System and method for acquiring and displaying abdominal EMG signals
First Claim
1. A system for processing abdominal EMG signals, comprising:
- a signal processing module having an internal processing circuit;
a plurality of pairs of skin impedance electrodes communicably coupled to the signal processing module and configured to acquire and transmit a raw abdominal EMG signal from a patient to the internal processing circuit where the raw abdominal EMG signal is amplified and filtered to a frequency band between about 20 Hz and about 150 Hz, thereby obtaining a processed abdominal EMG signal, wherein said skin impedance electrodes further comprise a skin-to-electrode impedance matching system for monitoring a plurality of skin-to-electrode impedances and altering the input impedance of said processing circuit to adapt to said skin-to-electrode impedances;
an analog to digital converter operatively coupled to the processing circuit and configured to convert the processed abdominal EMG signal into a digital abdominal EMG signal; and
a computer communicably coupled to the signal processing module and configured to receive and process the digital abdominal EMG signal into a viewable signal representative of abdominal activity, whereby an intensity of abdominal activity can be evaluated alongside a uterine EMG signal.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method for acquiring and processing abdominal EMG signals from a maternal patient to indicate when a maternal patient should push to progress the labor toward delivery. Raw abdominal EMG signals are acquired and processed in a central unit designed to isolate the patient and any internal circuitry from electrical shock. The central unit has a circuit board that amplifies and filters the EMG signal, then transmits the signal to an A/D converter, after which the digitized signal is transmitted to a computer for further processing and subsequent display of a signal representative of abdominal activity. The system may also acquire and process uterine EMG signals that can be evaluated in conjunction with the abdominal EMG signals.
53 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A system for processing abdominal EMG signals, comprising:
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a signal processing module having an internal processing circuit; a plurality of pairs of skin impedance electrodes communicably coupled to the signal processing module and configured to acquire and transmit a raw abdominal EMG signal from a patient to the internal processing circuit where the raw abdominal EMG signal is amplified and filtered to a frequency band between about 20 Hz and about 150 Hz, thereby obtaining a processed abdominal EMG signal, wherein said skin impedance electrodes further comprise a skin-to-electrode impedance matching system for monitoring a plurality of skin-to-electrode impedances and altering the input impedance of said processing circuit to adapt to said skin-to-electrode impedances; an analog to digital converter operatively coupled to the processing circuit and configured to convert the processed abdominal EMG signal into a digital abdominal EMG signal; and a computer communicably coupled to the signal processing module and configured to receive and process the digital abdominal EMG signal into a viewable signal representative of abdominal activity, whereby an intensity of abdominal activity can be evaluated alongside a uterine EMG signal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method of processing abdominal EMG signals, comprising:
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obtaining a raw analog abdominal EMG signal from of plurality of pairs of skin impedance electrodes applied to a maternal abdomen of a patient; monitoring a plurality of skin-to-electrode impedances and altering the input impedance of the monitoring circuitry to adapt to said skin-to-electrode impedances; processing the raw analog abdominal EMG signal in a signal processing module by amplifying and filtering the raw analog abdominal EMG signal to a frequency band between about 20 Hz and about 150 Hz, thereby obtaining a processed analog signal; converting the processed analog signal to a digital abdominal EMG signal; and converting the digital abdominal EMG signal into a signal representative of abdominal activity using a computer communicably coupled to the signal processing module. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A computer program for processing abdominal EMG signals from a patient, the computer program product comprising:
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a computer-readable medium, that when executed by a processor, is configured to control a method for processing abdominal EMG signals from a patient, the computer readable medium having computer usable program code embodied therewith, the computer usable program code comprising program instructions operable for; obtaining a raw analog abdominal EMG signal from at least a plurality of pairs of skin impedance electrodes coupled to a maternal abdomen of a patient; monitoring a plurality of skin-to-electrode impedances and altering the input impedance of the monitoring circuitry to adapt to said skin-to-electrode impedances; processing the raw analog abdominal EMG signal in a signal processing module to amplify and filter the raw analog abdominal EMG signal to a frequency band between about 20 Hz and about 150 Hz to obtain an amplified and filtered analog signal; converting the amplified and filtered analog signal to a digital abdominal EMG signal; transmitting the digital abdominal EMG signal to a computer; processing the digital abdominal EMG signal in the computer to obtain a signal representative of abdominal activity; and displaying the signal representative of abdominal activity on a monitor communicably coupled to the computer, whereby an intensity of abdominal activity can be evaluated alongside a uterine EMG signal. - View Dependent Claims (20)
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Specification