Non-contact waveform monitor
First Claim
1. An apparatus for continuously measuring a physiological event of a subject, comprising:
- a laser source capable of directing a laser beam toward the subject that will reflect said laser beam at a skin region of the subject wherein said skin region is moveable in response to said physiological event; and
a detector comprising a laser interferometer that employs interferometer techniques to detect said reflected laser beam and determine at least a velocity of said skin surface at a given moment in time.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A non-contact method and apparatus for continuously monitoring a physiological event in a human or animal, such as blood pressure, which involves utilizing a laser-based interferometer system to produce a waveform that is representative of continuous blood pressure in a subject. The invention may preferably utilize a laser Doppler vibrometer which is oriented to produce a laser beam directed toward the subject substantially perpendicular to a skin surface of the subject wherein the skin surface is moveable in response to blood pressure. The vibrometer is sensitive to motion of the skin surface in a direction parallel to the laser beam and produces a signal representative of this motion. By plotting the velocity of the skin surface movement in the direction parallel to the laser beam with respect to time, a waveform is produced that has been found to be representative of the blood pressure waveform and highly defined to thereby permit accurate timing analysis thereof relating to cardiac cycles.
63 Citations
18 Claims
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1. An apparatus for continuously measuring a physiological event of a subject, comprising:
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a laser source capable of directing a laser beam toward the subject that will reflect said laser beam at a skin region of the subject wherein said skin region is moveable in response to said physiological event; and a detector comprising a laser interferometer that employs interferometer techniques to detect said reflected laser beam and determine at least a velocity of said skin surface at a given moment in time. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method for continuously measuring a physiological event of a subject, comprising:
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directing a laser beam toward a skin surface of said subject that will reflect said laser beam wherein said skin surface is moveable in response to said physiological event; detecting said reflected laser beam by utilizing a laser interferometer and interferometer techniques for detecting said reflected laser beam and through said detection determining said one or more variables related to movement of said skin surface; determining at least one variable related to movement of said skin surface; and analyzing said at least one variable related to movement of said skin surface thereby producing a metric concerning said physiological event. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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Specification