Portable device for sensing cardiac function and automatically delivering electrical therapy
First Claim
1. A patient-worn device for automatically delivering electrical therapy to the heart upon the occurrence of a treatable heart arrhythmia, the device comprising:
- monitoring means for continuously sensing the patient'"'"'s heart condition, skin-contacting treatment electrode means having a surface adapted for contact with the patient'"'"'s skin, a source of electrical energy for supplying electrical pulses to the electrode means, discrimination means for receiving signals from the monitoring means and determining the presence of a treatable heart arrhythmia, impedance reducing means associated with the electrode means for actuation by the discrimination means responsive to the detection of a treatable heart arrhythmia for automatically reducing the impedance to electrical current flow at an interface between said surface of the electrode means and the patient'"'"'s skin, and switching means actuated by the discrimination means responsive to the detection of a treatable arrhythmia for connecting the source of electrical energy to the electrode means thereby applying appropriate electrical pulses to the heart.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A patient-worn harness or vest protects at-risk patients from the possibly fatal results of heart arrhythmias. The harness or vest incorporates sensing electrodes for monitoring heart condition, a microprocessor and memory for processing signals received from the sending electrodes and comparing same with patient'"'"'s data, and skin-contacting pulsing electrodes for applying electrical pulses to the patient'"'"'s chest wall responsive to signals received from the microprocessor. The electrodes include automatic tightening and electrolyte gel release mechanisms for reducing impedance at the electrode-skin interface. A servicing subsystem is provided for the harness or vest and may be used to interface with the harness or vest and also to communicate with remote health care personnel through a suitable telephone link.
447 Citations
51 Claims
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1. A patient-worn device for automatically delivering electrical therapy to the heart upon the occurrence of a treatable heart arrhythmia, the device comprising:
- monitoring means for continuously sensing the patient'"'"'s heart condition, skin-contacting treatment electrode means having a surface adapted for contact with the patient'"'"'s skin, a source of electrical energy for supplying electrical pulses to the electrode means, discrimination means for receiving signals from the monitoring means and determining the presence of a treatable heart arrhythmia, impedance reducing means associated with the electrode means for actuation by the discrimination means responsive to the detection of a treatable heart arrhythmia for automatically reducing the impedance to electrical current flow at an interface between said surface of the electrode means and the patient'"'"'s skin, and switching means actuated by the discrimination means responsive to the detection of a treatable arrhythmia for connecting the source of electrical energy to the electrode means thereby applying appropriate electrical pulses to the heart.
- View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. An automatic system for applying electrical therapy to the heart, the system comprising:
- a patient-worn subsystem and a maintenance subsystem for the patient-worn subsystem, the patient-worn subsystem including skin-contacting monitoring means for continuously accessing the patient'"'"'s heart condition, discrimination means including an electrical memory, for receiving signals from the monitoring means and determining the presence of a treatable heart arrhythmia from information stored in the memory, skin-contacting treatment electrode means having a surface adapted to contact the patient'"'"'s skin, a source of electrical energy, and switching means actuated by the discrimination means for connecting the source of electrical energy to the patient'"'"'s heart through the treatment electrode means in response to the detection of a treatable arrhythmia, the maintenance subsystem including means for interfacing with the monitoring means and electrode means when the patient worn subsystem is removed from a patient, means for testing operational status of the patient-worn subsystem and means for recording and storing contents of the memory of the patient-worn subsystem.
- View Dependent Claims (20, 21)
- 22. A patient-worn device for detecting a treatable heart arrhythmia and providing electrical treatment responsive thereto, the device being in the form of a body harness or vest which includes skin-contacting monitoring means adapted to contact a patient'"'"'s skin for continuously monitoring heart rate, a source of electrical energy, skin-contacting electrode means adapted to contact the patient'"'"'s skin, discrimination means for receiving signals from the monitoring means and comparing the signals with information in a memory to determine the presence of a treatable arrhythmia, switching means actuated by the discrimination means in response to determination of a treatable arrhythmia for connecting the source of electrical energy to the electrode means so as to apply appropriate electrical pacing to the heart, and impedance reducing means associated with the electrode means for actuation by the discrimination means in response to said determination for reducing impedance to electrical current flow at an interface of the patient'"'"'s skin and the electrode means.
- 37. An electrode assembly for use in a patient-worn body harness or vest for applying electrical energy pulses externally to the patient in the treatment of a heart arrhythmia, the assembly including a pulsing electrode having a skin-contacting surface adapted to contact the patient'"'"'s skin, at least one squeezable capsule containing a conductive electrode fluid, duct means connecting said capsule to said surface of the electrode, a first actuator embracing the capsule, a second actuator, a spring-biasing means for urging the actuators apart, connectors for attaching the actuators to the harness whereby movement apart of the actuators by the spring biasing means provides a tightening force on the harness for increasing pressure between said surface and the patient'"'"'s skin, and further provides movement of the first actuator along the capsule to squeeze fluid through the duct means and deliver same to the said surface, restraining means for preventing the spring biasing means from moving the actuators apart, and trigger means for releasing the restraining means.
- 42. An electrode assembly for use in a body harness or vest to be worn by a patient for applying electrical energy pulses externally to the patient in the treatment of a heart arrhythmia, the assembly including a pulsing electrode having a skin contacting surface adapted to contact the patient'"'"'s skin, means defining a chamber within the assembly for a capsule of an electrically conducting fluid, the assembly having a cover portion remote from said skin contacting surface, a puncture means for puncturing a capsule within the chamber conduit means connecting the chamber with said skin contacting surface, pressure means for squeezing the capsule, and expander means for moving the cover portion away from said skin contacting surface, so as to increase the height of the assembly, while simultaneously operating the puncture means and the pressure means.
Specification