CA1315350C - Electrocardiographic electrode - Google Patents

Electrocardiographic electrode

Info

Publication number
CA1315350C
CA1315350C CA000531814A CA531814A CA1315350C CA 1315350 C CA1315350 C CA 1315350C CA 000531814 A CA000531814 A CA 000531814A CA 531814 A CA531814 A CA 531814A CA 1315350 C CA1315350 C CA 1315350C
Authority
CA
Canada
Prior art keywords
viscous
base member
skin
person
held
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired - Fee Related
Application number
CA000531814A
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
Hirokatsu Inoue
Chuji Shimizu
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Fukuda Denshi Co Ltd
Original Assignee
Fukuda Denshi Co Ltd
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Fukuda Denshi Co Ltd filed Critical Fukuda Denshi Co Ltd
Priority to CA000531814A priority Critical patent/CA1315350C/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of CA1315350C publication Critical patent/CA1315350C/en
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Fee Related legal-status Critical Current

Links

Abstract

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE

An electrocardiographic electrode is disclosed, which is to be held in close contact with a person's skin for deriving a weak voltage from an inner part of the person. The electrode comprises a viscous base member to be held in close contact with the person's skin and having a central opening, a reinforcement member bonded to the front surface of the viscous base member to close the opening, a lead connector hook penetrating a central portion of the reinforcement member to be coupled to a lead connector, and an electrode member secured to the underside of the lead connector hook. The viscous base member with the central opening is viscous both on the rear side to be held in close contact with the skin and on the front side coupled to the lead connector.

Description

3 ~ ~

This invention relates to an electrocardiographic electrode for deriving a weak voltage from a person and, more particularly, to an electrocardiographic electrode having a structure, in which a water-proof suction member for covering the electrocardiographic electrode held in close contact with a person's skin is strongly bonded to the electrocardiographic electrode so that it will not be detached therefrorn.
As is well known in the art, electricity generated in a person is induced by the activity of the heart, brain, muscles, etc.
Particularly, electricity induced in the heart is derived and recorded as a weak voltage induced on a person's skin using an external electrocardiograph. When the electrocardiograph is used, its input section is electrically coupled to the person. To this end, electrocardiographic electrodes have to be held in close contact with the person's skin.
An object of the invention is to provide an electrocardiographic electrode, which can solve or substantially reduce the above problems and permit an accurate electrocardiogram to be reliably obtained.
According to the invention, there is provided an electrocardiographic electrode to be held in close contact with a person's skin for deriving a weak voltaqe from an inner part of the person comprising a viscous base member to be held in close contact with the person'e skin and having a central openin~, a reinforcement member bonded to the front surface of said viscous base member to close said opening, a lead connector hook penetrating a central portion of said reinforcement m~mber to be coupled to a lead connector, and an electrode member secured to the underside of said lead connector hook, said viscous base member with said central opening being viscous hoth on the front and rear sides so as to be held in close contact with the skin and on the front side coupled to said lead connector.

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Brief ~escription of the Drawinqs Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing the front side of an embodiment of an electrocardiographic electrode according to the invention;
Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing the rear or back side of the electrocardiographic electrode;
Fig. 3 is a view for explaining the use of the electrocardiographic electrode; and Figs. 4 to 6 are views for explaining a prior art electrocardiographic electrode.
A prior art electrocardiographic electrode which is held in close contact with a person's skin in use will now be described with reference to Figs. 4 to 6. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of electrocardiographic electrode 1. The electrocardiographic electrode has a substantially circular, viscous base member 2. The viscous base member 2 is an annular woven cloth member having a central aperture or opening 3. Its rear side, which is held in close contact with the person's skin M as shown in Fig. 6, is viscous, (i.e. sticky). The opening 3 of the viscous base member 2 is closed by an ele!ctrode support 4, which is made of a hard synthetic resin and is formed on the top or front side of the viscous base member 2. A magnetic lead coupler 5 projects from the front surface of the electrode support 4. An electrode member 6 is secured to the lower or rear surface of the lead coupler 5. The electrode member 6 is held in direct contact with the person's skin M to derive a weak voltage ~rom the person's heart.
Fig. 5 shows the rear side of the lead coupler 7.
A lead 10 is coupled to the lead coupler 7 for feeding the heart's weak voltage derived by the electrode member 6 through the lead 10 to the electrocardiograph (not shown). The lead coupler 7 has substantially the same size as the electrocardiographic electrode and is made of a hard resin. It has a recess 8 formed on the rear side.

