Electrode connector system

Surgery – Diagnostic testing – Structure of body-contacting electrode or electrode inserted...

Reexamination Certificate

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

Reexamination Certificate

active

06236874

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to physiological electrical signal monitors and more particularly to a connector system used to connect electrodes to such monitors.
Monitors which detect and analyze physiological electrical signals, such as EEG, EKG and EMG signals, are being used for an increasing number of different purposes. For example, an EEG monitor which processes EEG signals in a manner described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,907,597; 5,010,891 and 5,320,109 issued to Chamoun, et al., is being used to determine a depth of anesthesia of a patient.
The medical personnel utilizing EEG monitors for purposes such as determining depth of anesthesia are not as sophisticated as the personnel which traditionally use EEG monitors for analyzing EEG signals. Operators monitoring depth of anaesthesia are often not doctors trained in neurology and are not as skilled and knowledgable concerning the proper placement of the electrodes which acquire the EEG signals from the brain. Such proper placement is further complicated by the fact that with different types of monitoring, signals from different portions of the brain are required. For example, two channel bipolar signal values are required for isolating the hemipheres of the brain, while two channel referential signal values would be required for referencing to a common point on the brain for monitoring the effects of anesthetics on the brain. Since the placement of the electrodes is extremely important to obtain proper readings, the electrodes must be placed in the appropriate locations and the appropriate type and number of electrodes must actually be used. Because the same monitor may be used to take several different modes of monitoring, electrodes must be placed in different locations and the number of required electrodes is different for different modes of monitoring.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,265,607 which was issued to Moberg, a patient-monitoring electrode connection apparatus is described in which configuration cards are used in a data acquisition module. The problem with such a system is that the operator must not only use appropriate electrode cables and connect the electrodes properly but must also insert the appropriate configuration card. This raises the additional possibility of human error which may result if an inappropriate card is selected.
It is therefore a principal object of the present invention to provide a cable interface system which will enable a physiological electrical signal monitor to determine the type of electrode system being attached to the monitor.
It is another object of the present invention to allow physiological electrical signal monitor connector to make use of different types and numbers of electrode configurations.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an easy to use electrode-to-monitor cable connector system which is moisture resistant and includes an integral key structure which prevents connection of incompatible connectors.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The physiological electrical signal connector system of the present invention utilizes one connector connected to an electrode set and another connector connected to a digital signal convertor which leads to a patient monitor. Each type of electrode set has a specific code identified with it and when connected to the digital signal convertor, the connector code is recognized by the digital signal convertor. The connector code is then relayed to the monitor which will self-configure based on the identified code.
These and other objects are features of the present invention and will become more fully understood from the following detailed description which should be read in light of the accompanying drawings in which corresponding reference numerals refer to corresponding parts throughout the several views.


REFERENCES:
patent: 3380445 (1968-04-01), Frasier
patent: 3572322 (1971-03-01), Wade
patent: 4072145 (1978-02-01), Silva
patent: 4311152 (1982-01-01), Modes et al.
patent: 4353372 (1982-10-01), Ayer
patent: 4557271 (1985-12-01), Stoller et al.
patent: 4595013 (1986-06-01), Jones et al.
patent: 4638807 (1987-01-01), Ryder
patent: 4686988 (1987-08-01), Sholder
patent: 4695955 (1987-09-01), Faisandier
patent: 4706679 (1987-11-01), Schmidt et al.
patent: 4768496 (1988-09-01), Kreizman et al.
patent: 4770180 (1988-09-01), Schmidt et al.
patent: 4852572 (1989-08-01), Nakahashi et al.
patent: 4928696 (1990-05-01), Henderson et al.
patent: 4957109 (1990-09-01), Groeger et al.
patent: 5003975 (1991-04-01), Hafelfinger et al.
patent: 5209235 (1993-05-01), Brisken et al.
patent: 5246003 (1993-09-01), DeLonzor
patent: 5251631 (1993-10-01), Tsuchiko et al.
patent: 5305746 (1994-04-01), Fendrock
patent: 5383874 (1995-01-01), Jackson et al.
patent: 5387122 (1995-02-01), Goldberger et al.
patent: 5813404 (1998-09-01), Devlin et al.
patent: 4339049 (1995-05-01), None
patent: 0070674 (1983-01-01), None
patent: 0132380 (1985-01-01), None
patent: 0266652 (1988-05-01), None
patent: 2075194 (1981-11-01), None

LandOfFree

Say what you really think

Search LandOfFree.com for the USA inventors and patents. Rate them and share your experience with other people.

Rating

Electrode connector system does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.

If you have personal experience with Electrode connector system, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Electrode connector system will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2488951

  Search
All data on this website is collected from public sources. Our data reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication.