METHODS AND DEVICES FOR DETECTION OF CONTEXT WHEN ADDRESSING A MEDICAL CONDITION OF A PATIENT

• US 20080269622A1
• Filed: 07/10/2008
• Published: 10/30/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 10/11/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cardiac Pacemakers Incorporated (Boston Scientific Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Cardiac Pacemakers Incorporated (Boston Scientific Corporation)
• Inventors: Hatlestad, John
• Granted Patent: US 7,986,998 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 600/481
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2560/0242 adapted to measure environmental factors, e.g. temperature, pollution
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/024 Detecting, measuring or recording pulse rate or heart rate A61B5/0205, A61B5/021 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1116 Determining posture transitions
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/686 Permanently implanted devices, e.g. pacemakers, other stimulators, biochips A61B5/6861 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/3987 characterised by the timing or triggering of the shock

Abstract

Methods and devices detect context related to a patient when monitoring a physiological condition of the patient and/or when applying one or more modes of therapy. The context may be a patient context such as posture or an environmental context such as ambient conditions. The context may be used in various ways in relation to the physiological measurement, such as to control when the physiological measurements are made, to appropriately flag physiological measurements, to be recorded in association with the physiological measurements, and/or to correct the physiological measurements based on a reference context. A device such as a beacon transmitter is used in detecting the context and a measurement device such as an implantable cardiovascular device is used to capture the physiological measurements.

Claims

1. A method of monitoring physiological conditions of a patient, comprising:

measuring at least one physiological condition of the patient with a measurement device;

while measuring the at least one physiological condition, utilizing an external device to detect whether at least one contextual condition associated with the patient exists; and

flagging with a first indicator the measurements resulting from the measuring done while the at least one contextual condition continues to exist.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the measurement device is implanted in the body of the patient.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one contextual condition defines a patient context.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein detecting whether the at least one contextual condition exists comprises interacting between the external device and the measurement device to detect the patient context, and wherein the measurement device is implanted in the body of the patient.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the patient context comprises a proximity of the external device to the measurement device.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein interacting between the external device and the measurement device coupled to the patient comprises:

emitting a signal from the external device;

receiving the signal at the measurement device coupled to the patient when the measurement device is within a transmission range of the external device; and

flagging with the first indicator the measurements of the at least one physiological condition upon the measurement device receiving the signal.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one condition defines an environmental context.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the environmental context is temperature present proximal to the patient.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one physiological condition comprises a cardiovascular value.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one physiological condition comprises a respiratory value.

11. A system for monitoring physiological conditions of a patient, comprising:

a transmitter external to the patient;

a detector that is responsive to the transmitter to detect at least one contextual condition;

a physiological sensor responsive to a physiological condition of the patient; and

a processing device configured to measure from the physiological sensor at least one physiological condition of the patient and flag the measurements taken during the existence of the at least one contextual condition that is indicated by the detector.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the detector is an electromagnetic wave receiver.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the physiological sensor captures a cardiovascular value.

14. The system of claim 11, further comprising:

a second transmitter that outputs a signal encoded with the measurements made by the processing device from the physiological sensor; and

a receiver external to the patient that receives the signal output by the second transmitter.

15. A method of monitoring physiological conditions of a patient, comprising:

measuring at least one physiological condition of the patient with a measurement device;

while measuring the at least one physiological condition, utilizing an external device to detect whether at least one contextual condition associated with the patient exists, the external device positioned in a predetermined location associated with the contextual condition, the external device adapted to emit a signal from the predetermined location, wherein utilizing the external device includes using the measurement device to detect the signal emitted by the external device and determine that the measurement device is proximate to the predetermined location and the at least one contextual conditions exists when the signal from the external device is detected; and

flagging with a first indicator the measurements resulting from the measuring done while the signal is received by the measurement device.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the patient is an ambulatory patient who is capable of moving to a plurality of non-clinical locations, and the external device transmits the signal from the predetermined location before the patient is within range for the measurement device to sense the signal transmitted from the predetermined location.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the predetermined location is relevant to measuring the at least one physiological condition of the patient.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein flagging includes automatically flagging in response to detecting the signal.

19. The method of claim 15, wherein the measurement device is implanted in the body of the patient.

20. The method of claim 15, wherein the at least one contextual condition is a patient context, and measuring the at least one physiological condition includes measuring a cardiovascular value or a respiratory value.