Methods and systems for obtaining an electrocardiogram signal of a patient via a non-adhering, direct contact electrode apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11717207-B2
Application number	US-201916411022-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 13, 2019
Priority date	May 13, 2019
Publication date	Aug 8, 2023
Grant date	Aug 8, 2023

Abstract

Various methods and systems are provided for a fabric cover including a plurality of integrated electrodes for measuring an electrocardiogram signal of a patient in direct contact with at least a subset of the plurality of integrate electrodes. As one example, a fabric cover for an infant incubator or warmer includes a plurality of electrodes spaced apart from one another within a measurement area of a surface of the fabric cover adapted to have direct contact with a patient, the plurality of electrodes including a topmost electrode extending across an entire width of the measurement area, a bottommost electrode extending across the entire width of the measurement area, and a set of electrodes arranged between the topmost electrode and bottommost electrode, in a direction perpendicular to the width, within the measurement area.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A fabric cover for an infant incubator or warmer, comprising:
a plurality of electrodes spaced apart from one another within a measurement area of a surface of the fabric cover adapted to have direct contact with a patient, the plurality of electrodes including a topmost electrode extending across an entire width of the measurement area, a bottommost electrode extending across the entire width of the measurement area, and a set of electrodes arranged between the topmost electrode and bottommost electrode, in a direction perpendicular to the width, within the measurement area, where the topmost electrode and the bottommost electrode are dedicated, driven electrodes and each electrode of the set of electrodes is a measurement electrode;
an integrated electronic layer electrically coupled to the at least one electrical connector and adapted to perform measurements on electrical signals received from the plurality of sensors;
wherein the integrated electronic layer includes a dynamic switching circuit including an input switch matrix and an output switch matrix adapted to switch which electrode of the topmost electrode and the bottommost electrode is driven to output a driven common mode output signal and which signals received from the set of electrodes are used to determine an electrocardiogram signal of the patient based on which electrode is in direct contact with the skin of the patient, the input matrix separated from the output matrix by an amplifier; and
wherein the dynamic switching is adapted to switch based on a position of the patient on the fabric cover.

2. The fabric cover of claim 1 , wherein each electrode of the set of electrodes extends across a majority of the entire width of the measurement area.

3. The fabric cover of claim 1 , wherein each electrode of the set of electrodes is arranged directly adjacent to two other electrodes of the set of electrodes and one of the topmost and bottommost electrodes.

4. The fabric cover of claim 1 , wherein the topmost electrode and the bottommost electrode each have a semi-circular shape.

5. The fabric cover of claim 1 , wherein each electrode of the plurality of electrodes and the fabric cover are porous.

6. The fabric cover of claim 1 , further comprising at least one electrical connector and a plurality of electrical leads, each electrical lead of the plurality of electrical leads being insulated from the plurality of electrodes via a dielectric layer and extending between a respective electrode and the at least one electrical connector.

7. The fabric cover of claim 6 , wherein the at least one electrical connector is wirelessly connected to a signal processing circuit via a wireless electrical connection.

8. The fabric cover of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of electrodes receive electrical power via a battery incorporated into the fabric cover.

9. The fabric cover of claim 1 , wherein each electrode of the plurality of electrodes is an electrode pad including silver deposited electrode layers and wherein each electrode and a corresponding electrical connection between the electrode and an electrical connector or measurement electronics is conductive while a remainder of the fabric cover is non-conductive.

10. The fabric cover of claim 1 , wherein the driven electrode has an individual skin impedance measurement at a threshold level.

11. A system for measuring bio-potentials of a patient, comprising:
a plurality of electrodes spaced apart from one another along a surface adapted to be placed in direct contact with the patient, the plurality of electrodes including a first set of dedicated, driven electrodes adapted to only output a driven common mode output signal and second set of measurement electrodes adapted to measure bio-potentials of the patient; and
an electronic processor in electronic communication with each of the plurality of electrodes and adapted to:
obtain signals output from the plurality of electrodes to determine which electrodes of the plurality of electrodes are in direct contact with the patient;
determine which electrodes are in direct contact with the patient; and
dynamically switch which electrode of the plurality of electrodes is selected as a driven electrode while at least a portion of the surface is in contact with the patient based on which electrodes are in direct contact with the patient and a position of the patient on the surface, including selectively switching a measurement electrode to be the driven electrode, wherein the surface is a fabric cover.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein dynamically switching which electrode is selected as the driven electrode includes selecting an electrode of the first set of dedicated, driven electrodes to be the driven electrode based on the selected electrode being in direct contact with the patient.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the first set of dedicated, driven electrodes includes at least two electrodes, wherein there are a greater number of electrodes in the second set of measurement electrodes than the first set of dedicated, driven electrodes, and wherein each electrode of the plurality of electrodes is spaced apart from an adjacent electrode via a respective gap, that gap including material that insulates adjacent electrodes from one another.

14. The system of claim 11 , wherein the electronic processor is further adapted to: determine which electrodes of the plurality of electrodes are in direct contact with the patient based on individual skin impedance measurements received from each electrode of the plurality of electrodes and select the driven electrode to be an electrode having an individual skin impedance measurement at a threshold level.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein the electronic processor is further adapted to determine an electrocardiogram signal of the patient from signals output by at least two measurement electrodes of the second set of measurement electrodes, the at least two measurement electrodes determined to be in direct contact with the patient, wherein the electrodes having signals used for determining the electrocardiogram signal do not include the selected driven electrode.

16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the electronic processor is further adapted to determine a heart rate of the patient from the determined electrocardiogram signal and display, via a display device, one or more of the determined heart rate and electrocardiogram signal, and wherein the measurement electrode is switched to be the driven electrode in response to none of the first set of driven, dedicated electrodes being in direct contact with the patient.

Assignees

• Ge Prec Healthcare Llc

Inventors

• Valent Thomas
• Stoffel Nancy
• Khair Mohammad Mohammad
• Falk Steven

Classifications

• A61B5/318

  Heart-related electrical modalities, e.g. electrocardiography [ECG] · CPC title

• A61B5/282 Primary

  Holders for multiple electrodes (for introduction into the body A61B5/287) · CPC title

• A61B5/25 Primary

  Bioelectric electrodes therefor · CPC title

• A61B5/6846

  specially adapted to be brought in contact with an internal body part, i.e. invasive · CPC title

• A61B5/0006

  ECG or EEG signals · CPC title