of therapy to the anticipated patient.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining that the patient is not the anticipated patient;

determining whether the patient is a child; and

selecting one of a general adult profile and a general child profile based on the determination, and

wherein delivering therapy comprises delivering therapy according to the selected general profile.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing prompts to the anticipated patient via the external defibrillator based on the profile associated with the anticipated patient.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the profile associated with the anticipated patient is stored within a memory of the external defibrillator.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the general profile stored within a memory of the external defibrillator.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein the external defibrillator comprises an automated external defibrillator (AED).

19. An external defibrillator comprising:

a therapy delivery module; and

a processor to determine whether a patient is an anticipated patient, and to control delivery of therapy to the patient by the therapy delivery module according to one of a general profile and another profile associated with the anticipated patient based on the determination.

20. The external defibrillator of claim 19, further comprising a user interface, wherein the processor receives an indication from a user via the user interface, and determines whether the patient is the anticipated patient based on the indication.

21. The external defibrillator of claim 19, further comprising an input circuit, wherein the processor receives an indication from a patient identification device associated with the anticipated patient via the input circuit, and determines whether the patient is the anticipated patient based on the indication.

22. The external defibrillator of claim 21, wherein the patient identification device comprises a radio-frequency identification (RFID) device.

23. The external defibrillator of claim 19,

further comprising at least one of a user interface and an input circuit,

wherein the processor receives information identifying the patient via at least one of the user interface and the input circuit, selects one of a plurality of anticipated patient profiles based on the identification, each of the anticipated patient profiles associated with one of a plurality of anticipated patients, and controls delivery of therapy according to the selected anticipated patient profile.

24. The external defibrillator of claim 19,

further comprising an input circuit,

wherein the profile associated with the anticipated patient is stored within a memory associated with the patient, and

wherein the processor retrieves the profile associated with the anticipated patient from the memory associated with the anticipated patient via the input circuit, and determines that the patient is the anticipated patient based on receipt of profile associated with the anticipated patient.

25. The external defibrillator of claim 24, wherein the memory associated with the anticipated patient is a removable medium for the external defibrillator.

26. The external defibrillator of claim 24, wherein the memory associated with the anticipated patient comprises a radio frequency identification (RFID) device that is interrogated by the external defibrillator.

27. The external defibrillator of claim 24, wherein the memory associated with the anticipated patient comprises a memory within a consumer electronic device of the anticipated patient.

28. The external defibrillator of claim 24, wherein the memory associated with the anticipated patient comprises a memory that is accessible by the external defibrillator via a network.

29. The external defibrillator of claim 19, wherein the profiles comprise defibrillation therapy parameters, and the processor controls delivery of defibrillation according to the defibrillation therapy parameters of one of the profiles.

30. The external defibrillator of claim 19,

further comprising a patient interface circuit,

wherein the profile for the anticipated patient comprises a previous recording of a physiological parameter of the anticipated patient, and

wherein the processor acquires a current recording of the physiological parameter via the patient interface circuit, compares the current recording to the previous recording, and delivers therapy to the patient based on the comparison.

31. The external defibrillator of claim 19, wherein the processor updates the profile for the anticipated patient based on delivery of therapy to the anticipated patient.

32. The external defibrillator of claim 19, wherein the processor determines that the patient is not the anticipated patient, determines whether the patient is a child, selects one of a general adult profile and a general child profile based on the determination, and controls delivery of therapy according to the selected general profile.

33. The external defibrillator of claim 19, further comprising a user interface, wherein the processor provides prompts to the anticipated patient via the user interface based on the profile associated with the anticipated patient.

34. The external defibrillator of claim 19, further comprising a memory that stores the profile associated with the anticipated patient.

35. The external defibrillator of claim 19, further comprising a memory that stores the general profile.

36. The external defibrillator of claim 19, wherein the external defibrillator comprises an automated external defibrillator (AED).

37. A computer-readable medium comprising instructions that cause a programmable processor to:

determine whether a patient is an anticipated patient; and

control delivery of therapy to the patient via an external defibrillator according to one of a general profile and another profile associated with the anticipated patient based on the determination.

38. The medium of claim 37, wherein the instructions that cause the processor to determine whether a patient is an anticipated patient comprise instructions that cause the processor to receive an indication from a user via a user interface of the external defibrillator.

