Medical sensor

• US 7,379,764 B2
• Filed: 02/02/2004
• Issued: 05/27/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 02/05/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Original Assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Inventors: Schmid, Alfons
• Primary Examiner(s): Winakur; Eric F
• Application Number:
  US10/544,364
• Publication Number:
  US 20060149149A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,576 Days
• Field of Search: 600/310, 600/322, 600/323, 600/340, 600/344
• US Class Current: 600/344
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/14552 Details of sensors specially adapted therefor
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6843 Monitoring or controlling sensor contact pressure

Abstract

The present invention relates to a medical sensor (1) for measuring pulse, blood, tissue and/or skin parameters by means of electromagnetic waves in the transmission or reflection method. The sensor (1) has a strip- and/or band-shaped carrier part (2) which carries at least one transmitter element and at least one receiver element. In order that the sensor (1) can be used on a patient more than once and is sufficiently secured against relative movements with respect to a body part, the carrier part (2), on an inner side (9) provided to make contact with the body part, has at least two adhesive bodies (25, 26) which are spaced apart from one another and during measurement adhere to the body part, while the rest of the inner side (9) is designed to be essentially non-adhesive with respect to the body part.

Claims

1. A medical sensor for measuring pulse, blood, tissue and/or skin parameters by means of electromagnetic waves in the transmission or reflection method, comprising:

a band-shaped carrier part including;

an upper half having a textile layer and a foam layer, the upper half defining first and second ports extending through the textile and foam layers,

a lower half attached to the upper half;

at least one transmitter element and at least one receiver element mounted on a retaining element, the retaining element being secured between the upper and lower halves with the transmitter element aligned with the first port and the receiver element aligned with the second port;

first and second adhesive bodies filling the first and second ports covering the transmitter element and the receiver element, the adhesive bodies being permeable by waves emitted by the transmitter element, being a gel-like substance which does not harden during the service life of the sensor and during measurement releasably adhering to a body part,

the textile layer, which is disposed on an inner side adapted to contact the body part, is adhesive-free such that the adhesive bodies are configured to adhere to the body part and the textile layer is not configured to adhere to the body part.

2. The sensor as claimed in claim 1, wherein the carrier part has a hook and loop fastening element comprising a hook element having hooks and a loop element having loops.

3. The sensor as claimed in claim 2, wherein

the hook element is designed as a tongue which at one end is anchored between the foam layer and the lower part and at the other end of the tongue projects beyond the carrier part.

4. A The sensor as claimed in claim 2, wherein the loop element is formed by an outer side of the lower half which forms the outer side of the carrier part.

5. A medical sensor for measuring pulse, blood, tissue and/or skin parameters by means of electromagnetic waves in the transmission or reflection method, having a strip- and/or band-shaped carrier part which carries at least one transmitter element and at least one receiver element,

wherein the carrier part, on an inner side provided to make contact with a body part of a patient, has [at least] two adhesive bodies which are spaced apart from one another and during measurement adhere to the body part, where the rest of the inner side is designed to be essentially non-adhesive with respect to the body part;

wherein the carrier part has a first textile layer that forms the inner side of the carrier part, on which there is arranged a first layer of foamed material that can be elastically compressed in the direction of the thickness, on which there is arranged a second layer of foamed material that can be elastically compressed in the direction of the thickness, on which there is arranged a second textile layer that forms an outer side of the carrier part,

where the at least one transmitter element and the at least one receiver element are arranged between the layers of foamed material,

where the first textile layer and the first layer of foamed material have a transmitter opening and a receiver opening through which the at least one transmitter element emits waves during transmission and the at least one receiver element receives waves,

a first of the adhesive bodies covers the at least one transmitter element, the first adhesive body being disposed in the transmitter opening and not extending onto the inner side of the carrier part,

a second of the adhesive bodies covers the at least one receiver element, the second adhesive body being disposed in the receiver opening and not extending onto the inner side of the carrier part, and

the first and second adhesive bodies are permeable to the waves emitted by the at least one transmitter element.

