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Pulse oximeter access apparatus and method

  • US 9,743,887 B2
  • Filed: 07/02/2015
  • Issued: 08/29/2017
  • Est. Priority Date: 11/05/2003
  • Status: Active Grant
First Claim
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1. A patient monitor system that is locked behaving as if unlocked, the patient monitor system comprising a patient monitor and considered locked because the patient monitor is configured to process signals only from authorized noninvasive sensors during normal operation, the patient monitor system behaving as if unlocked because the patient monitor, opposite to its configuration, processes signals from unauthorized noninvasive sensors during normal operation, the patient monitor system comprising:

  • a patient monitor including an input configured to receive signals responsive to light attenuated by body tissue of a patient, said input also configured to receive predetermined access information, and a signal processor responsive to said signals and said predetermined access information from said input, said signal processor configured to process said predetermined access information to determine whether to process said signals;

    an accessory comprising a memory and one of a cable or a connector, said memory previously non-removably incorporated into a first noninvasive optical sensor so that removal significantly damages said first noninvasive optical sensor, said memory storing said predetermined access information and incorporated into said accessory subsequent to removal of said memory from said first noninvasive optical sensor by significantly damaging said first noninvasive optical sensor, said memory and said first noninvasive optical sensor having a one-to-one association with one another, said accessory configured to communicate said predetermined access information to said patient monitor through said input without said first noninvasive optical sensor, said accessory and said memory together having a one-to-many association with a plurality of noninvasive optical sensors; and

    a second noninvasive optical sensor comprising a light detector configured to communicate an output signal to said input,wherein in response to receiving said predetermined access information from said accessory through said input, said signal processor is configured to determine to process said output signal from said second noninvasive optical sensor during normal operation and subsequently process said output signal during normal operation.

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