Embedded device for flow monitoring
First Claim
1. A system for monitoring a health status of a subject comprising:
- a prosthetic cardiac valve implantable in the subject'"'"'s heart and having an annulus body defining a compartment through which blood flows through upon an opening of cardiac valve leaves;
a first piezo-electric element embedded within said annulus body at or near a surface of said annulus body for generating acoustic excitation signals that traverse a liquid blood medium within said compartment, and one or more second piezo-electric elements embedded within said annulus body and configured to receive said acoustic excitation signal and responsively generating an output signal for measuring a Doppler shift effect occurring within said compartment;
a signal generator for applying a stimulus signal to said first piezo-electric element for generating an acoustic excitation signal;
a multichannel amplifier configured for receiving a signal output from the one or more second piezo-electric elements in response to receiving said acoustic excitation signal, and comparing, in real time, a generated output signal with the excitation signal to output a Doppler frequency shift measurement signal; and
an A/D converter for receiving a frequency shift measurement output signal from said amplifier and converting said frequency shift measurement output signal to a corresponding digital signal,a microphone sensor embedded on an outer surface of the implanted prosthetic cardiac valve for real-time capturing of sound of blood flowing through said cardiac valve leaves opening and generating corresponding data signals of said captured sounds;
a processor element coupled to said multichannel amplifier for receiving said corresponding digital signal for use in real time measuring the liquid blood flow rate across said compartment, and monitoring a cardiac output and a function of the prosthetic cardiac valve based on said received digital signal, said processor element further configured to identify a laminar blood flow versus a turbulent blood flow based on said captured sounds, and correlate said generated data signals received from said embedded microphone sensor with the corresponding digital signal to identify a change in said cardiac output.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method for monitoring a health status of a subject. The system comprises: a medical device implantable in the subject and having a passage or compartment through which blood flows through; a sensor device embedded at or near a surface of said passage within said medical device for generating signals suitable for measuring a Doppler shift effect occurring within said passage; and a control device coupled to said sensor device for measuring a liquid blood flow rate within said passage based on sensor generated signals outputs. The embedded sensor device comprises a first piezo-electric element configured to generate an acoustic excitation signal and a second piezo-electric element configured to receive said acoustic excitation signal. The second piezo-electric element emits a signal responsive to said acoustic excitation signal. Control device in real time compares a generated output signal with the input excitation signal to determine a Doppler frequency shift measurement.
11 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A system for monitoring a health status of a subject comprising:
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a prosthetic cardiac valve implantable in the subject'"'"'s heart and having an annulus body defining a compartment through which blood flows through upon an opening of cardiac valve leaves; a first piezo-electric element embedded within said annulus body at or near a surface of said annulus body for generating acoustic excitation signals that traverse a liquid blood medium within said compartment, and one or more second piezo-electric elements embedded within said annulus body and configured to receive said acoustic excitation signal and responsively generating an output signal for measuring a Doppler shift effect occurring within said compartment; a signal generator for applying a stimulus signal to said first piezo-electric element for generating an acoustic excitation signal; a multichannel amplifier configured for receiving a signal output from the one or more second piezo-electric elements in response to receiving said acoustic excitation signal, and comparing, in real time, a generated output signal with the excitation signal to output a Doppler frequency shift measurement signal; and an A/D converter for receiving a frequency shift measurement output signal from said amplifier and converting said frequency shift measurement output signal to a corresponding digital signal, a microphone sensor embedded on an outer surface of the implanted prosthetic cardiac valve for real-time capturing of sound of blood flowing through said cardiac valve leaves opening and generating corresponding data signals of said captured sounds; a processor element coupled to said multichannel amplifier for receiving said corresponding digital signal for use in real time measuring the liquid blood flow rate across said compartment, and monitoring a cardiac output and a function of the prosthetic cardiac valve based on said received digital signal, said processor element further configured to identify a laminar blood flow versus a turbulent blood flow based on said captured sounds, and correlate said generated data signals received from said embedded microphone sensor with the corresponding digital signal to identify a change in said cardiac output. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 17)
