Surgery – Diagnostic testing – Cardiovascular
Reexamination Certificate
2002-08-27
2004-03-02
Hindenburg, Max F. (Department: 3736)
Surgery
Diagnostic testing
Cardiovascular
C600S300000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06699195
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an electronic blood pressure monitor and a blood pressure data processing system for processing results of measurement which are obtained by electronically measuring blood pressures, and in particular, to an electronic blood pressure monitor and a blood pressure data processing system capable of assisting diagnosis and treatment of hypertension in a subject.
2. Background of the Invention
Conventionally, when a person with the authority to diagnose a patient diagnoses and treats an outpatient on the basis of blood pressure values of the patient, the blood pressure values are not necessarily considered to be reliable values since they are results of a measurement performed when the patient is at a medical facility. That is, blood pressure values are variable even within a day, as well as influenced by additional body activity due to the visit to the hospital. Also, the phenomenon of “white-coat hypertension” is known, so-called because it is induced by the patient's seeing a doctor wearing a white laboratory coat, so that diagnosing and treating hypertension based on blood pressure values taken when a patient is at a medical facility has been viewed with suspicion. Hence there has been a demand for a blood pressure measurement system which is useful for properly measuring blood pressures which are representative of blood pressures of the patient and for diagnosing and treating hypertension.
Conventionally, there have been a few examples of measuring blood pressures in a daily life outside a hospital, in which a patient herself/himself regularly measures blood pressures and records the result of the measurement every day and at predetermined times under the instruction of a person with the authority. In the manner as described above, however, the patient may forget the measurements to be performed at the predetermined times, or may be in a condition in which measurement is impossible, or the measurement data may not be recorded properly, and additionally, measurement of blood pressure cannot be performed when the patient is asleep. Accordingly, it has been impossible to properly measure blood pressure values throughout the daily life of the patient.
In view of the above, a portable blood pressure monitor is provided. A patient always wears a small blood pressure monitor, and by automatically measuring blood pressures every certain time, for example, every 15 minutes, variations in blood pressures over 24 hours can be ascertained. Also new clinical findings have been obtained based on the result of such measurements.
In such a portable blood pressure monitor, however, blood pressure values obtained in the measurements performed while the patient is moving lack reliability, and the patient always wears the blood pressure monitor including the sleeping time, so that the influence exerted on the daily life of the patient is significant, and stress caused by taking the measurement every 15 minutes cannot be ignored, making it difficult to continue the measurement for a long period of time.
As disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication JP-A 8-275927 (1996), for example, a medical system has been proposed wherein communication means are provided between a patient at home and a medical facility, obtained blood pressure values and the like are transmitted to the medical facility, and thereby the contents of interview and instruction can be transmitted to the patient from a person with the authority to diagnose the patient. Alternatively, as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication JP-A 5-137697 (1993), a portable blood pressure monitor capable of inputting event times for blood pressure measurement, for example, such as after administration of medicine, after meals, just before going to bed, just after waking up, and capable of storing these events together with the measured blood pressure values has been proposed.
However, a data processing system for diagnosing and treating a patient having hypertension has not been proposed yet, and a system which is useful for both a patient having hypertension and a person with authority to diagnose the patient has not been proposed yet.
As described above, it is the current situation that not only does a blood pressure monitor suited for measurement at home for patients having hypertension and prospective patients having hypertension not exist, but also a tool capable of assisting diagnosis by sending information such as blood pressure measurement data, measurement time and the like to a person with the authority to diagnose the patient from the patient having hypertension and capable of judging the hypertension based on the obtained data does not exist. For this reason, it has been impossible to effectively control the blood pressure values which otherwise could be a matter of life or death, and increases in medical fees due to wasteful administration of medicine and unsuitable treatment have occurred.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, this invention is directed to providing an electronic blood pressure monitor and a blood pressure data processing system capable of assisting diagnosis and treatment of hypertension symptoms or the like.
An electronic blood pressure monitor according to an aspect of this invention includes a measuring portion configured to measure a blood pressure of a subject and an output portion outputting data including results of the blood pressure measurement, and further may include a first input interface inputting time habit data, a second input interface inputting measurement pattern data and a timing adjustment device.
As time data indicating a time habit of the subject is inputted by the first input interface for inputting time habit data, and pattern data specifying a certain timing of a plurality of blood pressure measurements by the measuring portion is inputted by the second input interface for inputting pattern data, the timing adjustment device variably adjusts the timing of a plurality of measurements defined by the inputted pattern data based on the inputted time habit data of the subject.
Therefore, as a person with the authority to diagnose the subject inputs pattern data and designates a timing of a plurality of blood pressure measurements, the designated timing of the plurality of blood pressure measurements is variably adjusted in accordance with the time data indicating the daily habits of the subject, and the measurements are performed according to a schedule that has been so adjusted. Accordingly, blood pressure measurements can be performed according to a schedule which has been adjusted in accordance with the daily habits of the subject, with the result that more accurate measurements are achieved. By presenting such data including the results of measurements via the output portion, it is possible to provide information which is useful for assisting diagnosis and treatment of hypertension symptoms of the subject.
The electronic blood pressure monitor as described above further includes an alarming device for notifying a time of blood pressure measurement based on the timing altered by the timing adjustment device.
Therefore, since an alarm for notifying blood pressure measurement is issued for the subject every timing of blood pressure measurement, it is possible to prevent the subject from missing or forgetting the blood pressure measurement times.
In the above-described blood pressure monitor, the timing of the blood pressure measurements defined by the measurement pattern data is configured to diagnose hypertension of the subject.
Therefore, the predetermined timings for diagnosing hypertension of the subject can be variably adjusted in accordance with the daily habits of the subject, so that more correct diagnosis is realized.
The above-described blood pressure monitor further includes a first input portion providing the first input interface and a second input portion providing the second input interface, the second input portion being accessible only to a person with the authority to diagn
Nakazawa Fumio
Sakai Kiyoshi
Takizawa Koichi
Hindenburg Max F.
Mallari Patricia
Morrison & Foerster / LLP
Omron Corporation
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