39. The medium of claim 37, wherein the instructions that cause the processor to determine whether a patient is an anticipated patient comprise instructions that cause the processor to receive an indication from a patient identification device associated with the anticipated patient.

40. The medium of claim 37, further comprising instructions that cause the processor to:

receive information identifying the patient; and

select one of a plurality of anticipated patient profiles based on the identification,

wherein each of the anticipated patient profiles is associated with one of a plurality of anticipated patients, and the instructions that cause the processor to control delivery of therapy comprise instructions that cause the processor to control delivery of therapy according to the selected anticipated patient profile.

41. The medium of claim 37,

wherein the profile associated with the anticipated patient is stored within a memory associated with the patient, the medium further comprising instructions that cause the processor to retrieve the profile associated with the anticipated patient from the memory associated with the anticipated patient, and

wherein the instructions that cause the processor to determine whether a patient is an anticipated patient comprise instructions that cause the processor to determine that the patient is the anticipated patient based on receipt by the external defibrillator of the profile associated with the anticipated patient from the memory associated with the anticipated patient.

42. The medium of claim 37, wherein the profiles comprise defibrillation therapy parameters, and the instructions that cause the processor to control delivery of therapy comprise instructions that cause the processor to control delivery of defibrillation therapy to the patient based on the parameters of one of the profiles.

43. The medium of claim 37, wherein the profile for the anticipated patient comprises a previous recording of a physiological parameter of the anticipated patient, and the instructions that cause the processor to control delivery of therapy to the patient comprise instructions that cause the processor to:

acquire a current recording of the physiological parameter via the external defibrillator;

compare the current recording to the previous recording; and

deliver therapy based on the comparison.

44. The medium of claim 37, further comprising instructions that cause the processor to update the profile associated with the anticipated patient based on the delivery of therapy to the anticipated patient.

45. The medium of claim 37, further comprising instructions that cause the processor to:

determine that the patient is not the anticipated patient;

determine whether the patient is a child; and

select one of a general adult profile and a general child profile based on the determination,

wherein the instructions that cause a processor to control delivery of therapy comprise instructions that cause the processor to control delivery of therapy according to the selected general profile.

46. A computer-readable medium comprising a profile for a patient, wherein the profile is retrievable by an external defibrillator for delivery of therapy to the patient according to the profile, and the profile includes at least one of medical history information for the patient, a previously recorded physiological parameter of the patient, and defibrillation therapy parameters.

47. The medium of claim 46, wherein the medium comprises a removable medium for the external defibrillator.

48. The medium of claim 46, wherein the medium comprises a medium of a radio frequency identification (RFID) device.

49. The medium of claim 46, wherein the medium comprises a medium within a consumer electronic device.

50. The medium of claim 46, wherein the medium comprises a medium that is accessible by an external defibrillator via a network.

51. A method comprising:

collecting information relating to a patient; and

storing the information as a profile for the patient that is retrieved by an external defibrillator for delivery of therapy according to the profile.

52. The method of claim 51, wherein collecting information relating to a patient comprises:

measuring a transthoracic impedance of a patient; and

determining defibrillation therapy parameters based on the measured transthoracic impedance, and

wherein storing the information as a profile comprises storing the defibrillation therapy parameters as part of the profile.

53. The method of claim 51, wherein collecting information relating to a patient comprises recording a physiological parameter of a patient, and storing the information as a profile comprises storing the recorded physiological parameter as part of the profile.

54. The method of claim 51, wherein collecting information relating to a patient comprises collecting medical history information regarding the patient, and storing the information as a profile comprises storing the medical history information as part of the profile.

55. The method of claim 51, wherein collecting information relating to a patient comprises collecting emergency contact information, and storing the information as a profile comprises storing the emergency contact information as part of the profile.

56. The method of claim 51, wherein collecting information relating to a patient comprises collecting a do not resuscitate order for the patient, and storing the information as a profile comprises storing the do not resuscitate order as part of the profile.

57. The method of claim 51, wherein storing the information as a profile comprises storing the information as a profile within a memory of the external defibrillator, and collecting information comprises:

coupling the external defibrillator to the patient; and

collecting at least some of the information for the profile via the external defibrillator.

58. The method of claim 51, wherein collecting information comprises collecting at least some of the information via a programming device.

59. The method of claim 51, further comprising updating the profile at least one of periodically and in response to an event.