Venous refill testing system and method
First Claim
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1. A venous refill testing system comprising:
- a sensor for sensing patient blood volume at a testing location along a patient'"'"'s leg during and after dorsiflexion of the patient'"'"'s foot; and
a controller unit having means for automatically determining a time of cessation of dorsiflexion of the patient'"'"'s foot and for automatically evaluating whether a venous refill time following the time of cessation of dorsiflexion of the patient'"'"'s foot is less than approximately twenty seconds, wherein the sensor is operably connected to the controller unit, and wherein the controller unit can be actuated to initiate sensing of patient blood volume with the sensor.
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Abstract
A venous refill testing system includes a sensor for sensing patient blood volume at a testing location along a patient'"'"'s leg during and after dorsiflexion of the patient'"'"'s foot, and a controller unit having means for automatically determining a time of cessation of dorsiflexion of the patient'"'"'s foot and for automatically evaluating whether a venous refill time following the time of cessation of dorsiflexion of the patient'"'"'s foot is less than approximately twenty seconds. The sensor is operably connected to the controller unit, and the controller unit can be actuated to initiate sensing of patient blood volume with the sensor.
40 Citations
37 Claims
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1. A venous refill testing system comprising:
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a sensor for sensing patient blood volume at a testing location along a patient'"'"'s leg during and after dorsiflexion of the patient'"'"'s foot; and a controller unit having means for automatically determining a time of cessation of dorsiflexion of the patient'"'"'s foot and for automatically evaluating whether a venous refill time following the time of cessation of dorsiflexion of the patient'"'"'s foot is less than approximately twenty seconds, wherein the sensor is operably connected to the controller unit, and wherein the controller unit can be actuated to initiate sensing of patient blood volume with the sensor. - View Dependent Claims (3, 6, 7, 8, 10, 33, 34, 35)
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2. (canceled)
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9. (canceled)
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11. A method for venous testing, the method comprising:
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initiating testing with an automatic testing apparatus; sensing patient data at a test location along a patient'"'"'s leg using the automatic testing apparatus; instructing a patient to perform dorsiflexion of the patient'"'"'s foot while the automatic testing apparatus is sensing patient data, wherein dorsiflexion of the patient'"'"'s foot causes a decrease in blood volume in the patient'"'"'s leg; determining as a function of the sensed patient data whether the decrease in blood volume in the patient'"'"'s leg has passed a threshold; and if the blood volume in the patient'"'"'s leg has passed the threshold, tracking a venous refill time period that begins upon cessation of dorsiflexion of the patient'"'"'s foot. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method of venous refill testing, the method comprising:
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sensing a parameter that corresponds to blood volume; generating a signal as a function of the parameter; determining whether the parameter has dropped below a threshold based upon analysis of the signal; determining a time when dorsiflexion has ceased based upon analysis of the signal; analyzing a venous refill time that begins at the time when dorsiflexion has ceased; and providing an indication of results of the step of analyzing the venous refill time. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 21, 36)
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20. (canceled)
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22. A venous test system comprising:
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a sensor for sensing patient data at a test location along a patient'"'"'s leg during and after dorsiflexion of the patient'"'"'s foot and for producing a signal indicative of patient blood volume; and a processor unit for processing the sensed patient data, wherein the processor unit is configured to evaluate the sensed patient data to determine whether dorsiflexion of the patient'"'"'s foot has sufficiently reduced blood volume at the test location for venous refill testing that includes evaluation of venous refill time following cessation of dorsiflexion of the patient'"'"'s foot. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 32, 37)
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23. (canceled)
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31. (canceled)
Specification