Hand-held blood pressure measuring apparatus

Details Hand-held blood pressure measuring apparatus Hand-held blood pressure measuring apparatus

2002-01-16

2004-08-31

Nasser, Robert L (Department: 3736)

Surgery

Diagnostic testing

Cardiovascular

C600S499000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06783500

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to the field of medical diagnostic instruments, and more particularly to a hand-held blood pressure measuring device.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Typical blood pressure measuring instruments (ie., sphygmomanometers), such as the instrument
10
shown in
FIG. 1
, include an inflatable sleeve or cuff
14
which can be wrapped about a limb (e.g., an arm or leg—not shown) of a patient. The sleeve
14
is inflated by means of a pneumatic assembly
18
which includes a hose
23
permitting interconnection to a port
22
of the sleeve, thereby providing a fluid path to the interior of the sleeve
14
.
A gage
26
is also separately tethered through a hose
27
to an adjacent port of the inflatable sleeve
14
and is in fluid communication with the interior of the sleeve, the housing including a dial face
30
which includes measuring indicia
32
. A movement mechanism (not shown) provided within the interior of the gage
26
is responsive to changes in pressure of the sleeve interior and causes an attached indicating member to move relative to the measuring indicia
32
on the dial face
30
as the sleeve
14
is inflated and deflated using the pneumatic assembly
18
. A stethoscope (not shown) is used to monitor the heartbeats of the brachial artery (when the sleeve
14
is wrapped onto a patient's arm) and to determine systolic and diastolic pressure of the patient using the gage
26
as the sleeve is inflated to an appropriate inflation pressure and then deflated using a bleed valve
36
.
General efforts have been made to further incorporate features of sphygmomanometers together. One such apparatus
40
, shown in
FIGS. 2 and 3
, incorporates a gage
44
having a pneumatic bulb
48
which is attached to the bottom of the gage
44
in a hand-held assembly. The combination device
40
is also fluidly connected through a hose
43
, one end of which is attached to a port
47
provided in the gage
44
, to the interior of an inflatable sleeve
45
(shown only in
FIG. 2
) and includes a trigger
54
, (shown only in
FIG. 3
) which enables valving
56
(also shown only in
FIG. 3
) to permit deflation of the inflatable sleeve. This particular device, however, is relatively complex and includes a significant number of intricate parts between the bulb
48
and the gage
44
for successful operation.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is a primary object of the present invention to overcome the above-noted deficiencies of the prior art.
It is a further primary object of the present invention to provide a blood pressure measuring apparatus which is more compact and easier to use than previously known apparatus.
It is yet another primary object to provide a blood pressure measuring apparatus which effectively combines a gage and a pneumatic inflation/deflation assembly.
Therefore, and according to a preferred aspect of the invention, there is provided a blood pressure measuring apparatus, said apparatus comprising:
an inflatable sleeve which can be wrapped about a limb of a patient;
a gage connected fluidly to the interior of said sleeve, said gage including a movement mechanism which is responsive to changes in pressure within said sleeve; and
a pneumatic bulb fluidly connected to said sleeve for inflating the interior thereof, wherein said pneumatic bulb and said gage are each integrally retained within an elastomeric enclosure.
According to one version, an inflatable bladder is contained within the elastomeric enclosure and attached to valving which is also fluidly connected to the movement mechanism contained within the gage. The apparatus also includes a trigger which enables the release of air/fluid from the sleeve.
According to another version, the elastomeric sleeve itself can be used to inflate and deflate a blood pressure cuff.
For a further understanding of these and objects of the invention, reference will be made to the following Detailed Description which should be read in connection with the accompanying drawings.


REFERENCES:
patent: 3613667 (1971-10-01), Beck
patent: 3896791 (1975-07-01), Ono
patent: 3906939 (1975-09-01), Aronson
patent: D250128 (1978-10-01), Miyazawa
patent: 4248242 (1981-02-01), Tamm
patent: 4459991 (1984-07-01), Hatschek
patent: 4552153 (1985-11-01), Newman et al.
patent: D284508 (1986-07-01), Enatsu
patent: D286070 (1986-10-01), Moro
patent: 5669390 (1997-09-01), McCormick et al.
patent: 5966829 (1999-10-01), Lia et al.
patent: 6036718 (2000-03-01), Ledford et al.
patent: 6120458 (2000-09-01), Lia et al.

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