Body-worn vital sign monitor

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10420476-B2
Application number	US-56013809-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 15, 2009
Priority date	Sep 15, 2009
Publication date	Sep 24, 2019
Grant date	Sep 24, 2019

Abstract

The invention provides a body-worn monitor featuring a processing system that receives a digital data stream from an ECG system. A cable houses the ECG system at one terminal end, and plugs into the processing system, which is worn on the patient's wrist like a conventional wristwatch. The ECG system features: i) a connecting portion connected to multiple electrodes worn by the patient; ii) a differential amplifier that receives electrical signals from each electrode and process them to generate an analog ECG waveform; iii) an analog-to-digital converter that converts the analog ECG waveform into a digital ECG waveform; and iv) a transceiver that transmits a digital data stream representing the digital ECG waveform (or information calculated from the waveform) through the cable and to the processing system. Different ECG systems, typically featuring three, five, or twelve electrodes, can be interchanged with one another.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system for monitoring vital signs from a group of patients, comprising:
(a) a monitoring device configured to be worn on the body of each patient in the group, each monitoring device comprising:

a wireless system;
a first sensor configured to generate a first time-dependent waveform indicative of one or more contractile properties of the patient's heart;
a second sensor configured to generate a second time-dependent waveform indicative of one or more contractile properties of the patient's heart; and
a processing component configured to: (i) receive a first signal representing the first time-dependent waveform; (ii) receive a second signal representing the second time-dependent waveform; (iii) calculate a blood pressure value from a pulse transit time measured between the first and second signals or versions thereof; and (iv) transmit the blood pressure value with the wireless system; and
(b) a remote display device in communication with each monitoring device through the wireless system comprised by the monitoring device, the remote display device configured to simultaneously display a blood pressure value for each patient in the group when a signal strength corresponding to the wireless system comprised by each monitoring device is below a pre-determined threshold value, and further configured to automatically reconfigure the display device to display a blood pressure value for only a particular patient when the signal strength from the wireless system worn by the particular patient exceeds the pre-determined threshold.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the signal strength represents a magnitude of a wireless signal transmitted from a monitoring device.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the pre-determined threshold value is between −100 and −80 dB.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the wireless system comprised by each monitoring device operates on a protocol selected from 802.11, 802.15.4, and cellular wireless protocols.

5. The system of claim 4 , wherein the remote display device is further configured to simultaneously communicate with each monitoring device through a wireless network when the signal strength corresponding to the wireless system comprised by each monitoring device is below the pre-determined threshold value.

6. The system of claim 5 , wherein the wireless network is a peer-to-peer wireless connection.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the remote display comprises a first user interface configured to simultaneously display a blood pressure value for each patient in the group.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the first user interface comprises separate fields for displaying the first time-dependent waveform and the blood pressure value for each patient in the group.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the first time-dependent waveform is an ECG waveform.

10. The system of claim 8 , wherein each monitoring device further includes a motion-detecting sensor, and the processing component of each monitoring device is further configured to analyze a signal from the motion-detecting sensor to determine at least one of a posture, activity level, and degree of motion corresponding to the patient wearing the monitoring device.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the first user interface comprises a separate field for displaying at least one of the posture, activity level, and degree of motion corresponding to each patient wearing the monitoring device.

12. The system of claim 7 , wherein the processing component of each monitoring device is further configured to analyze wireless signals from at least one wireless base station to estimate a location of the monitoring device.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the processing component of each monitoring device is further configured to transmit the estimated location to the remote display through the wireless system.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the first user interface comprises a separate field for displaying a location corresponding to each patient wearing the monitoring device.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein the separate field comprises a map for simultaneously displaying the location corresponding to each patient wearing the monitoring device.

16. The system of claim 1 , wherein the wireless system comprised by each monitoring device further comprises a voice interface to the remote display device.

17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the voice interface operates on a VOIP protocol.

18. The system of claim 1 , wherein the remote device is a computer.

19. The system of claim 18 , wherein the computer is selected from the group consisting of a desktop computer, a portable computer, a tablet computer, a cellular telephone, or a personal digital assistant.

Assignees

• Moon Jim
• Visser Henk
• Hunt Robert
• Sotera Wireless Inc

Inventors

• Moon Jim
• Visser Henk
• Hunt Robert

Classifications

• A61B2562/043

  in a linear array · CPC title

• A61B5/7495

  using a reader or scanner device, e.g. barcode scanner · CPC title

• A61B5/02225

  using the oscillometric method · CPC title

• A61B5/1118

  Determining activity level · CPC title

• A61B2562/0219

  Inertial sensors, e.g. accelerometers, gyroscopes, tilt switches · CPC title