Apparatus and method for obtaining cardiac data
First Claim
1. A method for obtaining cardiac information from a person, said method comprising the steps of:
- applying electrodes to the feet of the person to obtain a bioelectrical signal from the person including cardiac data;
filtering the bioelectric signal to provide a filtered signal containing the cardiac data;
processing the filtered signal to identify discrete magnitudinal variations in the signal useful for obtaining desired cardiac information;
determining a characteristic of the discrete variations; and
using the determined characteristic to obtain the desired cardiac information from the person.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus and method for obtaining information, such as heart rate or the presence of atrial fibrillation, from electrodes applied to the feet of a subject. A scale having electrodes may be used for this purpose. The signal obtained from the electrodes is digitized and filtered to obtain an electrocardiographic signal exhibiting periodic, sequential, discrete, magnitudinal variations associated with the heartbeats of the subject. The electrocardiographic signal is then analyzed to identify discrete magnitudinal variations useful for obtaining the desired information. In determining the heart rate of the subject, an interval between variations having a desired magnitudinal characteristic may be employed. The absence of such variations is indicative of atrial fibrillation.
28 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for obtaining cardiac information from a person, said method comprising the steps of:
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applying electrodes to the feet of the person to obtain a bioelectrical signal from the person including cardiac data;
filtering the bioelectric signal to provide a filtered signal containing the cardiac data;
processing the filtered signal to identify discrete magnitudinal variations in the signal useful for obtaining desired cardiac information;
determining a characteristic of the discrete variations; and
using the determined characteristic to obtain the desired cardiac information from the person. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. Apparatus for obtaining cardiac information from a person, said apparatus comprising:
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electrodes appliable to the feet of the person to obtain a bioelectrical signal from the person containing cardiac data;
a filter receiving said bioelectrical signal and providing a filtered signal containing the cardiac data;
means for processing the filtered signal to identify discrete magnitudinal variations in the signal useful for obtaining desired cardiac information;
means for determining a characteristic of the discrete variations; and
means for using the determined characteristic to obtain the desired cardiac information from the person. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. Apparatus for obtaining cardiac information from a person on a scale, said apparatus comprising:
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electrodes appliable to the feet of the person to obtain a bioelectrical signal containing cardiac data from a person standing on the scale;
a bandpass filter receiving said bioelectrical signal and providing a bandpassed signal containing the cardiac data;
means for calculating an autocorrelation function of the bandpassed signal to identify discrete magnitudinal variations in the signal useful for obtaining desired cardiac information;
means for determining a characteristic of the discrete variations; and
means for using the determined characteristic to obtain the desired cardiac information from the person.
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Specification