Identifying the Usage Status of a Defibrillation Pad Assembly
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Accused Products
Abstract
The connector between the patient electrode pads and the base unit of an automatic external defibrillator (AED) system can be formed by capturing a printed circuit board (PCB) within a connector housing. The PCB can have conductive metal traces that serve as the contact points between the wires from the patient electrodes and the electronics within the AED base unit. The PCB in combination with the conductive metal traces can be shaped similar to a conventional two-prong or two-blade connector. Employing such a PCB-based connector may result in AED pads which are less complex and less costly to manufacture. The PCB can also support a configuration circuit that is positioned between the conductive metal traces and that allows the AED to read and store information about the attached pads. For example, the AED can use this data storage feature to check the expiration date of the pads.
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Citations
42 Claims
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1-32. -32. (canceled)
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33. A method of alerting an AED user to a used defibrillation pad assembly, comprising the steps of:
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connecting a defibrillation pad assembly to an AED unit, the defibrillation pad assembly being expendable and including a configuration circuit that contains use information as to a previous use, if any, of the defibrillation pad assembly; the AED unit reading the use information to determine if the defibrillation pad assembly has been used; and if the AED unit determines that the defibrillation pad assembly has been used, alerting a user of the AED unit to the used condition. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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39. A method for maintaining the usage status of a defibrillation pad assembly, comprising the steps of:
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connecting an unused defibrillation pad assembly to an AED unit, the defibrillation pad assembly including a configuration circuit; using the defibrillation pad assembly with the AED unit; and updating by the AED unit the configuration circuit to reflect the use of the defibrillation pad assembly. - View Dependent Claims (40, 41, 42)
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Specification