Medical measurement system and method
First Claim
1. A medical device including a measurement system to measure a parameter comprising:
- a sensor configured to couple to the muscular-skeletal system, where the sensor includes;
a compressible capacitor, where the capacitor includes an elastic dielectric;
a signal generator coupled to the capacitor where the signal generator is configured to output a signal corresponding to a capacitance of the capacitor;
a digital counter coupled to the signal generator; and
a digital timer coupled to the signal generator.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A measurement system for measuring a parameter of the muscular-skeletal system is disclosed. The measurement system comprises a capacitor, a signal generator, a digital counter, counter register, a digital clock, a digital timer, and a data register. The sensor of the measurement system is the capacitor. The measurement system generates a repeating signal having a measurement cycle that corresponds to the capacitance of the capacitor. The capacitor comprises more than one capacitor mechanically in series. Electrically, the capacitor comprises more than one capacitor in parallel. In one embodiment, the capacitor includes a dielectric layer comprising polyimide. A force, pressure, or load is applied to the capacitor that elastically compresses the device.
45 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A medical device including a measurement system to measure a parameter comprising:
a sensor configured to couple to the muscular-skeletal system, where the sensor includes; a compressible capacitor, where the capacitor includes an elastic dielectric; a signal generator coupled to the capacitor where the signal generator is configured to output a signal corresponding to a capacitance of the capacitor; a digital counter coupled to the signal generator; and a digital timer coupled to the signal generator. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A medical device including a measurement system to measure a parameter comprising:
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a capacitor; a signal generator coupled to the capacitor where the signal generator is configured to output a signal that is repeated, where a time period of the signal corresponds to a capacitance of the capacitor, and where the signal corresponds to a measurement cycle; a digital counter coupled to the signal generator where the digital counter is configured to count each measurement cycle; and a digital timer coupled to the signal generator, where a measurement sequence ends after the digital counter counts a predetermined number of measurement cycles and where the digital timer measures an elapsed time of the measurement sequence, where measurement accuracy of the parameter is increased by raising the predetermined count of measurement cycles. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11)
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12. A method to measure a force, pressure, or load comprising the steps of:
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applying the force, pressure, or load to a capacitor; and generating a repeating signal where each signal has a measurement cycle that corresponds to a capacitance of the capacitor, where the capacitor is compressible and where the capacitor includes an elastic dielectric. - View Dependent Claims (13)
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14. A method to measure a force, pressure, or load comprising the steps of:
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applying the force, pressure, or load to a capacitor; generating a repeating signal where each signal has a measurement cycle that corresponds to a capacitance of the capacitor; repeating the signal a predetermined number of times; measuring an elapsed time corresponding to the predetermined number of times the signal was repeated; maintaining the force, pressure, or load substantially constant during the measurement sequence; and correlating the elapsed time and the predetermined number of times the signal was repeated to one of a force, pressure, or load measurement. - View Dependent Claims (15)
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16. A medical sensor system for measuring a parameter comprising:
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a sensor configured to couple to the muscular-skeletal system comprising; multi-layered interconnect, where the interconnect includes alternating conductive and dielectric layers forming at least one capacitor where deformation of at least one of the dielectric layers in response to an applied force changes the capacitance of the capacitor; and a signal generator coupled to the at least one capacitor. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification