Wireless medical diagnosis and monitoring equipment

Details Wireless medical diagnosis and monitoring equipment Wireless medical diagnosis and monitoring equipment

1996-03-01

1999-01-26

Getzow, Scott M.

Surgery

Truss

Pad

128903, A61B 50402

Patent

active

058628037

DESCRIPTION:

BRIEF SUMMARY
The invention relates to a medical measured-data acquisition equipment for monitoring and diagnosis, in particular to EEG and EKG equipment, as well as to facilities for controlling the breathing, the O.sub.2 saturation content in the blood, the body temperature, and for recording electric potentials or electrodermal activities such as the SSR (sympathetic skin response). Such monitoring and diagnostic equipment is used mainly in intensive-care stations in hospitals, or in the examination of patients.
Monitoring equipment is used also for monitoring infants at home, among other things. In the Federal Republic of Germany about 2000 infants die annually from the sudden infant death syndrome, a phenomenon, the causes of which have not yet been elucidated in spite of intensive research. However, everything speaks for the fact that the sudden infant death is to be attributed to a failure of the respiratory function (apnea), and possibly of the cardiac function. It exclusively occurs during sleeping. The only preventive measure for preventing the sudden infant death currently consists in the monitoring of the respiratory or cardiac function. Said procedure is useful in that by stimulating the infant immediately following failure of the respiratory function, the respiratory activity automatically starts again, with a few exceptions.
EKG and EEG facilities assume a special position among monitoring and diagnostic devices because their high medical conclusiveness. An electrocardiogram (EKG) is the recording of the time curve of heart action potentials; an electroencephalogram (EEG) is the graphic record of the brain action potentials. The analysis of the EKG's and EEG's supplies important information about the heart or brain function of the patient.
Conventional monitoring and diagnostic equipment is structured in such a way that one or several electrode(s) is/are mounted on the patient, which tap the respective signals (predominantly potential and impedance values) and transmit such signals via cables to amplifier units. Normally, separate electrodes are used for each measurement parameter.
Especially in EKG and EEG examinations, many cables are suspended on the patient, connecting the EKG/EEG-electrodes with the evaluator units, which process and record the signals. Such cables obstruct the patient and highly limit his or her freedom of movement, and, therefore, are only conditionally suitable especially for carrying out examinations at stress (e.g. EKG's at stress). In addition, due to the stiffness of the cables and the lever forces connected therewith, the cables become easily detached particularly when the patient moves. Furthermore, in connection with infants, there is the risk that they may play with the cables and detach the glued-on electrodes.
The electrode cables are especially troublesome in connection with home or hospital monitoring of infants. The removal and reattachment of the electrodes is troublesome especially when garments are changed frequently (e.g. during the changing of diapers).
Furthermore, in complicated examinations with a great number of measured quantities such as, for example, in the polysomnography in connection with infants, problems arise on account of the fact that many relatively large electrodes have to be attached to the patient. Moreover, it is necessary in this connection to take into account the psychic stress of the patient, who is connected to an electrical device via a great number of cables. Such psychic stress may have a bearing on both the physical stressability and the physiological characteristic lines.
The above-described methods are high in expenditure, user-unfriendly, and under certain circumstances may require certain medical expertise, for example as far as the arrangement of all sorts of different electrodes is concerned. They are consequently only conditionally suitable especially for use at home, for example for the long-term monitoring of infants. In addition, there is the increased risk of falsified data and alarm malfunction because due to the simple el

REFERENCES:
patent: 4075632 (1978-02-01), Baldwin et al.
patent: 5012411 (1991-04-01), Policastro et al.
patent: 5400794 (1995-03-01), Gorman
"Biotelemetry IX"pp. 55-58, 1987 by Kudo et al., Eds.: H.P. Kimmich and M.R. Neuman.
J. H. Schild et al. Proceedings of the Seventh Annual Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society--Sep. 1985, Chicago (US) pp. 1205-1210 "A Low Power Multi Channel Biotelemeter".

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