Waveform marker placement algorithm for use in neurophysiologic monitoring
First Claim
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1. A method of performing neuromonitoring of a patient during a surgical procedure, said method comprising the steps of:
- obtaining a raw waveform ready for processing, wherein said raw waveform is comprised of electrical response signals recorded by recording electrode resulting from a neuromonitoring stimulus provided to the patient wherein said neuromonitoring stimulus is initiated by a processing unit and delivered to a stimulus electrode via a stimulation source, wherein said electrical response signal is delivered to a recording channel, wherein said recording channel sends said electrical response signal to the processing unit, wherein said electrical response signals are comprised of valid neurophysiologic response signal components and invalid neurophysiologic response signal components;
generating a derived processed waveform by the processing unit comprised of a first set of potentially valid neurophysiologic response signal components within the raw waveform, wherein said derived processed waveform excludes a first set of invalid neurophysiologic response signal components within the raw waveform, wherein said derived processed waveform generated by the processing unit excludes noise components from the raw waveform and is generated by the processing unit from ascending peaks and descending peaks of the raw waveform, and wherein said first set of the potentially valid neurophysiologic response signal components is stored in a storage device;
identifying a second set of potentially valid neurophysiologic response signal components by said processing unit in the derived processed waveform, wherein the second set of potentially valid neurophysiologic response signal components is a subset of the first set of potentially valid neurophysiologic response signal components, by rejecting the signal components of the first set of potentially valid neurophysiologic response signal components that do not meet predetermined signal morphology criteria, wherein said predetermined signal morphology criteria is at least one of minimum signal rise time, maximum signal rise time, minimum signal amplitude, maximum signal amplitude, and minimum signal to noise ratio, and wherein said second set of potentially valid neurophysiologic response signal components is stored in said storage device;
searching the second set of potentially valid neurophysiologic response signal components by said processing unit to determine said valid neurophysiologic response signal components, wherein said valid neurophysiologic response signal components are determined based on the second set of potentially valid neurophysiologic response signal components that exceed the signal to noise ratio level by a predefined value;
displaying latency and amplitude marker locations on said raw waveform by said processing unit based on the location of said valid neurophysiologic response signal components, said latency and amplitude marker locations having an associated value;
measuring the value, at one of said marker locations, of at least one waveform characteristic, by said processing unit wherein said waveform characteristic is at least one of amplitude and latency;
comparing the value of said at least one measured waveform characteristic with a value of a baseline waveform characteristic to determine a difference between the values by said processing unit;
issuing a warning if the difference between the value of said at least one measured waveform characteristic and the value of the baseline waveform characteristic increases or decreases by a predetermined level by said processing unit.
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Abstract
The present invention relates to a system and methods generally aimed at surgery. More particularly, the present invention is directed at a system and related methods for performing surgical procedures and assessments involving the use of neurophysiology.
