System for long-term remote medical monitoring
First Claim
1. A system for long-term physical monitoring of a living being subject, comprising:
- at least one autonomous sensor unit comprising a carrier embodied as an adhesive bandage adapted to be adhered onto the skin of the subject, a data sensor arranged on said adhesive bandage, a pair of transmitting electrodes that are arranged on said adhesive bandage and are adapted to be electrically conductingly contacted onto the skin of the subject, and a microchip that is arranged on said adhesive bandage and connected between said data sensor and said pair of transmitting electrodes;
a central transmitting and receiving unit including a pair of receiving electrodes that are adapted to be electrically conductingly contacted onto the skin of the subject at a location displaced from said autonomous sensor unit; and
a portable data recording unit arranged separately from said central transmitting and receiving unit and adapted to receive an output signal from said central transmitting and receiving unit;
wherein said microchip of said autonomous sensor unit is adapted to generate an alternating current (a.c.) voltage signal as a data signal responsive to data received from said data sensor, and said transmitting electrodes of said autonomous sensor unit are adapted to transmit said data signal into the skin and body tissue of the subject to be transmitted through the skin and body tissue of the subject to said receiving electrodes of said central transmitting and receiving unit; and
wherein said receiving electrodes of said central transmitting and receiving unit are adapted to receive said data signal through the skin and body tissue of the subject, and said central transmitting and receiving unit is adapted to process and retransmit said data signal as an output signal to said portable data recording unit.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system for long-term remote medical monitoring is especially suitable for the medical supervision of astronauts onboard a space station. The system includes at least one autonomous sensor unit (SU) with a sensor (1) and transmit/receive electrodes (2) connected to a microchip (3) and mounted on a carrier (4) in the form of an adhesive bandage that can easily be applied to the skin of the subject astronaut (11). The system further includes a body transceiver (10) that is worn on the body of the subject and acts as a centralized transmitting and receiving unit, and a portable data logger (12). Medical data such as the pulse rate and the like, as well as environmental data such as the ambient surrounding air temperature, are sensed by respective allocated sensor units (SU) and transmitted from the sensor units as electrical signals via the skin and other body tissues of the subject (11) to the body transceiver (10). From the body transceiver (10), the data signals are further transmitted, for example by a radio or infrared transmission, to the data logger (12), where the data can be recorded, displayed, processed, or further transmitted via a satellite (14) to a base station (13) or a ground-based facility such as a hospital (15). Polling signals are also transmitted from the body transceiver (10) to the sensor units (SU) in a wireless manner through the skin and other body tissues of the subject.
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Citations
15 Claims
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1. A system for long-term physical monitoring of a living being subject, comprising:
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at least one autonomous sensor unit comprising a carrier embodied as an adhesive bandage adapted to be adhered onto the skin of the subject, a data sensor arranged on said adhesive bandage, a pair of transmitting electrodes that are arranged on said adhesive bandage and are adapted to be electrically conductingly contacted onto the skin of the subject, and a microchip that is arranged on said adhesive bandage and connected between said data sensor and said pair of transmitting electrodes;
a central transmitting and receiving unit including a pair of receiving electrodes that are adapted to be electrically conductingly contacted onto the skin of the subject at a location displaced from said autonomous sensor unit; and
a portable data recording unit arranged separately from said central transmitting and receiving unit and adapted to receive an output signal from said central transmitting and receiving unit;
wherein said microchip of said autonomous sensor unit is adapted to generate an alternating current (a.c.) voltage signal as a data signal responsive to data received from said data sensor, and said transmitting electrodes of said autonomous sensor unit are adapted to transmit said data signal into the skin and body tissue of the subject to be transmitted through the skin and body tissue of the subject to said receiving electrodes of said central transmitting and receiving unit; and
wherein said receiving electrodes of said central transmitting and receiving unit are adapted to receive said data signal through the skin and body tissue of the subject, and said central transmitting and receiving unit is adapted to process and retransmit said data signal as an output signal to said portable data recording unit. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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Specification