Blood flow monitor with visual display
First Claim
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1. A blood flow monitor for detecting a blood flow rate down to zero flow, within a single blood vessel, comprising:
- a transducer probe directly contactable on a single blood vessel, a visual display, and a speaker;
a probe monitoring circuit in electrical communication with said probe, where the probe monitoring circuit is configured to transmit a burst signal at a predetermined first frequency and receive a reflected signal at a second frequency;
a mixer comprising an input in electrical communication with the probe monitoring circuit and an output in electrical communication with a first signal path and a second signal path, where the mixer is configured to compare the difference between the first frequency and the second frequency to determine a frequency shift, the frequency shift representative of a blood flow rate within the single blood vessel, wherein the frequency shift has a range between zero to indicate a zero flow rate and an upper limit frequency with a threshold frequency therebetween, where the threshold frequency is a frequency that is at least audible in said speaker, the mixer further configured to output a signal at a frequency of the frequency shift to each of the first and second signal paths;
the first signal path including the speaker in electric communication with the output of the mixer, the speaker configured to produce an audible sound in response to the frequency shift signal having a frequency between the threshold frequency and the upper limit frequency to audibly indicate said blood vessel having a blood flow rate; and
the second signal path including a signal processing circuit comprising an input in electrical communication with the output of the mixer and an output in electrical communication with the visual display, where the signal processing circuit is configured to drive the visual display with a signal in response to the frequency shift signal having a frequency between zero and the threshold frequency to visually indicate the blood vessel having a blood flow,wherein the visual display is configured to provide incremental visual indication of the blood flow rate when said blood flow rate is within a range from a blood flow rate associated with said threshold frequency down to said zero flow rate.
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Abstract
A blood flow monitor with a visual display. The monitor may include a probe monitoring circuit configured to be associated with a blood vessel. The probe monitoring circuit may transmit a burst signal and receive a reflected signal, where a frequency shift in the reflected signal represents a flow rate associated with the blood vessel. A mixer may be provided in electrical communication with the probe. A signal processing circuit in electrical communication with the output of the mixer may be configured to drive the visual display with a signal representing the flow rate associated with the blood vessel.
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Citations
18 Claims
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1. A blood flow monitor for detecting a blood flow rate down to zero flow, within a single blood vessel, comprising:
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a transducer probe directly contactable on a single blood vessel, a visual display, and a speaker; a probe monitoring circuit in electrical communication with said probe, where the probe monitoring circuit is configured to transmit a burst signal at a predetermined first frequency and receive a reflected signal at a second frequency; a mixer comprising an input in electrical communication with the probe monitoring circuit and an output in electrical communication with a first signal path and a second signal path, where the mixer is configured to compare the difference between the first frequency and the second frequency to determine a frequency shift, the frequency shift representative of a blood flow rate within the single blood vessel, wherein the frequency shift has a range between zero to indicate a zero flow rate and an upper limit frequency with a threshold frequency therebetween, where the threshold frequency is a frequency that is at least audible in said speaker, the mixer further configured to output a signal at a frequency of the frequency shift to each of the first and second signal paths; the first signal path including the speaker in electric communication with the output of the mixer, the speaker configured to produce an audible sound in response to the frequency shift signal having a frequency between the threshold frequency and the upper limit frequency to audibly indicate said blood vessel having a blood flow rate; and the second signal path including a signal processing circuit comprising an input in electrical communication with the output of the mixer and an output in electrical communication with the visual display, where the signal processing circuit is configured to drive the visual display with a signal in response to the frequency shift signal having a frequency between zero and the threshold frequency to visually indicate the blood vessel having a blood flow, wherein the visual display is configured to provide incremental visual indication of the blood flow rate when said blood flow rate is within a range from a blood flow rate associated with said threshold frequency down to said zero flow rate. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A signal processing circuit comprising:
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an input channel configured to receive an input signal at a frequency shift define between a burst signal at a first frequency and a reflected signal at a second frequency to represent a blood flow rate through a blood vessel, wherein the frequency shift has a range between zero to indicate a zero flow rate and an upper limit frequency with a threshold frequency therebetween, wherein the threshold frequency is a frequency that is at least audible in a speaker; an output channel configured to output an output signal; and a scaling logic connected between the input channel and the output channel, where the scaling logic is configured to generate a scaled signal configured to drive a visual display that is incremental, the scaled signal indicative of the frequency shift in the range between zero and the threshold frequency in order to visually represent the blood flow rate associated with the blood vessel on the visual display when said blood flow rate is in a range from a blood flow rate associated with said threshold frequency down to said zero flow rate. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15)
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16. A method of monitoring a blood flow rate through a blood vessel, the method comprising:
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transmitting a burst signal at a predetermined first frequency proximate to a blood vessel; receiving a reflected signal at a second frequency, where a frequency shift in the reflected signal relative to the first frequency represents a blood flow rate associated with the blood vessel; comparing the frequency shift with a threshold frequency being capable of audio output through a speaker; and driving a visual display configured to provide incremental visual indication of the blood flow rate within the body vessel when the frequency shift is within a range from the threshold frequency down to zero frequency to represent a low flow rate associated with the blood vessel, and driving a speaker when the frequency shift is above the threshold frequency to represent a flow rate associated with the blood vessel higher than the indicated blood flow rate of the visual display. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18)
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Specification