Multiple electrode assembly with extendible electrodes and...

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

C600S386000, C600S391000, C600S393000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06415169

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND
The invention relates generally to electrodes and more particularly to multiple electrode assemblies for use in electrocardiograph (EKG or ECG) devices.
Electrocardiographic (EKG) devices are medical devices which record electrical impulses generated by a patient's heart and display the impulses on a monitor and/or record the impulses on paper or electronic media. EKG tracing typically involves positioning ten electrodes on the surface of the patient's body with each electrode corresponding to a particular area of the patient's heart. Generally six of the electrodes (V
1
-V
6
) are positioned in the rib cage area and the remaining four electrodes are respectively positioned in the area of the right arm (RA), left arm (LA), right leg (RL) and left leg (LL). Proper positioning of the electrodes is necessary to achieve a correct reading of the EKG. Accurately positioning and attaching the electrodes can be difficult and time consuming and requires a skilled technician or nurse.
Conventional electrodes are positioned with each electrode separately attached to an individual respective lead wire. The lead wires are connected to an electrocardiograph device by way of an interconnect cable. The lead wires have a tendency to become tangled with one another—thus making the attachment process more difficult.
A number of patents, such as Beitler, U.S. Pat. No. 5,782,238, and Kelly et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,916,159, for example, have been directed to techniques for coupling the electrodes to a common connector. Beitler describes a flexible pad including multiple embedded electrodes (V
1
to V
6
) grouped in plural sets of electrodes corresponding to particular body sizes and a switch to select the appropriate set with the pad being held in place by a weight. Kelly et al. describes an embodiment wherein several non-conductive sheets each have a single array of electrodes (V
1
to V
6
) positioned thereon and coupled to a common connector such that most body sizes can be accommodated by having a few different sizes of sheets. Both Beitler and Kelly et al. appear to be limited to a multiple electrode array of chest electrodes V
1
to V
6
.
BRIEF SUMMARY
It would be desirable to have a multiple electrode assembly that can more easily be applied to patients having different body sizes.
Briefly, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, a multiple electrode assembly comprises at least one fixed electrode; at least one extendible electrode; and electrically conductive interconnections coupling the at least one fixed electrode and the at least one extendible electrode to a common connector. The at least one extendible electrode is adapted to be physically separable from the at least one fixed electrode while remaining electrically coupled to the common connector.


REFERENCES:
patent: 4353372 (1982-10-01), Ayer
patent: 4583549 (1986-04-01), Manoli
patent: 4763660 (1988-08-01), Kroll et al.
patent: 4957109 (1990-09-01), Groeger et al.
patent: 5042481 (1991-08-01), Suzuki et al.
patent: 5341806 (1994-08-01), Gadsby et al.
patent: 5546950 (1996-08-01), Schoeckert et al.
patent: 5782238 (1998-07-01), Beitler
patent: 5916159 (1999-06-01), Kelly et al.
patent: 6055448 (2000-04-01), Anderson et al.

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

Multiple electrode assembly with extendible electrodes and... does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.

If you have personal experience with Multiple electrode assembly with extendible electrodes and..., we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Multiple electrode assembly with extendible electrodes and... will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2914448

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