Portable heart motion monitor

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11116416-B2
Application number	US-201514736745-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 11, 2015
Priority date	Jun 11, 2014
Publication date	Sep 14, 2021
Grant date	Sep 14, 2021

Abstract

The present disclosure describes a method and device to monitor the heart of a subject using radio signals. Availability of a portable heart monitor that can be used in a subject's home can increase patient compliance and improve diagnosis rates of cardiac conditions. A mobile heart monitor can be especially useful to those subjects who are elderly, incapacitated, or do not have easy access to a clinic, doctor's office, or hospital.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of detecting an irregular heartbeat of a heart in a subject, the method comprising:
a) positioning directly in front of a sternum of the subject a transmitter-containing device, wherein the device is in contact with skin or clothing of the subject, wherein the transmitter-containing device comprises a transmitter, a circuit board, an antenna, and a receiver in a common housing;
b) transmitting by the transmitter of the transmitter-containing device electromagnetic radiation through the antenna to the heart of the subject, wherein the circuit board generates the electromagnetic radiation transmitted by the antenna, wherein the electromagnetic radiation propagates to the heart of the subject and is reflected off the heart of the subject;
c) detecting by the receiver a wavelength of the electromagnetic radiation reflected off the heart of the subject; and
d) determining by a processor based on the wavelength of the electromagnetic radiation reflected off the heart of the subject whether the subject has the irregular heartbeat,

wherein the determining whether the subject has the irregular heartbeat is by detecting a relative position of a portion of the heart of the subject as compared to other portions of the heart,
wherein the electromagnetic radiation transmitted to the heart of the subject is a radio wave.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the subject is undergoing an intervention for the irregular heartbeat, the method further comprising determining based on the wavelength of the electromagnetic radiation reflected off the heart of the subject whether the intervention for the irregular heartbeat has modulated the irregular heartbeat.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the subject is undergoing an intervention for a non-irregular heartbeat condition, the method further comprising determining based on the wavelength of the electromagnetic radiation reflected off the heart of the subject whether the intervention for the non-irregular heartbeat condition has induced the irregular heartbeat.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determination whether the subject has an irregular heartbeat is determined by an analysis of a movement of a portion of the heart.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the subject is in a held-breath state.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the irregular heartbeat is associated with atrial fibrillation.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the irregular heartbeat is associated with atrial flutter.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the irregular heartbeat is associated with ventricular fibrillation.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the irregular heartbeat is associated with ventricular flutter.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the irregular heartbeat is associated with cardiac arrhythmia.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the subject is human.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determination whether the subject has an irregular heartbeat is determined by an analysis of a movement of an atrium of the heart.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determination whether the subject has an irregular heartbeat is determined by an analysis of a movement of a ventricle of the heart.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determination whether the subject has an irregular heartbeat is determined by an analysis of a change in a dimension of the heart.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determination whether the subject has an irregular heartbeat is determined by an analysis of a velocity of a muscle of the heart.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the transmitter-containing device is attached to the subject by a strap.

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein the irregular heartbeat is associated with supraventricular tachycardia.

18. The method of claim 1 , wherein the irregular heartbeat is associated with multifocal atrial tachycardia.

19. The method of claim 1 , wherein the irregular heartbeat is associated with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome.

20. The method of claim 1 , wherein the irregular heartbeat is associated with premature atrial contraction.

21. The method of claim 1 , wherein the irregular heartbeat is associated with premature ventricular contraction.

22. The method of claim 1 , wherein the irregular heartbeat is associated with sick sinus syndrome.

23. The method of claim 1 , wherein the irregular heartbeat is associated with bradycardia.

24. The method of claim 1 , wherein positioning of the transmitter-containing device is to the center of a chest of the subject.

25. The method of claim 1 , wherein the receiver is a Doppler radar sensor.

26. The method of claim 25 , wherein the Doppler radar sensor is a continuous wave Doppler radar sensor.

27. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining whether the subject has the irregular heartbeat is by detecting an intensity of a heartbeat of the subject.

28. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining whether the subject has the irregular heartbeat is by detecting a percentage of time the subject has irregular heartbeat.

29. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining whether the subject has the irregular heartbeat is by detecting a percentage of cardiac arrhythmia time in the subject.

30. The method of claim 1 , wherein the electromagnetic radiation reflected off the heart of the subject indicates a relative position of a portion of the heart of the subject.

31. The method of claim 1 , wherein the electromagnetic radiation reflected off the heart of the subject indicates a motion of the heart of the subject.

32. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining whether the subject has the irregular heartbeat is by detecting a motion of the relative position of the portion of the heart of the subject as compared to other portions of the heart.

Assignees

• Cardiac Motion Llc
• Univ California

Inventors

• Matthews Dennis
• Liu Xiaoguang
• Bi Songjie

Classifications

• A61B5/4836

  Diagnosis combined with treatment in closed-loop systems or methods (A61B5/0036 takes precedence) · CPC title

• A61B5/361

  Detecting fibrillation · CPC title

• A61B5/0507 Primary

  using microwaves or terahertz waves · CPC title

• A61B5/4848

  Monitoring or testing the effects of treatment, e.g. of medication · CPC title

• A61B5/0022

  Monitoring a patient using a global network, e.g. telephone networks, internet · CPC title