Pulse oximetry system with low noise cable hub

• US 9,106,038 B2
• Filed: 10/14/2010
• Issued: 08/11/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 10/15/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Masimo Corporation
• Original Assignee: Masimo Corporation
• Inventors: Telfort, Valery G., Al-Ali, Ammar, Smith, Robert A., Fechter, Joel, Fetherson, Shaun
• Primary Examiner(s): Fleming, Fritz M
• Application Number:
  US12/904,775
• Publication Number:
  US 20110209915A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,762 Days
• Field of Search: 307 89- 91
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2560/045 with a separable interface unit, e.g. for communication
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2562/222 Electrical cables or leads therefor, e.g. coaxial cables or ribbon cables
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/14551 for measuring blood gases
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/301 providing electrical separation, e.g. by using isolating transformers or optocouplers
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7203 for noise prevention, reduction or removal
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 7/00 Instruments for auscultation
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 2201/12 for medicine and surgery
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 31/065 with built-in electric apparatus

Abstract

A pulse oximetry system for reducing the risk of electric shock to a medical patient can include physiological sensors, at least one of which has a light emitter that can impinge light on body tissue of a living patient and a detector responsive to the light after attenuation by the body tissue. The detector can generate a signal indicative of a physiological characteristic of the living patient. The pulse oximetry system may also include a splitter cable that can connect the physiological sensors to a physiological monitor. The splitter cable may have a plurality of cable sections each including one or more electrical conductors that can interface with one of the physiological sensors. One or more decoupling circuits may be disposed in the splitter cable, which can be in communication with selected ones of the electrical conductors. The one or more decoupling circuits can electrically decouple the physiological sensors.

Claims

1. A cable assembly configured to couple an optical sensor cable and an acoustic sensor cable with a physiological monitor having a port for a single cable rather than both the optical sensor cable and the acoustic sensor cable, the cable assembly comprising:

a hub assembly comprising;

a cable comprising a plurality of conductors;

a monitor connector at one end of the cable, the monitor connector configured to connect to a physiological monitor to receive power from the physiological monitor and to supply signals from physiological sensors to the physiological monitor;

a first sensor connector configured to couple with an optical sensor cable and to receive first physiological signals from the optical sensor cable when the optical sensor cable is coupled with the first sensor connector and attached to a patient, the first physiological signals representing received light attenuated by tissue of the patient; and

a second sensor connector configured to couple with an acoustic sensor cable and to receive second physiological signals from the acoustic sensor cable when the acoustic sensor cable is coupled with the second sensor connector and attached to the patient, the second physiological signals representing acoustic biological sounds of the patient;

first signal conditioning circuitry disposed in electrical communication with the first sensor connector, the first signal conditioning circuitry configured to receive the first physiological signals from the optical sensor cable and to prepare the first physiological signals for transmission to the physiological monitor through the monitor connector;

second signal conditioning circuitry disposed in electrical communication with the second sensor connector, the second signal conditioning circuitry configured to receive the second physiological signals from the acoustic sensor cable and to prepare the second physiological signals for transmission to the physiological monitor through the monitor connector; and

first local shielding disposed about the first signal conditioning circuitry, the first local shielding comprising an at least partially metal enclosure configured to at least partially enclose the first signal conditioning circuitry without enclosing the second signal conditioning circuitry, the first signal conditioning circuitry configured to attenuate noise emitted by the first signal conditioning circuitry and received by the second signal conditioning circuitry so as to facilitate increased accuracy of an acoustic parameter calculation based on the second physiological signals.

2. The cable assembly of claim 1, further comprising decoupling circuitry configured to electrically decouple the first and second signal conditioning circuitries.

3. The cable assembly of claim 2, wherein the first local shielding is connected to a first ground connection of the first signal conditioning circuitry but not to a second ground connection of the second signal conditioning circuitry.

4. The cable assembly of claim 2, wherein the decoupling circuitry comprises a transformer and an optocoupler.

5. The cable assembly of claim 1, further comprising second local shielding disposed about the second signal conditioning circuitry.

6. The cable assembly of claim 1, wherein the shield is connected to a common potential of the first signal conditioning circuitry.

7. The cable assembly of claim 1, wherein the first local shielding is configured to reduce crosstalk noise between the first and second signal conditioning circuitries.

8. The cable assembly of claim 1, wherein the first local shielding is configured to reduce noise received by the second signal conditioning circuitry.

9. The cable assembly of claim 1, further comprising a first shielded cable portion connected to the first signal conditioning circuitry, the first shielded cable portion at least partially surrounding first wires of the first signal conditioning circuitry.

10. The cable assembly of claim 9, further comprising a second shielded cable portion connected to the second signal conditioning circuitry, the second shielded cable portion at least partially surrounding second wires of the second signal conditioning circuitry.

11. The cable assembly of claim 10, wherein the first and second shielding cable portions are part of the cable configured to be connected to a physiological monitor.

12. The cable assembly of claim 10, wherein the second shielded cable portion surrounds at least a portion of a cable connecting the second signal conditioning circuitry to the monitor connector.

13. The cable assembly of claim 9, wherein the first shielded cable portion surrounds at least a portion of a cable connecting the first signal conditioning circuitry to the monitor connector.