Telecommunications – Transmitter and receiver at same station – Having particular housing or support of a transceiver
Reexamination Certificate
1999-08-26
2003-04-08
Le, Thanh Cong (Department: 2684)
Telecommunications
Transmitter and receiver at same station
Having particular housing or support of a transceiver
C607S030000, C342S057000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06546232
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a mobile telephone with a housing, a transmitter, at least one receiver, a call number memory, and with keys located on the housing.
These generic mobile telephone are currently known in a host of versions. In addition to the aforementioned features, currently mobile telephones generally have a LCD display and an often telescoping antenna which is attached to the housing. The important distinguishing features between the different mobile telephones are on the one hand differences in design, weight and functionality, and on the other hand belonging to one of the existing mobile radiotelephone networks. In addition to the analog C-network, there are also the digital D
1
, D
2
and e-networks. Other mobile radiotelephone networks are moreover being considered. Existing mobile radiotelephone networks differ on the one hand, as already mentioned, by the underlying transmission technique, on the other by the degree of coverage within which telephone calls can be made via these mobile radiotelephone networks. The objective of all networks is for the subscriber to be able to make telephone calls both within the mobile radiotelephone network and also using the land-line telephone networks from anywhere by a correspondingly developed network infrastructure. The existing mobile radiotelephone networks also enable at least in part telephone calls to be set up from remote regions, for example while hiking.
With known mobile telephones it is of course also possible to transmit emergency medical calls from remote areas which are located within the receiving/transmitting area of the pertinent mobile radiotelephone network. Here for example the emergency number can be filed in a call number memory which is present in most mobile phones and can be retrieved by a corresponding key combination on the mobile phone. But here emergency situations can occur in which the owner of the mobile phone himself is no longer able to input the corresponding key combination nor is he able any longer to communicate to a possible companion the corresponding key combination of his special emergency call. This plays a role especially when the holder the of mobile phone suffers from a life-threatening disease and is under the care of a special medical institution which knows the clinical picture of its patient and thus can initiate suitable coordinated assistance measures in an emergency call. These coordinated assistance measures cannot generally be guaranteed via nationwide central emergency numbers.
Especially in patients with cardiovascular disease the described situations occur regularly, viewed in statistical terms. Diseases of the cardiovascular system are at the top of the all pathological processes in Germany. Coronary heart disease is the most frequent cause of death in the industrialized West. In Germany, for example, roughly 300,000 individuals are affected annually by cardiac infarction. In one such cardiac infarction the most frequent complications with generally fatal outcome are arrhythmia and cardiac insufficiency. In Germany, 60,000 individuals suffer sudden cardiac death annually. This cardiac death is characterized by sudden cardiac arrest which generally ends in death without immediate measures of cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Causes of sudden cardiac death are 80 to 90% so-called ventricular flutter or ventricular fibrillation (tachycardiac arrhythmia), 10 to 15% acute myocardial infarction, and5% brachycardiac arrhythmia. The survival rate of patients suffering sudden cardiac death is between 5 and 20%. It is largely decisive for the level of the survival how quickly suitable assistance measures can be taken.
A host of individuals with a high risk of cardiac infarction are conscious of their risk according to corresponding studies and make every effort to minimize this risk by as much as possible forgoing situations in which immediate assistance measures cannot be taken. Thus, for example, the affected individuals avoid frequenting locations without companions where the probability of being immediately found in case of a cardiac infarction is low, since in these cases they must expect that their survival chances are almost zero if sudden cardiac death occurs.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Proceeding from the prior art, the object of the invention is to embody and develop known mobile telephones such that they offer a suitable emergency call function for patients with life-threatening health risks.
In accordance with the invention, the aforementioned object is achieved by there being on the housing at least one emergency call key which is rendered prominent in size and/or color and which when activated causes dialing of an emergency number stored in the call number memory. The embodiment of a known mobile telephone in accordance with the invention ensures that in a medical emergency with debilitating physical and mental effects, an emergency call can be transmitted to a competent monitoring center by pressing of the prominent emergency key by the patient himself or by a companion who need not be involved. If the patient remains conscious, he can then communicate his location and complaint to the monitoring center. The patient can then be calmed and monitored via the existing emergency call line; furthermore a history can be taken and specific assistance measures can be initiated.
A first advantageous embodiment of the invention consists in that there is an identification means which causes transmission of data which enable identification when the emergency key is activated. This identification ensures that the monitoring center can initiate specific emergency measures immediately via the patient data stored for example in the EDP system also for the case in which the patient is unconscious. This measure also makes it possible for example to identify a patient when the unconscious patient is found by an uninvolved individual and the emergency call is transmitted by this individual. This identification is possible for example via the call number of the mobile phone which is transmitted on a standard basis in some mobile radiotelephone networks when a connection is set up.
If furthermore there is a release means which causes release of position data when the emergency key is activated, it is ensured that the position of the patient can also be established for the case in which the patient has pressed the emergency key so-to-speak with his last breath. This configuration also makes it possible to find the patient in this situation and to initiate immediate assistance measures. Some mobile radiotelephone networks technically enable this position-finding solely based on the fact that this mobile radiotelephone networks are divided into so-called cells and it can be ascertained from which cell of the mobile radiotelephone network the emergency call was initiated. In this case no special means for position-finding is necessary.
Very accurate position-finding is enabled by there being a position receiver which receives and evaluates external position signals and a position signal converter which transforms the signals of the position receiver to make them suitable for transmission and transmits them to the transmitter. Using this position receiver it is for example possible, based on the signals of the global positioning system (GPS), to accurately determine the position of the patient to within a few meters. These signals are then supplied via the position signal converter to the transmitter which in turn transmits them to the monitoring center so that highly precise data on the position of the patient are available accordingly in the monitoring center.
Another improvement in the initiation of the corresponding immediate assistance measures is guaranteed by the fact that there are at least two, preferably four, electrodes which enable reception of electrocardiogram (EKG) signals and which are connected to the housing and an EKG signal converter which evaluates the EKG signals, transforms them to make then suitable for transmission
Erbel Raimund
Sack Stefan
Cong Le Thanh
Gantt Alan T.
Nixon & Peabody LLP
Safran David S.
Vita Phone GmbH
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