Surgery – Diagnostic testing – Cardiovascular
Reexamination Certificate
1999-03-24
2001-04-03
Kamm, William E. (Department: 3737)
Surgery
Diagnostic testing
Cardiovascular
Reexamination Certificate
active
06210344
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to the field of acoustics, and more specifically to an electronic apparatus for the passive detection of a patient's heart rate.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The heart rate is one of the most basic life signs of a patient. It is very important for a physician or other health care provider to have quick and accurate heart rate information when treating a patient, especially in an emergency situation. One time-honored method of obtaining the heart rate of a patient is by the auscultation and/or palpitation method, wherein the doctor, nurse, or other trained health care professional is required to feel or listen for a pulse, count the heart beats for a fixed period of time, and then calculate the pulse rate. One very familiar listening tool used for auscultation is the stethoscope. While providing the human touch, the auscultation and palpitation techniques are particularly prone to human error and further require the caregiver to focus on a counting task instead of the immediate needs of the patient. In an emergency situation, a doctor's time can be much better spent if he doesn't have to take time out to count the patient's pulse rate.
Another common technique for measuring a patient's pulse rate is by using electronic instrumentation. The heart rate may be detected by measuring rhythmic changes in the EMF potential generated by the periodic firing of the neurons of the cardiac system (electrocardiogram or ECG), by measuring vascular pressure changes coincident with the expanding and contracting of blood vessels with the heart beat (sphygmometer), and/or by measuring the changes in the Doppler shift of ultrasonic energy caused by the changes in the relative speeds of red blood cells reflecting the ultrasonic energy back at its source (Doppler ultrasound stethoscope or DUS). While more accurate than auscultation and palpitation, the above-mentioned instrumentation capable of performing these measurements tend to be bulky and cumbersome, and also require special preparations be made before measurements may be taken. Moreover, in the case of the ECG, specialized training is required to both administer the tests and to interpret the results. ECG monitors are thus found primarily in controlled clinical settings.
Currently, a patient's heart rate is either mechanically assessed in a clinical setting by bulky and expensive equipment or manually assessed in the field by a human caregiver. There remains a need for a method and apparatus for the measurement of heart rate in the field that does not require the caregiver to focus on the task of measuring the heart rate to the exclusion of other, potentially more important, tasks. The present invention satisfies this need.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for measuring the heart rate of a patient. One form of the present invention includes a stethoscope having a hollow bell or cone chamber with a diaphragm for sound pickup. A transducer element is positioned within the bell chamber and operationally connected to a microprocessor. The transducer converts sound energy in the bell to electrical energy signals having the same patterns as the original sounds, and sends the electrical signals to the microprocessor. The microprocessor mathematically processes the electrical signals and produces an output signal corresponding to the frequency of the input signals. The output signal is numerically displayed on a screen.
One form of the present invention contemplates a combination, comprising: a stethoscope; a transducer operationally coupled to the stethoscope and adapted to convert sound impulses received by the stethoscope into electrical output impulses; a microprocessor adapted to receive the electrical output impulses from the transducer and further adapted to produce an microprocessor output signal; and a visual display adapted to receive and display the microprocessor output signal.
Another form of the present invention contemplates a combination, comprising: a sound pickup portion; a microprocessor operationally coupled to the sound pickup portion; and a visual display portion operationally coupled to the microprocessor; wherein the sound pickup portion is adapted to generate a first output signal; wherein the microprocessor is adapted to process the first output signal from the sound pickup portion and calculate a rate of rhythmic sounds; wherein the microprocessor is further adapted to produce a second electrical output signal corresponding to the rate to rhythmic sounds from the sound pickup portion; and wherein the visual display portion is adapted to display an output number corresponding to the second electrical output signal from the microprocessor.
Still another form of the present invention contemplates a method, comprising the steps of: placing a diaphragm coupled to a bell chamber against a patient's chest; amplifying the sound of the patient's heart beat in the bell chamber; channeling a portion of the sound energy to a microprocessor; counting the beats; calculating the rate of the beats; producing an electrical output signal corresponding to the calculated rate; and displaying the rate numerically.
One object of the present invention is to provide an improved passive heart rate monitor. Related objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description.
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Perin Dino
Riedel Richard A.
Kamm William E.
UMM Electronics Inc.
Woodard Emhardt Naughton Moriarty & McNett
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