269 Citations
15 Claims
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1. A method of performing neuromonitoring of a patient during a surgical procedure, said method comprising the steps of:
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obtaining a raw waveform ready for processing, wherein said raw waveform is comprised of electrical response signals recorded by recording electrode resulting from a neuromonitoring stimulus provided to the patient wherein said neuromonitoring stimulus is initiated by a processing unit and delivered to a stimulus electrode via a stimulation source, wherein said electrical response signal is delivered to a recording channel, wherein said recording channel sends said electrical response signal to the processing unit, wherein said electrical response signals are comprised of valid neurophysiologic response signal components and invalid neurophysiologic response signal components; generating a derived processed waveform by the processing unit comprised of a first set of potentially valid neurophysiologic response signal components within the raw waveform, wherein said derived processed waveform excludes a first set of invalid neurophysiologic response signal components within the raw waveform, wherein said derived processed waveform generated by the processing unit excludes noise components from the raw waveform and is generated by the processing unit from ascending peaks and descending peaks of the raw waveform, and wherein said first set of the potentially valid neurophysiologic response signal components is stored in a storage device; identifying a second set of potentially valid neurophysiologic response signal components by said processing unit in the derived processed waveform, wherein the second set of potentially valid neurophysiologic response signal components is a subset of the first set of potentially valid neurophysiologic response signal components, by rejecting the signal components of the first set of potentially valid neurophysiologic response signal components that do not meet predetermined signal morphology criteria, wherein said predetermined signal morphology criteria is at least one of minimum signal rise time, maximum signal rise time, minimum signal amplitude, maximum signal amplitude, and minimum signal to noise ratio, and wherein said second set of potentially valid neurophysiologic response signal components is stored in said storage device; searching the second set of potentially valid neurophysiologic response signal components by said processing unit to determine said valid neurophysiologic response signal components, wherein said valid neurophysiologic response signal components are determined based on the second set of potentially valid neurophysiologic response signal components that exceed the signal to noise ratio level by a predefined value; displaying latency and amplitude marker locations on said raw waveform by said processing unit based on the location of said valid neurophysiologic response signal components, said latency and amplitude marker locations having an associated value; measuring the value, at one of said marker locations, of at least one waveform characteristic, by said processing unit wherein said waveform characteristic is at least one of amplitude and latency; comparing the value of said at least one measured waveform characteristic with a value of a baseline waveform characteristic to determine a difference between the values by said processing unit; issuing a warning if the difference between the value of said at least one measured waveform characteristic and the value of the baseline waveform characteristic increases or decreases by a predetermined level by said processing unit. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A system for providing neuromonitoring of a patient during a surgical procedure, comprising:
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a control unit comprised of a main display and a processing unit, a stimulation source, a storage device, and an electrode harness, wherein the control unit is configured to; activate a stimulation signal in the electrode harness via the stimulation source; receive a waveform from the patient recorded by the electrode harness, wherein the waveform is an electrical response signal, and in response to the stimulation signal, wherein said electrical response signal is comprised of valid neurophysiologic response signal components and invalid neurophysiologic response signal components; identify a first set of potentially valid neurophysiologic response signal components within the waveform by said proceeding unit, wherein the processing unit processes said first set of potentially valid neurophysiologic response signal components to exclude a first set of invalid neurophysiologic response signal components of the waveform, wherein said first set of invalid neurophysiologic response signal components are excluded based on noise components and the ascending peaks and descending peaks of the waveform, and wherein said first set of potentially valid neurophysiologic response signal components are stored in the storage device; perform a predictive waveform morphology search on the waveform by said processing unit to identify a second set of potentially valid neurophysiologic response signal components in the first set of potentially valid neurophysiologic response signal components that match neurophysiologic waveform morphology criteria and rejecting the signal components of the first set of potentially valid neurophysiologic response signal components that do not match neurophysiologic waveform morphology criteria, wherein said neurophysiologic waveform morphology criteria is at least one of minimum signal rise time, maximum signal rise time, minimum signal amplitude, maximum signal amplitude, and minimum signal to noise ratio, and wherein the second set of potentially valid neurophysiologic response signal components is a subset of the first set of potentially valid neurophysiologic response signal components; search the second set of potentially valid neurophysiologic response signal components by said processing unit to determine said valid neurophysiologic response signals, wherein said valid neurophysiologic response signals are determined based on the second set of potentially valid neurophysiologic response signal components that exceed the signal to noise ratio level by a predefined value, and wherein said second set of potentially valid neurophysiologic response signal components are stored in the storage device; determine the location where markers should be placed on the waveform by said processing unit based on the location of said valid neurophysiologic response signals within the waveform, wherein said determined marker location has an associated value; place markers on the waveform by said processing unit; compare the determined marker location value with a baseline waveform marker location value to determine a difference between the values by said processing unit; and issue a warning if the difference between the determined marker location value and the baseline waveform marker location value increases or decreases by a predetermined level by the main display. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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Specification