Sonification of Level of Consciousness of a Patient
First Claim
1. A method of indicating level of consciousness of a patient aurally, comprising the steps of:
- (a) obtaining a measure representative of the patient'"'"'s level of consciousness,(b) synthesizing an audio signal from the measure,(c) outputting the audio signal,wherein at least one audible characteristic of the audio signal is dependent upon the patient'"'"'s level of consciousness; and
(d) repeating steps (a) to (c) at intervals of time.
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Abstract
The level of consciousness of a patient (i.e. the hypnotic state and/or the level of anaesthesia) is represented aurally. A measure of the patient'"'"'s level of consciousness, such as the BIS index value, is obtained, and an audio signal is synthesized from that measure, and then output through a speaker. Both the volume and pitch of the audio signal may vary according to the BIS value being represented, so that a clinician can obtain an indication of the level of consciousness of the patient simply by listening to the sonification of the BIS value. The audio signal may comprise first and second audio components, with the first component representing the previous measure and the second component representing the current measure. The amplitude or pitch of the audio signal may be modulated to represent analgesia or paralysis of the patient.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method of indicating level of consciousness of a patient aurally, comprising the steps of:
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(a) obtaining a measure representative of the patient'"'"'s level of consciousness, (b) synthesizing an audio signal from the measure, (c) outputting the audio signal, wherein at least one audible characteristic of the audio signal is dependent upon the patient'"'"'s level of consciousness; and (d) repeating steps (a) to (c) at intervals of time. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 19, 20)
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13. A method of representing level of consciousness of a patient aurally, comprising the steps of:
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(a) obtaining measures representative of the patient'"'"'s level of consciousness at spaced intervals of time, (b) synthesizing an audio signal having at least first and second audio components, the second audio component being dependent on a current measure, and the first audio component being dependent on the next previous measure, whereby at least one audible characteristic of each component of the audio signal is indicative of the respective measure, and (c) outputting the audio signal. - View Dependent Claims (14)
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15. Apparatus for indicating level of consciousness of a patient aurally, comprising:
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an input for receiving a measure representative of the patient'"'"'s level of consciousness, an audio synthesizer for synthesizing an audio signal from the measure, and a speaker for outputting the audio signal, wherein at least one audible characteristic of the audio signal is indicative of the measure of the patient'"'"'s level of consciousness. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18)
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Specification