Non-invasive method and apparatus for diagnosing and monitoring aortic valve abnormalities, such a aortic regurgitation
First Claim
1. A method for identifying the existence of aortic valve abnormalities in a patient comprising the steps of:
- (1) providing a non-invasive pressure inducing means for inducing a pressure on a body part of a patient and applying pressure to the body part;
(2) providing a data receiving means;
(3) using the data receiving means to receive a stream of pulsation signal data from the patient relating to the pressure response of pulsed fluid flowing through the cardiovascular system of the patient;
(4) providing a data processing means;
(5) using the data processing means for processing the stream of pulsation signal data to create an array of pulse wave forms; and
(6) identifying wave form characteristics that denote the presence of aortic valve abnormalities.
5 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method and device is provided for determining aortic valve abnormalities. The method first includes the step of providing a sphygmomanometer device for inducing a pressure on a body part of a patient. A data stream receiver is provided for receiving a stream of data relating to the pressure response of the pulsed fluid flowing through the cardiovascular system of the patient. A data processor is provided for processing the data to create a series of time dependant pulse wave forms. The data can be converted by Fast Fourier Transformation (FFT) to obtain Power Spectrum (PS) which comprises a frequency dependant array of pulse signals. Both of the time dependant and frequency dependant (Power Spectrum) data can be displayed and analyzed to help determine the condition of the aortic valve and the percentage of regurgitation of the patient. With the Power Spectrum display, the determination is made based on first, identifying the existence of an additional second series of harmonically occurring regurgitation signals that have a frequency different from the main signals indicative of the forward flow of fluid through the aortic valve. The ratio of the amplitude or density of the regurgitation signal peak can be divided by the amplitude or density of the associated main signal peak, to determine the ratio of the associated "Regurgitation" flow to and "Main" flow, to thereby semi-quantitatively determine the percent of regurgitation flow of the patient.
145 Citations
32 Claims
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1. A method for identifying the existence of aortic valve abnormalities in a patient comprising the steps of:
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(1) providing a non-invasive pressure inducing means for inducing a pressure on a body part of a patient and applying pressure to the body part; (2) providing a data receiving means; (3) using the data receiving means to receive a stream of pulsation signal data from the patient relating to the pressure response of pulsed fluid flowing through the cardiovascular system of the patient; (4) providing a data processing means; (5) using the data processing means for processing the stream of pulsation signal data to create an array of pulse wave forms; and (6) identifying wave form characteristics that denote the presence of aortic valve abnormalities. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method for identifying the existence of aortic valve abnormalities, comprising the steps of:
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(1) providing a non-invasive pressure inducing means for inducing a pressure on a body part of a patient and applying pressure to the body part; (2) providing a data receiving means; (3) using the data receiving means to receive a stream of pulsation signal data from the patient relating to the pressure response of pulsed fluid flowing through the cardiovascular system of the patient having a cardiovascular system; (4) providing a data processing means; (5) processing the stream of pulsation signal data to create an array of time dependant wave form data; (6) converting the array of time dependant wave form data to an array of frequency dependant wave form data; and (7) identifying characteristics of the frequency dependant wave form data that denote the presence of aortic valve abnormalities. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A device for identifying the existence of aortic valve abnormalities in a patient comprising:
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(1) a non-invasive pressure inducing means for inducing a pressure to a body part of a patient; (2) a data receiving means for receiving a stream of pulsation signal data from the patient relating to the pressure response of pulsed fluid flowing through the cardiovascular system of the patient; (3) a data processing means for processing the stream of pulsation signal data to create a time dependant array of pulse wave forms; and (4) means for aiding in the identification of wave form characteristics that denote the presence of aortic valve abnormalities. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A device for identifying the existence of aortic valve abnormalities, comprising:
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(1) a non-invasive pressure inducing means for inducing a pressure to a body part of a patient; (2) a data receiving means for receiving a stream of pulsation signal data from the patient relating to the pressure response of pulsed fluid flowing through a cardiovascular system of the patient; (3) a data processing means for processing the stream of pulsation signal data to create an array of time dependant wave form data; (4) means for converting the array of time dependant wave form data to an array of frequency dependant wave form data; and (5) means for aiding in the identification of characteristics of the frequency dependant wave form data that denote the presence of aortic valve abnormalities. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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Specification