Computer-assisted detection of systolic murmurs associated with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
First Claim
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1. A method for assisting in the diagnosis of heart murmurs, the method comprising the steps of:
- calculating a normalized measure of mid-range energy for at least one of systolic or diastolic intervals in a sequence of heartbeats signals wherein the mid-range energy is between 150 and 600 Hz; and
displaying the mid-range energy measure of the at least one systolic or diastolic interval in a graphical form.
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Abstract
A method for assisting in the diagnosis of heart murmurs. The method calculates a normalized measure of mid-range energy for at least one systolic or diastolic interval in a sequence of heartbeats and displays the mid-range energy measure of the systolic and/or diastolic interval in a graphical form. The sequence of heartbeats is also processed to detect and diagnose heart murmurs by adjusting a murmur count threshold responsive to the mid-range energy. The method may be used to diagnose hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and to determine effective therapeutic drug dosage or therapeutic device setting.
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Citations
28 Claims
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1. A method for assisting in the diagnosis of heart murmurs, the method comprising the steps of:
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calculating a normalized measure of mid-range energy for at least one of systolic or diastolic intervals in a sequence of heartbeats signals wherein the mid-range energy is between 150 and 600 Hz; and
displaying the mid-range energy measure of the at least one systolic or diastolic interval in a graphical form. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method for assisting in the diagnosis of heart murmurs, the method comprising the steps of:
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receiving an audio signal representing heart sounds;
detecting heart murmurs in the audio signal during a predetermined interval to develop a count of the murmurs;
processing the audio signal to develop a measure of mid-range energy wherein the mid-range energy is in a range between 150 and 600 Hz;
adjusting a murmur count threshold responsive to the measure of mid-range energy; and
diagnosing a heart condition responsive to the murmur count and the adjusted murmur count threshold. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method for determining an effective dose of a therapeutic agent for treating a heart condition, the method comprising the steps of:
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(a) administering a trial dosage of the therapeutic agent;
(b) receiving an audio signal representing heart sounds;
(c) detecting heart murmurs in the audio signal during a predetermined interval to develop a count of the murmurs;
(c) processing the audio signal to develop a measure of mid-range energy wherein the mid-range energy is in a range between 150 and 600 Hz;
(d) adjusting a murmur count threshold responsive to the measure of mid-range energy; and
(e) determining an effectiveness of the trial dose of the therapeutic agent responsive to the murmur count and the adjusted murmur count threshold;
(f) repeating steps (a) through (e) until the effective dose of the therapeutic agent is determined.
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14. A method for adjusting a parameter of a therapeutic device to treat a heart condition, the method comprising the steps of:
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(a) setting the parameter to a trial setting;
(b) receiving an audio signal representing heart sounds;
(c) detecting heart murmurs in the audio signal during a predetermined interval to develop a count of the murmurs;
(c) processing the audio signal to develop a measure of mid-range energy wherein the mid-range energy is in a range between 150 and 600 Hz;
(d) adjusting a murmur count threshold responsive to the measure of mid-range energy; and
(e) determining an effectiveness of the trial parameter setting responsive to the murmur count and the adjusted murmur count threshold. (f) repeating steps (a) through (e) until an effective value of the parameter is determined. - View Dependent Claims (15)
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16. A method for diagnosing cardiac murmurs associated with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) in a patient, the method comprising the steps of:
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determining presence and magnitude of cardiac murmurs in the patient while the patient is in a plurality of posture;
comparing the determined magnitude of cardiac murmurs in the plurality of postures to diagnose HCM in the patient;
wherein the step of determining the presence and magnitude of cardiac murmurs comprises the steps of;
receiving an audio signal representing heart sounds;
detecting cardiac murmurs in the audio signal during a predetermined interval to develop a count of the murmurs;
processing the audio signal to develop a measure of mid-range energy wherein the mid-range energy is in a range between 150 and 600 Hz, the measure of mid-range energy represents the magnitude of the cardiac murmurs;
adjusting a murmur count threshold responsive to the measure of mid-range energy; and
determining the presence of cardiac murmurs responsive to the murmur count and the adjusted murmur count threshold. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19)
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20. A method for detecting cardiac murmurs, the method comprising the steps of:
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receiving an audio signal representing heart sounds;
processing the audio signal using a hidden Markov model HMM to identify heart beats and cardiac murmurs within the heart beats;
calculating respective counts of heart beats and heart beats with murmurs detected during the predetermined interval;
computing a duration for each detected heart beat and a median duration for all heart beats detected during a predetermined interval;
comparing the count of heart beats detected during the predetermined interval to a number of heart beats that should have been detected based on the median duration and the predetermined interval to calculate a beat detection ratio;
calculating a murmur count threshold responsive to the calculated beat detection ratio;
processing the audio signal to develop a measure of mid-range energy wherein the mid-range energy is in a range between 150 and 600 Hz;
adjusting the murmur count threshold responsive to the measure of mid-range energy; and
determining the presence of cardiac murmurs responsive to the murmur count and the adjusted murmur count threshold. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A computer readable medium including computer program instructions adapted to instruct a general purpose computer to perform a method for assisting in the diagnosis of heart murmurs in response to a received audio signal representing heart sounds, the method comprising the steps of:
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detecting heart murmurs in the audio signal during a predetermined interval to develop a count of the murmurs;
processing the audio signal to develop a measure of mid-range energy wherein the mid-range energy is in a range between 150 and 600 Hz;
adjusting a murmur count threshold responsive to the measure of mid-range energy; and
diagnosing a heart condition responsive to the murmur count and the adjusted murmur count threshold. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28)
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Specification