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A magnetic electrode coupler 9 is accommodated in the recess 8 and secured to the bottom thereof. One end of the lead 10 is connected to the electrode coupler 9, and its other end is connected to the electrocardiograph (not shown~.
To obtain an electrocardiogram using the electrocardiographic electrode 1 having the above con~truction, the viscous base member 2 o~ the electrode 1 is bonded to a person~s skin M, as shown in Fig. 6. Then, the lead coupler 7 is coupled to the electrocardiographic electrode 1 with its magnetic electrode coupler 9 magnetically attracted to the lead coupler S o the electrocardiographic electrode 1. In this state, a heart's weak voltage derived by the electrode member 6 is coupled through the lead 10 to an electrocardiograph ~not shown) for recording.
While the electrocardiographic electrode 1 is held in close contact with the patient's skin for obtaining a patient's electrocardiogram, the lead coupler 7 coupled to the electrode 1 is liable to be detached from the electrode due to an unconscious movement, e.g., due to the patient tossing-about in sleep. In such a case, noise is produced so that an accurate electrocardiogram can no longer be obtained.
Further, the patient sometimes unconsciously pulls out the lead 10 e~tending from the lead connector 7. If the lead 10 is pulled extremely strongly, again detachmen-t of the lead coupler 7 from the electrocardiographic electrode 1 results, so that an accurate electrocardiogram can no longer be obtained.
Further, the patient may take a bath with electrocardiographic electrodes held in close contact with the skin. Also, an electrocardiogram is sometimes produced while the patient is taking part in physical exercise, e.g., swimming. In such a caæe, a water-proof suction member is used to cover the electrocardiographic ~ 3~ ~3~

electrode together with the lead connector. However, the water-proof suction member is liable to be detached by the action of water so that an accurate electrocardiogram can no longer be obtained.
Detailed Description of the Preferred_Embodiment An embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing the front side of an embodiment of an electrocardiographic electrode according to the invention, and Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing the rear side of the electrocardiographic electrode of Fig. 1. The electrocardiographic electrode is designated as 11.
The electrocardiographic electrode 11 has a viscous base member 12. The viscous base member 12 is an annular member having a central aperture or opening 13. The detailed structure of the viscous base member 12 will be described later.
The central opening 13 of the viscous base member 12 is closed by a disk-like reinforcement member 14 which is bonded to the top or front surEace of the viscous base member 12. As shown in FigO 1, the reinforcement member 14 has a smaller diameter than the viscous base member 12 and is made of vinyl chloride.
A lead connector hook 15 is made of metal and penetrates the center of the reinforcement member 14. The lead connector hook 15 has a lead coupler l5a projecting from its top. A flat electrode member 16 made of Ag-AgCl is connected to the bottom of the lead connector hook 15, as shown in Fig. 2. A lead connector 17 with a lead 18 J
as shown in Fig. 3, is coupled to the projecting lead coupler 15a. The other end of the lead 18 is connected to an electrocardiograph (not shown).
An electrode member cover 19, as shown in Fig. 2, is bonded to the electrode member 16. The cover 19 consists of a water-containing gel layer prepared from ,: .
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glutine, agar, polyacrylamide, etc. It has considerable viscosity and al50 has electric conductivity.
The electrode member cover 19 is held in close contact with the skin to feed a weak voltage induced on the skin to the electrode member 16. Without the electrode member cover 19, i.e., if the electrode member 16 is held in direct base contact with the skin, the weak voltage can not be accurately measured due to the contact resistance offered by the skin surface. Heretoore, it has been the practice to apply beforehand cream or the like to the skin to reduce the contact resistance, and the electrode member 16 is held in contact with the cream for the measurement of the weak voltage. To apply cream whenever measurement of the weak voltage is done, however, is cumbersome and inefficient. The water-containing gel layer noted above, bonded to the electrode member 16, performs a similar role to the cream and eliminates the inconvenience of applying cream each time measurement is made. The water-containing gel layer acting as the electrode member cover 19 may be replaced with polyurethane foam layer impregnated with jelly.
The viscous bass member 12, as shown in Figs~ 1 and 2r is disk-like and made by using foamed polyurethane, an independently foamed butadiene rubber sheet non-woven cloth and a woven cloth. The viscous base member 12 manufactured using the independently foamed butadiene sheet has excellent cushioning properties and a light soft touch, so that the electrocardiographic electrode can be conveniently held in close contact with a person's skin.
As shown in Fig. ~, the rear surface 12b of the viscous base member 12 is made viscous in order to obtain close contact of the electrocardiographic electrode 11 with the person's skin M as shown in Fig. 3~ Further, the viscous base member 12 is viscous not only on the rear side 12b but also on the front side 12a, as shown in 13~33 c~j~