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8. A method for monitoring a health status of a subject comprising:
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applying, using a signal generator, a stimulus signal to a first piezo-electric element embedded within an annulus body of a prosthetic cardiac valve at or near a surface of said annulus body, the prosthetic cardiac valve implanted in the subject'"'"'s heart, the annulus body defining a compartment through which blood flows through upon an opening of cardiac valve leaves, said first embedded piezo-electric element configured to generate acoustic excitation signals that traverse a liquid blood medium within said compartment, said prosthetic cardiac valve having one or more second piezo-electric elements embedded at or near a surface of said annulus body and configured to receive said acoustic excitation signals; generating acoustic excitation signals, by said embedded first piezo-electric element, said acoustic excitation signals traversing a liquid blood medium within said compartment for receipt at said second piezo-electric element embedded within the annulus body, said second piezo-electric element responsively generating an output signal for measuring a Doppler shift effect occurring within said compartment; receiving, at a multichannel amplifier, a signal output from the one or more second piezo-electric elements in response to receiving said acoustic excitation signal, comparing, in real time, a generated output signal with the excitation signal to output a Doppler frequency shift measurement signal; receiving, at an A/D converter element, the frequency shift measurement output signal from said amplifier and converting said frequency shift measurement output signal to a corresponding digital signal, real-time capturing, using a microphone sensor embedded on an outer surface of the implanted prosthetic cardiac valve of sound of blood flowing through said cardiac valve leaves opening and generating corresponding data signals of said captured sounds; communicating said corresponding digital signal to a processor element; and determining at said processor element, a real time liquid blood flow rate measure within said compartment based on said received corresponding digital signal for use in real time monitoring a cardiac output and a function of the prosthetic cardiac valve, and using said processor element to identify a laminar blood flow versus a turbulent blood flow based on said captured sounds, and correlate said generated data signals received from said embedded microphone sensor with the corresponding digital signal to identify a change in said cardiac output. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 18, 20)
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13. A computer program product comprising:
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a computer readable storage device, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by a computing device for monitoring a health status of a subject, said subject having a prosthetic cardiac valve implanted in the subject having an annulus body defining a compartment through which blood flows through upon an opening of cardiac valve leaves, said prosthetic cardiac valve having a first piezo-electric element embedded within said annulus body at or near a surface of said annulus body and configured to generate acoustic excitation signals that traverse a liquid blood medium within said compartment and having one or more second piezo-electric elements embedded within the annulus body at or near a surface of said annulus body within said prosthetic cardiac valve and configured to receive said acoustic excitation signals, said program of instructions configuring a processor element to; apply, using a signal generator, a stimulus signal to the embedded first piezo-electric element for generating an acoustic excitation signal; receive, at a multichannel amplifier, a signal output from the one or more second piezo-electric elements in response to receiving said acoustic excitation signal, compare, in real time, a generated output signal with the excitation signal to output a Doppler frequency shift measurement signal; receive, at an A/D converter element, the frequency shift measurement output signal from said amplifier and converting said frequency shift measurement output signal to a corresponding digital signal, receive said corresponding digital signal at said processor element; and capture, in real-time, using a microphone sensor embedded on an outer surface of the implanted prosthetic cardiac valve, a sound of blood flowing through said cardiac valve leaves opening and generate corresponding data signals of said captured sounds; determine at said processor element, a real time liquid blood flow rate measure within said compartment based on said received corresponding digital signal for use in real time monitoring a cardiac output and a function of the prosthetic cardiac valve, and identify, at said processor element, a laminar blood flow versus a turbulent blood flow based on said captured sounds, and correlate said generated data signals received from said embedded microphone sensor with the corresponding digital signal to identify a change in said cardiac output. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 19)
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Specification