MONITORING FLUID IN A SUBJECT USING A WEIGHT SCALE
First Claim
1. A method for monitoring fluid in a region of a subject, the method comprising:
- injecting an electrical first signal between a first and a second internal electrode, including injecting a portion of the first signal through at least a portion of the region;
measuring a resulting electrical second signal between a first and a second external electrode, electrically coupled to a weight scale device, including measuring the second signal between a first portion of the subject and a second portion of the subject spaced apart from the first portion; and
calculating a third signal indicative of the fluid in the region using one or both of the first and second signals.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Changes in an amount of fluid in a region of a subject, such as the lung(s), may be detected by internally injecting a current through the region, detecting a resulting voltage at an upper and lower body portion, and calculating an impedance value using knowledge of the injected current and resulting voltage. Alternatively, the amount of fluid in the region may be found by internally applying a voltage of known or controllable value (thereby, injecting a current), detecting a resulting voltage at the upper and lower body portions, and calculating a fluid indicative signal using the resulting voltage or using a product of the resulting voltage and the injected current (i.e., power). A method for performing such measurements includes, among other things, injecting a current between first and second internal electrodes and measuring a resulting voltage between first and second external electrodes contacting the subject'"'"'s upper and lower body portions.
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Citations
34 Claims
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1. A method for monitoring fluid in a region of a subject, the method comprising:
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injecting an electrical first signal between a first and a second internal electrode, including injecting a portion of the first signal through at least a portion of the region; measuring a resulting electrical second signal between a first and a second external electrode, electrically coupled to a weight scale device, including measuring the second signal between a first portion of the subject and a second portion of the subject spaced apart from the first portion; and calculating a third signal indicative of the fluid in the region using one or both of the first and second signals. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. An external weight scale device for use in a fluid monitoring system, the weight scale device comprising:
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an external first electrode adapted to contact a subject'"'"'s upper body portion; an external second electrode adapted to contact a subject'"'"'s lower body portion; and a signal transmitter adapted to transmit a signal sensed by the first and the second electrodes to one or both of a remote processing unit or an electronic medical data storage. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A device for measuring an indication of fluid in a region of a subject, the device comprising:
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a receiver adapted to receive information about an electrical first and an electrical second signal, the first signal injected between a first and a second internal electrode positioned such that a portion of the first signal flows through a portion of the region, the second signal resulting between a first and a second external electrode electrically coupled to an external weight scale device; a processing unit adapted to measure the indication of fluid in the region by calculating a third signal using one or both of the first and second signals; and wherein one or both of the first and second signals are transmitted to the receiver via telemetry. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A machine usable medium including performable instruction for monitoring an amount of fluid in a region of a subject, comprising:
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instructions that deliver a command to an implantable medical device to inject an electrical first signal between a first and a second internal electrode; instructions that deliver a command to a weight scale to measure a resulting electrical second signal between a first and a second external electrode; and instructions that calculate a third signal indicative of the amount of fluid in the region using one or both of the first and second signals. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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Specification