Defibrillator battery with memory and status indication guage

• US 6,366,809 B1
• Filed: 04/08/1998
• Issued: 04/02/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 04/08/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Zoll Medical Corporation (Asahi Kasei Corporation)
• Original Assignee: SurVivaLink Corporation (Cardica Incorporated)
• Inventors: Parker, William S., Olson, Kenneth F.
• Primary Examiner(s): SCHAETZLE, KENNEDY
• Application Number:
  US09/057,030
• Time in Patent Office: 1,455 Days
• Field of Search: 607/2, 607/4-6, 607/16, 607/29, 607/34
• US Class Current: 607/5
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/3975 Power supply A61N1/378 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/3981 High voltage charging circuitry

Abstract

A defibrillator battery includes at least one battery cell, a housing surrounding the at least one battery cell, and a memory connected to the at least one battery cell. The memory can be positioned inside of the housing that surrounds the at least one battery cell. The defibrillator battery can be used with a defibrillator including a battery status indicator which communicates with the defibrillator battery to indicate the status of the defibrillator battery. In a method of determining defibrillator battery status using the defibrillator battery and associated battery status indicator enables an operator to always determine the remaining charge of the battery and to determine when to replace the battery. The defibrillator battery, and associated battery status indicator, insures constant readiness of an automated external defibrillator for defibrillating a patient by preventing defibrillator failure due to an unknown reduced battery charge.

Claims

1. A defibrillator battery comprising:

at least one battery cell;

a housing surrounding the at least one battery cell; and

a memory connected to the at least one battery cell, the memory storing a first parameter of how much energy is used by a defibrillator in a standby mode on a daily basis, a second parameter of how much energy is used by the defibrillator during active operation per minute, and a third parameter of how much energy is used by the defibrillator charging up a capacitor bank.

2. The battery as in claim 1 wherein the memory is mounted in the housing.

4. The battery of claim 1 wherein the memory is capable of storing a serial number of the battery, an initial use date the battery was placed in service, and a voltage that indicates the battery is dead under high current.

3. The battery of clam 1 wherein the memory is capable of storing an initial energy capacity of the battery.

5. A defibrillator battery comprising:

at least one battery cell;

a housing surrounding the at least one battery cell; and

a memory connected to the at least one battery cell wherein the memory stores how many minutes a defibrillator has been in operation, how many days a defibrillator has been in standby mode, and how many charges have been delivered by a defibrillator.

6. A defibrillator battery comprising:

at least one battery cell;

a housing surrounding the at least one battery cell; and

a memory connected to the at least one battery cell wherein the amount of energy remaining in the battery is determined by solution of the equations,

7. A method of monitoring status of a lithium battery in an automated external defibrillator comprising:

providing an automated external defibrillator having a battery status indication gauge and a lithium battery;

tracking an amount of use of the battery in the defibrillator and determining the remaining energy capacity of the battery by comparing the amount of use against predetermined energy use parameters of the battery and the defibrillator;

displaying the remaining energy capacity of the battery by illumination of the battery status indication gauge.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the step of tracking and determining further comprises storing the amount of use and the predetermiend energy use parameters in memory associated with the battery.