Fig. 1, so that a water-proof suction member ZO as shown in Fig. 3 can be bonded to it.
The lead connector 17 is made of a metal, and it has an engagement hole 17a formed substantially in its central portion. The lead coupler 15a of the lead connector hook 15 of the electrocardiographic electrode 11 is coupled to the engagement hole 17a.
The electrocardiographic electrode 11 having the above construction is used as follows. First, the rear surface 12b of the viscous base member 12 of the electrocardiographic electrode 11 is held in close contact with a person's skin M, as shown in Fig. 3. Then, the lead connector 17 is coupled to the electrocardiographic electrode 11 by fitting its engagement hole 17a on the lead connector 15a of the lead connector hook 15 of the electrocardiographic electrode 11 in close contact with the person's skin M. Thereafter, the water-proof suction member 20 is fitted to cover the lead connector 17 and electrocardiographic electrode 11 coupled together. At this time, the inner surface 20a of the water-proof suction member 20 is held in close contact with the front surface 12a of the viscous base member 12. Since the front surface 12a of the viscous base member 12 is viscous, the inner surface 20a of the water-proof suction member 20 is bonded to the surface 12a. Thus, the water-proof suction member 20 is firmly bonded to and never detached from the electrocardiographic electrode 11.
As has been described in the foregoing, according to the described embodiment, the viscous base member is made viscous on both the font and rear sides, so that the water-proof suction member can be held firmly bonded to and never detached from the electrocardiographic electrode. It is thus possible to obtain an electrocardiograph of a patient while the patient is taking a bath or exercising.
:.

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Further, the e~fect of preventing the detachment of the water-proof suction member from the electrocardiographic electrode can be obtained very simply and inexpensively by merely making both the front and back surfaces of the viscous base member viscous.

Claims (10)

1. An electrocardiographic electrode to be held in close contact with a person's skin for deriving a weak voltage from an inner part of the person comprising a viscous base member to be held in close contact with the person's skin and having a central opening, a reinforcement member bonded to the front surface of said viscous base member to close said opening, a lead connector hook penetrating a central portion of said reinforcement member to be coupled to a lead connector, and an electrode member secured to the underside of said lead connector hook, said viscous base member with said central opening being viscous both on the front and rear sides so as to be held in close contact with the skin and on the front side coupled to said lead connector.
2. The electrocardiographic electrode according to claim 1, wherein said viscous base member is made of a viscous foamed resin on both the front and rear sides.
3. The electrocardiographic electrode according to claim 1, wherein said viscous base member is made from rubber sheets having a foamed layer on the front and rear sides.
4. The electrocardiographic electrode according to claim 1, wherein said viscous base member is made of non-woven cloths on both the front and rear sides.
5. The electrocardiographic electrode according to claim 1, wherein said viscous base member is made of viscous woven cloths on both the front and rear sides.
6. An electrocardiographic electrode to be held in close contact with a person's skin for deriving a weak voltage from an inner part of the person, comprising:
a viscous base member to be held in close contact with the person's skin, said viscous base member having front and back viscous surfaces and a central opening;
a reinforcement member bonded to the front surface of said viscous base member to close said opening;
a lead connector hook penetrating a central portion of said reinforcement member, said connector hook having a portion coupled to a lead connector;
an electrode member coupled to said connector hook for relaying the weak voltage from the person's skin; and a waterproof suction electrode member securely covering the portion of said lead connector hook and said front surface of said viscous member;
wherein, insofar as said viscous base member with said central opening is viscous both on the front and back surfaces, the back surface of said base member is held in intimate contact with the skin; and said front surface of said base member is firmly bonded to said waterproof suction electrode member.
7. The electrocardiographic electrode according to claim 6, wherein both of said front and back surfaces of said viscous base member are made of a viscous foamed resin.
8. The electrocardiographic electrode according to claim 6, wherein both of said front and back surfaces of said viscous base member are made from rubber sheets formed independently on said front and back surfaces.
9. The electrocardiographic electrode according to claim 6, wherein both of said front and back surfaces of said viscous base member are made of non-woven cloths.
10. The electrocardiographic electrode according to claim 6, wherein both of said front and back surfaces of said viscous base member are made of viscous woven cloths.
CA000531814A 1987-03-12 1987-03-12 Electrocardiographic electrode Expired - Fee Related CA1315350C (en)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
CA000531814A CA1315350C (en) 1987-03-12 1987-03-12 Electrocardiographic electrode

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
CA000531814A CA1315350C (en) 1987-03-12 1987-03-12 Electrocardiographic electrode

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
CA1315350C true CA1315350C (en) 1993-03-30

Family

ID=4135158

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
CA000531814A Expired - Fee Related CA1315350C (en) 1987-03-12 1987-03-12 Electrocardiographic electrode

Country Status (1)

Country Link
CA (1) CA1315350C (en)

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