ADVANCED PATIENT MANAGEMENT WITH ENVIRONMENTAL DATA

• US 20110275941A1
• Filed: 07/18/2011
• Published: 11/10/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 03/06/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Jeffrey E. Stahmann, John Hatlestad, Qingsheng Zhu
• Original Assignee: Jeffrey E. Stahmann, John Hatlestad, Qingsheng Zhu
• Inventors: Stahmann, Jeffrey E., Zhu, Qingsheng, Hatlestad, John
• Granted Patent: US 9,480,848 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 600/483
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2560/0247 for compensation or correction of the measured physiological value
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2560/0252 using ambient temperature
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2560/0257 using atmospheric pressure
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0022 Monitoring a patient using a global network, e.g. telephone networks, internet
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0031 Implanted circuitry
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0205 Simultaneously evaluating both cardiovascular conditions and different types of body conditions, e.g. heart and respiratory condition
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0537 Measuring body composition by impedance, e.g. tissue hydration or fat content
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0816 Measuring devices for examining respiratory frequency measuring frequency of electric signals G01R23/00
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/091 Measuring volume of inspired or expired gases, e.g. to determine lung capacity
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1118 Determining activity level
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 7/04 Electric stethoscopes microphones, acoustic transducers therefor H04R
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/37252 Details of algorithms or data aspects of communication system, e.g. handshaking, transmitting specific data or segmenting data
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/37282 characterised by communication with experts in remote locations using a network
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/63 for local operation
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/67 for remote operation
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 50/30 for calculating health indices; for individual health risk assessment

Abstract

Systems, devices and methods for using environmental data to manage health care are disclosed. One aspect is an advanced patient management system. In various embodiments, the system includes at least one implantable medical device (IMD) to acquire at least one IMD parameter indicative of patient wellness, means to acquire at least one environmental parameter from at least one external source, and means to correlate the at least one parameter indicative of patient wellness and the at least one environmental parameter to assist with patient health care decisions. Other aspects and embodiments are provided herein.

Claims

1. A system for monitoring a heart failure patient, comprising:

an implantable medical device (IMD), including a cardiovascular sensor to acquire a cardiovascular parameter for the heart failure patient; and

at least one external device, including an environmental parameter input for acquiring an environmental parameter that is capable of affecting the cardiovascular parameter,

wherein the IMD and the at least one external device are configured to wirelessly communicate with each other, and are configured to cooperate to provide an indication of whether a change in the cardiovascular parameter is attributable to a change in the environmental parameter.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the environmental parameter includes altitude.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the environmental parameter includes temperature.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the environmental parameter includes air quality.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the environmental parameter includes pollen count.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the environmental parameter includes humidity.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the environmental parameter includes environmental pressure.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the cardiovascular parameter includes heart rate.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the cardiovascular parameter includes heart rhythm.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the cardiovascular parameter includes intervals or morphology of a sensed cardiac waveform.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the cardiovascular parameter includes a hemodynamic parameter.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the cardiovascular parameter includes a blood gas.

13. The system of claim 1, further comprising a display configured to display a trend of the cardiovascular and environmental parameters to provide the indication of whether a change in the cardiovascular parameter is attributable to a change in the environmental parameter.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein the IMD or the at least one external device is configured to calculate a correlation between the cardiovascular and environmental parameters to provide the indication of whether a change in the cardiovascular parameter is attributable to a change in the environmental parameter.

15. The system of claim 1, wherein the IMD is configured to provide a therapy, and the IMD and the at least one external device are configured to cooperate to change the therapy in response to the indication of whether changes in the cardiovascular parameter are attributable to changes in the environmental parameter.

16. The system of claim 1, wherein the IMD and the at least one external device are configured to cooperate to factor in the environmental parameter in determining a value for the cardiovascular parameter, or in displaying the cardiovascular parameter, or in delivering an IMD therapy.

17. A method to monitor respiration in a heart failure patient, comprising:

providing an indicator of heart failure status of the patient, wherein providing the indicator of heart failure status includes using an implantable medical device (IMD) to sense a cardiovascular parameter over a time period;

acquiring an environmental parameter over the time period, wherein the environmental parameter is capable of affecting the cardiovascular parameter; and

determining if a change in the cardiovascular parameter is attributable to a change in the environmental parameter.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the cardiovascular parameter includes heart rate, or heart rhythm, or intervals or morphology of a sensed cardiac waveform, or a hemodynamic parameter, or a blood gas.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the environmental parameter includes at least one environmental parameter selected from the group of environmental parameters consisting of:

altitude, temperature, air quality, pollen counts, humidity, and environmental pressure.

20. The method of claim 17, wherein acquiring an environmental parameter includes:

acquiring the environmental parameter from a database, wherein the database stores environmental parameter values over the time period;

or

acquiring the environmental parameter from an external sensor.

21. The method of claim 17, wherein determining if a change in the cardiovascular parameter is attributable to a change in the environmental parameter includes calculating a correlation for the cardiovascular parameter and the environmental parameter.

22. The method of claim 17, wherein determining if a change in the cardiovascular parameter is attributable to a change in the environmental parameter includes displaying a trend between the cardiovascular parameter and the environmental parameter on the display.

23. A system for monitoring a heart failure patient, comprising:

an implantable medical device (IMD), including a cardiovascular sensor to acquire a cardiovascular parameter for the heart failure patient, wherein the cardiovascular parameter includes heart rate or blood pressure; and

at least one external device, including an environmental parameter input for acquiring an environmental parameter that is capable of affecting the cardiovascular parameter,

wherein the IMD and the at least one external device are configured to wirelessly communicate with each other, and are configured to cooperate to provide an indication of whether a change in the cardiovascular parameter is attributable to a change in the environmental parameter.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein the environmental parameter includes altitude.

25. The system of claim 23, wherein the environmental parameter includes temperature.

26. The system of claim 23, wherein the environmental parameter includes air quality.

27. The system of claim 23, wherein the environmental parameter includes humidity.