Manofluorography system, method for forming a manofluorogram and method for preparing a swallowing profile
First Claim
1. A system for forming a combined magnetic recording of (a) the location and movement of a radiopaque bolus in a patient'"'"'s alimentary tract over a period of time and (b) data indicating pressures exerted on said bolus during said period of time, the system comprising:
- a catheter carrying a plurality of radiopaque pressure sensors for inserting in an alimentary tract, each said sensor for outputting electronic signals in response to the application of pressure to the sensor, said signals being reflective of the amount of said pressure;
means for processing said electronic signals so as to output a series of first magnetically recordable signals representative of a plurality of synchronized graphs (one graph for each said sensor) of pressure-versus-time data points that indicate the magnitude and timing of the pressures experienced by said sensors;
videofluoroscopy means for producing a series of second magnetically recordable signals representative of a series of images of at least a portion of an alimentary tract and a radiopaque bolus situated therein over a period of time; and
means for recording both said series of first and second magnetically recordable signals on a single magnetic medium, in such a manner that the resultant combined recording can be played back to simultaneously display on the same monitor screen said images and said graphs in the same sequence in which they were created, with each said displayed image lagging by less than 0.1 second the last-entered pressure-versus-time data point in each graph appearing therewith on the screen.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system for quantifying pressure exerted on a bolus in a digestive tract of a patient includes: a catheter of sufficient length and insert into the digestive tract of the patient, a plurality of radiopaque pressure sensors on the catheter to output pressure data, a videofluoroscope for producing images of the digestive tract of the patient in which the bolus is moving in relation to the sensors, and equipment for recording a video record of a sequence of the images and the data, wherein the equipment combines each image with a substantially contemporaneous portion of the pressure data to form a video record sequence of images and the substantially contemporaneous portions of the pressure data.
The system produces a manofluorogram, which is a videotape record of the videofluoroscopic and contemporaneous pressure data, preferably with timing information. The system also produces a manofluorogram, which is an analysis of pressure data based on timing information derived from the videotape. A method of manufacture and method of use for the above are also set forth.
41 Citations
38 Claims
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1. A system for forming a combined magnetic recording of (a) the location and movement of a radiopaque bolus in a patient'"'"'s alimentary tract over a period of time and (b) data indicating pressures exerted on said bolus during said period of time, the system comprising:
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a catheter carrying a plurality of radiopaque pressure sensors for inserting in an alimentary tract, each said sensor for outputting electronic signals in response to the application of pressure to the sensor, said signals being reflective of the amount of said pressure; means for processing said electronic signals so as to output a series of first magnetically recordable signals representative of a plurality of synchronized graphs (one graph for each said sensor) of pressure-versus-time data points that indicate the magnitude and timing of the pressures experienced by said sensors; videofluoroscopy means for producing a series of second magnetically recordable signals representative of a series of images of at least a portion of an alimentary tract and a radiopaque bolus situated therein over a period of time; and means for recording both said series of first and second magnetically recordable signals on a single magnetic medium, in such a manner that the resultant combined recording can be played back to simultaneously display on the same monitor screen said images and said graphs in the same sequence in which they were created, with each said displayed image lagging by less than 0.1 second the last-entered pressure-versus-time data point in each graph appearing therewith on the screen. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A method for forming a combined magnetic recording of (a) the location and movement of a radiopaque bolus in a patient'"'"'s alimentary tract over a period of time and (b) data indicating pressures exerted on said bolus during said period of time, the method comprising the steps of:
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inserting into the alimentary tract of said patient a catheter carrying a plurality of radiopaque pressure sensors, each said sensor being operable to output electronic signals in response to the application of pressure to the sensor, said signals being reflective of the amount of said pressure; having said patient attempt to swallow said radiopaque bolus; processing electronic signals output by said sensors during said attempted swallow so as to produce a series of first magnetically recordable signals representative of a plurality of synchronized graphs (one graph for each said sensor) of pressure-versus-time data points that indicate the magnitude and timing of the pressures experienced by said sensors; videofluoroscoping said alimentary tract of said patient during said attempted swallow so as to produce a series of second magnetically recordable signals representative of a series of images of at least a portion of said alimentary tract and said radiopaque bolus situated therein over a period of time; and recording both said series of first and second magnetically recordable signals on a single magnetic medium to form a combined recording that can be played back to simultaneously display on the same monitor screen said images and said graphs in the same sequence in which they were created, with each said displayed image lagging by less than 0.1 second the last-entered pressure-versus-time data point in each graph appearing therewith on the screen. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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31. A method for preparing a swallowing profile record of a human patient by use of a combined magnetic recording of (a) the location and movement of a radiopaque bolus in said patient'"'"'s alimentary tract over a period of time and (b) data indicating pressures exerted on said bolus during said period of time, wherein the recording can be played back to simultaneously produce a video display on the same monitor screen of images of said bolus in said tract, of elapsed time, and of the magnitude of pressure being exerted in at least one location in the tract, with each said displayed image lagging by less than 0.1 second the pressure magnitude, the method comprising:
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playing said combined magnetic recording on video display means; measuring from the video display of said played combined magnetic recording a transit time for said radiopaque bolus to move a distance between one location and another location in said patient'"'"'s alimentary tract; computing from the video display of said data indicating pressures and from said transit time a force acting on said bolus; and forming a record of said force acting on said bolus to produce said swallowing profile record of said human patient. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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Specification