Fail-safe defibrillator
First Claim
1. A defibrillator comprising:
- one or more redundant systems each comprising at least two functionally interchangeable operational components; and
a selection system operationally coupled to said one or more redundant systems, constructed and arranged to select one of said operational components from each of said one or more redundant systems for current operation defibrillator based on at least on an operational integrity of each of said operational components so as to form a circuit for delivering a shock to a patient via electrical leads.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A defibrillator having one or more redundant systems each including functionally interchangeable components from which one component is selected for current operation. Manual or automatic selection of one component in each redundant system is made to form an operational defibrillator. Preferably, such selection is based on a real-time evaluation of the operational integrity of all operational components in a redundant system. Such real-time evaluations may be performed by monitoring systems within a controller, by an external test system within or external to the defibrillator or by self-test mechanisms internal to the operational components themselves. Factors such as user preferences, default component assignment, and predetermined arrangements of operational component combinations may be included in the selection determination along with the operational integrity of each operational component. If certain, non-critical components fail with no functionally interchangeable components available, then the redundant system comprising such a failed component is not made operational. The remaining systems of the defibrillator may still be implemented to form a defibrillator sufficient for defibrillation yet lacking the capability to implement the functions allocated to the malfunctioning, degraded or otherwise absent redundant system.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A defibrillator comprising:
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one or more redundant systems each comprising at least two functionally interchangeable operational components; and a selection system operationally coupled to said one or more redundant systems, constructed and arranged to select one of said operational components from each of said one or more redundant systems for current operation defibrillator based on at least on an operational integrity of each of said operational components so as to form a circuit for delivering a shock to a patient via electrical leads. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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- 13. A defibrillator comprising one or more redundant systems each comprising at least two functionally interchangeable operational components of which only one such operational component is selected for operation based on a relative operational integrity of each of said operational components.
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16. A method for providing an operational defibrillator, comprising:
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1) providing a defibrillator comprising one or more redundant systems each comprising at least two functionally interchangeable operational components; and 2) selecting one of said operational components from each of said one or more redundant systems for current operation on the defibrillator. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18)
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19. A defibrillator comprising:
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a plurality of operational components that combine to form a circuit to deliver a shock to a patient through a pair of pads placed externally on the patient; at least one redundant component corresponding to at least one of the plurality of operational components; and a selection unit that when an operational component, having a corresponding redundant component, is determined to be malfunctioning, functionally disconnects the malfunctioning operational component from the circuit and switches the corresponding redundant component into the circuit. - View Dependent Claims (20)
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Specification