6. The sensor as claimed in claim 5, wherein

the at least one transmitter element is arranged in the carrier part, the at least one transmitter element emits waves during measurement, through the first adhesive body that is disposed in the transmitter opening;

and

the at least one receiver element is arranged in the carrier part, the at least one receiver element receives waves during measurement through the second adhesive body that is disposed in the receiver opening.

7. The sensor as claimed in claim 6, wherein

the first adhesive body adheres to the at least one transmitter element and releasably adheres to the body part, and

the second adhesive body adheres to the at least one receiver element and releasably adheres to the body art.

8. The sensor as claimed in claim 5, wherein the adhesive bodies consist of a gel-like adhesive compound.

9. The sensor as claimed in claim 5, wherein the adhesive bodies consist of an adhesive that is not hardened and does not harden during the service life of the sensor.

10. A The sensor as claimed in claim 5, wherein

the at least one transmitter element and the at least one receiver element are arranged between a first adhesive film and a second adhesive film,

the adhesive films are arranged between the layers of foamed material, and

the first adhesive film has a transmitter opening and a receiver opening.

11. A sensor for measuring pulse, blood, tissue and/or skin parameters by means of electromagnetic waves in the transmission or reflection method, having a strip- and/or band-shaped carrier part which carries at least one transmitter element and at least one receiver element,

wherein the at least one transmitter element and the at least one receiver element are arranged on the carrier part on a longitudinal center line of the carrier part and spaced apart from one another in the longitudinal direction of the carrier part;

wherein the carrier part has two lateral notches that lie opposite one another in the center, with respect to its longitudinal direction, between the at least one transmitter element and the at least one receiver element; and

wherein the carrier part, on an inner side provided to make contact with a body part of a patient, has at least two adhesive bodies which are spaced apart from one another and during measurement adhere to the body part, where the rest of the inner side is designed to be essentially non-adhesive with respect to the body part;

wherein the carrier part defines a transmitter well in which the transmitter element is disposed and a receiver well in which the receiver element is disposed;

the first adhesive body completely fills the transmitter well;

the second adhesive body completely fills the receiver well, and

the inner side of the carrier part is adhesive-free, such that only the first and second adhesive bodies adhere to the body part.

12. The sensor as claimed in claim 11, wherein the carrier part is designed to be elastically compressible in the direction of its thickness, such that the carrier part can be compressed at the time of application to the body part, such that restoring forces press the inner side of the carrier part, the first adhesive body and the second adhesive body against the body part.

13. The A sensor as claimed in claim 11, wherein the carrier part has a multilayer structure and, between two textile layers, one of which forms the inner side of the carrier part and the other of which forms an outer side of the carrier part, has at least one layer of foamed material that can be elastically compressed in the direction of the thickness.

14. The sensor as claimed in claims 13, wherein the layers of the multilayer carrier part are adhesively and/or thermally bonded to one another.

15. The sensor as claimed in claim 11, wherein a projection which sticks out to the side is formed on the carrier part, to which projection cables are attached which lead to the at least one transmitter element and to the at least one receiver element.

16. A medical sensor comprising:

a carrier part having an inner surface adapted to contact a body part of a patient;

a receiver recessed in a first well defined in said carrier part;

a transmitter received in a second well defined in said carrier part;

at least two adhesive bodies, wherein one adhesive body is disposed in the first well, covers the receiver, and is configured to adhere to the body part and another adhesive body is disposed in the second well, covers the transmitter, and is configured to adhere to the body part;

wherein the receiver and the transmitter are spaced apart from one another; and

wherein the inner surface of the carrier art is adhesive-free such that only the adhesive bodies adhere to the body part.

17. The medical sensor of claim 16, wherein said at least two adhesive bodies are comprised of a gel-like adhesive material which is transmissive to waves transmitted by the transmitter.