System and method for detecting new left bundle branch block for accelerating treatment of acute myocardial infarction
First Claim
1. A method for monitoring a patient for the presence of a new bundle branch block, comprising the steps of:
- acquiring current and previous electrocardiogram records at different times for a particular patient;
determining that a new bundle branch block is present in said particular patient based on an automated comparison of data in said current and previous electrocardiogram records;
automatically detecting that said particular patient belongs to a category of patients comprising patients identified to have a high probability of acute myocardial infarction; and
automatically generating a diagnostic statement stating that the new bundle branch block may be due to acute myocardial infarction,wherein said automated comparison comprises the following steps;
determining that said current electrocardiogram record comprises a diagnostic statement indicating the presence of a bundle branch block and determining that said previous electrocardiogram record does not comprise a diagnostic statement indicating the presence of a bundle branch block;
computing a percentage change in a measurement relating to a bundle branch block criterion in said current and previous electrocardiogram records; and
determining that said percentage change exceeds a first predetermined threshold.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and a method for automatically detecting a new left bundle branch block (LBBB) in an ECG series and then issuing an alert for the purpose of accelerating treatment for acute myocardial infarction. A serial comparison program is used to compare each current ECG with a previous ECG for the same patient. Diagnostic statements, measurements and waveforms are compared and based on the comparisons, the system is able to automatically determine that the patient has a new LBBB. The system then automatically determines whether the patient belongs to the category of patients having a high probability of acute myocardial infarction. If acute myocardial infarction is suspected, the system generates a diagnostic statement stating that the new left bundle branch block may be due to acute myocardial infarction. The current ECG exhibiting a new LBBB is then identified with a special tag and sent to a central database server. The special tag enables the central database server to perform special routing of that record, e.g., via facsimile or digital pager, to alert on-call medical personnel to the need for immediate treatment.
53 Citations
16 Claims
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1. A method for monitoring a patient for the presence of a new bundle branch block, comprising the steps of:
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acquiring current and previous electrocardiogram records at different times for a particular patient; determining that a new bundle branch block is present in said particular patient based on an automated comparison of data in said current and previous electrocardiogram records; automatically detecting that said particular patient belongs to a category of patients comprising patients identified to have a high probability of acute myocardial infarction; and automatically generating a diagnostic statement stating that the new bundle branch block may be due to acute myocardial infarction, wherein said automated comparison comprises the following steps; determining that said current electrocardiogram record comprises a diagnostic statement indicating the presence of a bundle branch block and determining that said previous electrocardiogram record does not comprise a diagnostic statement indicating the presence of a bundle branch block; computing a percentage change in a measurement relating to a bundle branch block criterion in said current and previous electrocardiogram records; and determining that said percentage change exceeds a first predetermined threshold. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A system for monitoring a patient for the presence of a new bundle branch block, comprising:
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means for acquiring current and previous electrocardiogram records at different times for a particular patient; means for determining whether a new bundle branch block is present in said particular patient based on a comparison of data in said current and previous electrocardiogram records; means for detecting whether said particular patient belongs to a category of patients comprising patients identified to have a high probability of acute myocardial infarction, said detecting means being operative if said determining means have determined that a new bundle branch block is present; and means for generating a diagnostic statement stating that the new bundle branchblock may be due to acute myocardial infarction, said generating means being operative if said detecting means have detected that said particular patient belongs to said category, wherein said determining means comprise a computer programmed to determine which of said current and previous electrocardiogram records contain a diagnostic statement indicating the presence of a bundle branch block, and to perform the following steps if said current electrocardiogram record contained a statement indicating the presence of a bundle branch block and said previous electrocardiogram record did not contain a statement indicating the presence of a bundle branch block; computing a percentage change in a measurement relating to a bundle branch block criterion in said current and previous electrocardiogram records; and comparing said percentage change to a first predetermined threshold. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A system for monitoring a patient for the presence of a new bundle branch block, comprising:
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memory for storing a previous electrocardiogram record; an instrument for acquiring a current electrocardiogram record at a time which is later than the time when said previous electrocardiogram record was acquired; and a computer programmed to perform the following steps; determining whether a new bundle branch block is present in said particular patient based on a comparison of data in said current and previous electrocardiogram records; detecting whether said particular patient belongs to a category of patients comprising patients identified to have a high probability of acute myocardial infarction, said detecting step being performed if a determination has been made that a new bundle branch block is present; and generating a diagnostic statement stating that the new bundle branch block may be due to acute myocardial infarction, said generating step being performed if membership of said particular patient in said category has been detected, wherein said determining step comprises the step of determining which of said current and previous electrocardiogram records contain a diagnostic statement indicating the presence of a bundle branch block, and further comprises the following steps, which are performed if said current electrocardiogram record contained a statement indicating the presence of a bundle branch block and said previous electrocardiogram record did not contain a statement indicating the presence of a bundle branch block; computing a percentage change in a measurement relating to a bundle branch block criterion in said current and previous electrocardiogram records; and comparing said percentage change to a first predetermined threshold. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16)
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Specification