Method, Device and Computer Program Product for Monitoring a Subject

• US 20100317931A1
• Filed: 06/12/2009
• Published: 12/16/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 06/12/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: General Electric Company
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Sarkela, Mika
• Granted Patent: US 8,708,905 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 600/301
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2505/01 Emergency care
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2505/03 Intensive care
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2505/05 Surgical care
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/372 Analysis of electroencephalograms
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/384 Recording apparatus or displays specially adapted therefor
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/72 Signal processing specially adapted for physiological signals or for diagnostic purposes character recognition, recognising digital ink, document-oriented image-based pattern recognition G06V30/00; recognition or understanding of postal images G06V30/424
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7221 Determining signal validity, reliability or quality A61B5/7207 and A61B5/7217 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7235 Details of waveform analysis A61B5/349 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/743 Displaying an image simultaneously with additional graphical information, e.g. symbols, charts, function plots
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 15/00 ICT specially adapted for medical reports, e.g. generation or transmission thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/63 for local operation
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 50/20 for computer-aided diagnosis, e.g. based on medical expert systems
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 50/30 for calculating health indices; for individual health risk assessment
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 128/923 by comparison of patient data to other data
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 128/925 Neural network

Abstract

A method, device, and computer program product for monitoring the physiological state of a subject is disclosed. A first plurality of physiological signals are acquired from the subject and a second plurality of signal parameters are determined based on the first plurality of physiological signals. Relevant signal information is selected from among the signal information produced and at least one screen page is displayed at a time, thereby to make at least part of the signal information visible to a user. The signal information visible to the user on the at least one screen page may then be revised based on the selection and without user interaction, thereby to accelerate clinical decision-making and to diminish the possibility of undetected changes in the state of the subject.

Claims

1. A method for monitoring the physiological state of a subject, the method comprising:

acquiring a first plurality of physiological signals from a subject;

determining a second plurality of signal parameters based on the first plurality of physiological signals;

producing signal information comprising at least one type of signal information selected from a group including (1) time series representative(s) for at least one signal parameter of the second plurality of signal parameters and (2) signal waveform(s) of at least one of the first plurality of physiological signals;

selecting relevant signal information from the signal information;

displaying at least one screen page at a time, thereby to make at least part of the signal information visible to a user; and

revising the signal information visible to the user on the at least one screen page, wherein the revising is performed in response to the selecting and without user interaction.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein

the producing includes producing the signal information, in which the signal information comprises time series representatives for multiple signal parameters of the second plurality of signal parameters;

and

the revising includes changing at least one time series representative currently visible to the user.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the revising includes making at least one signal waveform visible to the user.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the revising includes changing at least one of the at least one screen page currently displayed.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the selecting includes comparing at least some of the second plurality of signal parameters with predetermined threshold values.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the selecting further includes comparing corresponding signal parameters with each other, the corresponding signal parameters being derived from different physiological signals.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the selecting includes selecting at least one signal parameter as the relevant signal information, wherein the at least one signal parameter belongs to the second plurality of signal parameters.

8. The method according to claim 7, further comprising

defining a set of optimal parameters based on subject-specific patient data;

and

examining whether the set of optimal parameters is consistent with the at least one signal parameter selected as the relevant signal information.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the acquiring includes acquiring the first plurality of physiological signals, in which the first plurality of physiological signals are of one signal type.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the revising includes changing appearance of the signal information currently visible to the user on the at least one screen page.

11. A monitoring device for monitoring the physiological state of a subject, the monitoring device comprising:

a parameter determination unit configured to determine a second plurality of signal parameters from a first plurality of physiological signals acquired from a subject;

a data processing unit configured to produce signal information comprising at least one type of signal information selected from a group including (1) time series representative(s) for at least one signal parameter of the second plurality of signal parameters and (2) signal waveform(s) of at least one of the first plurality of physiological signals;

a selection unit configured to select relevant signal information from the signal information;

a display unit configured to display at least one screen page at a time to a user, thereby to make at least part of the signal information visible to the user; and

a display control unit configured to revise, without user interaction, the signal information visible to the user on the at least one screen page, wherein the display control unit is responsive to the selection unit.

12. The monitoring device according to claim 11, wherein the display control unit is configured to change at least one time series representative currently visible to the user.

13. The monitoring device according to claim 11, wherein the display control unit is configured to change at least one of the at least one screen page currently displayed.

14. The monitoring device according to claim 11, wherein the selection unit is configured to compare at least some of the second plurality of signal parameters with predetermined threshold values.

15. The monitoring device according to claim 11, wherein the selection unit is configured to compare corresponding signal parameters derived from different physiological signals with each other.

16. The monitoring device according to claim 11, wherein the selection unit is configured to select at least one signal parameter as the relevant signal information, wherein the at least one signal parameter belongs to the second plurality of signal parameters.

17. The monitoring device according to claim 16, further comprising

defining a set of optimal parameters based on subject-specific patient data;

and

examining whether the set of optimal parameters is consistent with the at least one signal parameter selected as the relevant signal information.

18. The monitoring device according to claim 11, wherein the display control unit is configured to change appearance of the signal information currently visible to the user on the at least one screen page.

19. A computer program for monitoring the physiological state of a subject, the computer program product comprising:

a first program product portion configured examine whether any of a plurality of signal parameters derived from a subject is indicative of a relevant change in the state of the subject, wherein each signal parameter is derived from at least one physiological signal obtained from the subject; and

a second program product portion, responsive to the first program product portion, configured to revise, without user interaction, signal information currently visible to a user, wherein the signal information comprises at least one type of information selected from a group including (1) time series representative(s) for at least one signal parameter of the plurality of signal parameters and (2) signal waveform(s) of at least one of a plurality of physiological signals obtained from the subject.

20. The computer program according to claim 19, further comprising a third program product portion configured to determine at least some of the plurality of signal parameters from the plurality of physiological signals.