Postoperative-condition evaluating apparatus

• US 6,482,163 B2
• Filed: 04/02/2001
• Issued: 11/19/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 07/26/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Omron Healthcare Company Limited (Omron Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Colin Corporation (Fukuda Denshi Company Limited)
• Inventors: Nomura, Takashi, Oka, Tohru
• Primary Examiner(s): PELHAM, JOSEPH MOORE
• Application Number:
  US09/822,347
• Publication Number:
  US 20020013533A1
• Time in Patent Office: 596 Days
• Field of Search: 600/481, 600/300, 600/500-504, 600/485, 600/509
• US Class Current: 600/481
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/022 by applying pressure to close blood vessels, e.g. against the skin; Ophthalmodynamometers
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/02405 Determining heart rate variability
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/14539 for measuring pH
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1455 using optical sensors, e.g. spectral photometrical oximeters
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/352 Detecting R peaks, e.g. for synchronising diagnostic apparatus; Estimating R-R interval
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/4035 Evaluating the autonomic nervous system

Abstract

An apparatus for evaluating a degree of recovery of a living subject from a surgical operation which the subject has undergone, the apparatus including a circulatory-organ-relating-information obtaining device for iteratively obtaining, after the operation, a piece of circulatory-organ-relating information relating to a circulatory organ of the subject, and a recovery-degree evaluating device for evaluating the degree of recovery of the subject, based on at least one piece of circulatory-organ-relating information obtained by the circulatory-organ-relating-information obtaining device.

Claims

1. An apparatus for evaluating a degree of recovery of a living subject from a surgical operation which the subject has undergone, the apparatus comprising:

a circulatory-organ-relating-information obtaining means for iteratively obtaining, after the operation, a piece of circulatory-organ-relating information relating to a circulatory organ of the subject; and

a recovery-degree evaluating means for evaluating the degree of recovery of the subject, based on at least one piece of circulatory-organ-relating information obtained by the circulatory-organ-relating-information obtaining means.

2. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recovery-degree evaluating means comprises means for evaluating the degree of recovery of the subject, by judging whether a change of a plurality of pieces of circulatory-organ-relating information iteratively obtained by the circulatory-organ-relating-information obtaining means is smaller than a reference value and accordingly is stable.

3. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the circulatory-organ-relating-information obtaining means comprises means for iteratively obtaining, as a piece of circulatory-organ-relating information, one selected from the group consisting of a blood pressure value, a heart rate value, a magnitude of a fluctuation of blood pressure values, and a magnitude of a fluctuation of heart rate values.

4. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recovery-degree evaluating means comprises means for determining a saturation value based on a time-wise change of a plurality of pieces of circulatory-organ-relating information iteratively obtained by the circulatory-organ-relating-information obtaining means, means for determining, based on the saturation value, a reference value smaller than the saturation value, and means for evaluating the degree of recovery of the subject, by judging whether a piece of circulatory-organ-relating information obtained by the circulatory-organ-relating-information obtaining means is greater than the reference value.

5. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the circulatory-organ-relating-information obtaining means comprises means for iteratively obtaining, as a piece of circulatory-organ-relating information, one selected from the group consisting of a magnitude of a low-frequency fluctuation of blood pressure values, and a ratio of one of a magnitude of a low-frequency fluctuation of heart rate values and a magnitude of a high-frequency fluctuation of the heart rate values to the other of the magnitude of low-frequency fluctuation of heart rate values and the magnitude of high-frequency fluctuation of heart rate values, and wherein the recovery-degree evaluating means comprises means for evaluating the degree of recovery of the subject, by judging whether said one selected from the group is greater than a reference value.

6. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the circulatory-organ-relating-information obtaining means comprises means for iteratively obtaining, as a piece of circulatory-organ-relating information, one selected from the group consisting of a frequency distribution of fluctuations of blood pressure values, and a frequency distribution of fluctuations of heart rate values, and means for determining a degree of sharpness of said one selected from the group, and wherein the recovery-degree evaluating means comprises means for evaluating the degree of recovery of the subject, by judging whether the determined degree of sharpness is greater than a reference value.

7. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the circulatory-organ-relating-information obtaining means comprises means for iteratively obtaining, as a piece of circulatory-organ-relating information, one selected from the group consisting of a frequency spectrum of fluctuations of blood pressure values, and a frequency spectrum of fluctuations of heart rate values, and means for determining a proportion of an interval fluctuation magnitude of said one selected from the group in a prescribed frequency interval, with respect to a whole fluctuation magnitude of said one selected from the group in a whole frequency range, and wherein the recovery-degree evaluating means comprises means for evaluating the degree of recovery of the subject, by judging whether the determined proportion is greater than a reference value.

8. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recovery-degree evaluating means comprises means for evaluating the degree of recovery of the subject, by judging whether a piece of circulatory-organ-relating information obtained by the circulatory-organ-relating-information obtaining means falls within a reference range.

9. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the circulatory-organ-relating-information obtaining means comprises means for iteratively obtaining, as a piece of circulatory-organ-relating information, one selected from the group consisting of a ratio of one of a magnitude of a low-frequency fluctuation of blood pressure values and a magnitude of a high-frequency fluctuation of the blood pressure values to the other of the magnitude of low-frequency fluctuation of blood pressure values and the magnitude of high-frequency fluctuation of blood pressure values, and a ratio of one of a magnitude of a low-frequency fluctuation of heart rate values and a magnitude of a high-frequency fluctuation of the heart rate values to the other of the magnitude of low-frequency fluctuation of heart rate values and the magnitude of high-frequency fluctuation of heart rate values.

10. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the circulatory-organ-relating-information obtaining means comprises means for iteratively obtaining, as a piece of circulatory-organ-relating information, one selected from the group consisting of a frequency of a peak of a frequency distribution of fluctuations of blood pressure values, and a frequency of a peak of a frequency distribution of fluctuations of heart rate values.

11. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the circulatory-organ-relating-information obtaining means comprises means for iteratively obtaining, as a piece of circulatory-organ-relating information, one selected from the group consisting of an area enveloped by a frequency distribution of fluctuations of blood pressure values in a prescribed frequency interval, and an area enveloped by a frequency distribution of fluctuations of heart rate values in a prescribed frequency interval.

12. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the circulatory-organ-relating-information obtaining means comprises means for iteratively obtaining, as a piece of circulatory-organ-relating information, one selected from the group consisting of an area enveloped by a frequency spectrum of fluctuations of blood pressure values in a prescribed frequency interval, and an area enveloped by a frequency spectrum of fluctuations of heart rate values in a prescribed frequency interval, and means for determining a proportion of said one selected from the group, with respect to an area enveloped by the whole frequency spectrum in a whole frequency range, and wherein the recovery-degree evaluating means comprises means for evaluating the degree of recovery of the subject, by judging whether the determined proportion is greater than a reference value.