Patient telemetry device and leadset designs for providing antenna diversity
First Claim
1. A portable transceiver system for remotely monitoring a patient, comprising:
- a lead set having a plurality of electrocardiograph (ECG) leads that attach to a patient to sense ECG waveforms; and
a portable transceiver device that receives the ECG waveforms from the ECG lead set, and uses antenna conductors within at least some of the plurality of ECG leads to provide an antenna for communicating bi-directionally with a base station by wireless communications to transfer data representing the ECG waveforms to the base station;
wherein the portable transceiver device provides antenna diversity by automatically switching between at least a first antenna formed from a first set of the ECG leads, and a second antenna formed from a second set of the ECG leads that is different from the first set.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Various designs and features of an ambulatory transceiver and ECG lead set are disclosed for use in remote patient monitoring. One feature involves the use of unshielded, dual-conductor lead wires in which one conductor carries the patient'"'"'s ECG signal and the other conductor provides an RF antenna element for the transceiver. The lead wires used in one embodiment provide improved flexibility, durability, and antenna performance over conventional lead sets with shielded wires. Another feature involves an antenna diversity scheme in which the transceiver switches between two or more ECG-lead antennas, each of which is formed from one or more ECG leads of the lead set. Another feature involves the use of a circuit within the transceiver to monitor, and dynamically compensate for changes in, the impedance of an ECG-lead antenna or a conductor thereof. Another feature is an improved circuit for protecting the transceiver from damage caused by defibrillation pulses.
152 Citations
58 Claims
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1. A portable transceiver system for remotely monitoring a patient, comprising:
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a lead set having a plurality of electrocardiograph (ECG) leads that attach to a patient to sense ECG waveforms; and
a portable transceiver device that receives the ECG waveforms from the ECG lead set, and uses antenna conductors within at least some of the plurality of ECG leads to provide an antenna for communicating bi-directionally with a base station by wireless communications to transfer data representing the ECG waveforms to the base station;
wherein the portable transceiver device provides antenna diversity by automatically switching between at least a first antenna formed from a first set of the ECG leads, and a second antenna formed from a second set of the ECG leads that is different from the first set. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A lead set for sensing physiologic data of a patient, comprising:
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a connector for attaching the lead set to a transceiver device; and
a plurality of electrocardiograph (ECG) leads which extend from the connector to sense ECG signals of a patient, each lead having a single ECG conductor for carrying an ECG signal of the patient and a single antenna conductor;
wherein the connector has first and second antenna contacts for connecting first and second radio frequency (RF) antennas to the transceiver device, the first antenna contact electrically connected to a first subset of the antenna conductors and the second antenna contact electrically connected to a second subset of the antenna conductors, the first and second subsets being mutually exclusive. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
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38. A portable telemetry unit for sensing, and conveying by wireless communications, physiologic data of a patient, the portable telemetry unit comprising:
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a lead set having a plurality of leads for sensing physiologic data of the patient, each lead comprising a flexible lead wire, at least some of the lead wires having conductors that serve as antenna elements for providing a radio frequency (RF) telemetry antenna; and
a portable telemetry device that receives the physiologic data from the lead set, and transmits the physiologic data by wireless, RF communications to a receiving station using the antenna elements within at least some of the plurality of leads;
wherein the portable telemetry device provides antenna diversity by automatically switching between at least a first antenna formed from at least a first set of the antenna elements, and a second antenna formed from at least a second set of the antenna elements that is different from the first set. - View Dependent Claims (39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50)
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51. A method of communicating physiologic data of a patient to a remote location by wireless communications, comprising:
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(a) sensing physiologic data of the patient using a plurality of leads that attach to the patient, wherein at least some of the leads comprise respective antenna conductors;
(b) selecting between at least a first antenna and a second antenna, wherein the first antenna comprises at least one antenna conductor not included in the second antenna, and the second antenna includes at least one antenna conductor not included in the first antenna;
(c) transmitting the physiologic data using the antenna selected in (b); and
(d) repeating (b) and (c) such that both the first antenna and the second antenna are used to transmit the patient'"'"'s physiologic data. - View Dependent Claims (52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58)
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Specification