Classifications

• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
  • A61B—DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
  • A61B5/00—Measuring for diagnostic purposes; Identification of persons
  • A61B5/02—Detecting, measuring or recording pulse, heart rate, blood pressure or blood flow; Combined pulse/heart-rate/blood pressure determination; Evaluating a cardiovascular condition not otherwise provided for, e.g. using combinations of techniques provided for in this group with electrocardiography or electroauscultation; Heart catheters for measuring blood pressure
  • A61B5/021—Measuring pressure in heart or blood vessels
  • A61B5/022—Measuring pressure in heart or blood vessels by applying pressure to close blood vessels, e.g. against the skin; Ophthalmodynamometers
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
  • A61B—DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
  • A61B5/00—Measuring for diagnostic purposes; Identification of persons
  • A61B5/0002—Remote monitoring of patients using telemetry, e.g. transmission of vital signals via a communication network

Definitions

• the present invention relates to physiological monitoring of patients and, in particular, to physiological signal acquisition apparatus which provides real time and/or recorded data transmission over a telephone network to a remote location where it is decoded and analysed.
• hypertension ie high blood pressure
• hypertension ie high blood pressure
• physicians This is due to the widespread prevalence of the disorder, as there are an estimated sixty million persons in the United States alone, and partly because of the consequences of uncontrolled, poorly treated hypertension which can lead to the occurrences of strokes, heart attacks and heart failures.
• reporting bias One aspect of blood pressure self monitoring and management that causes concerns is a so called “reporting bias”. It is believed that a means of reducing reporting bias error is to provide the patient with blood pressure monitoring means that can record the blood pressure in memory and then transfer the recorded data to the physician.
• a transtelephonic blood pressure monitoring apparatus having a blood pressure monitor and a blood pressure sensor means, said monitor including a blood pressure acquisition and memory means, a control means, a transducer means and output means, wherein said blood pressure acquisition and memory means receives blood pressure data from said sensor means and either sends said blood pressure data in real time to said transducer means which converts data into transmission signals to said output means or stores said blood pressure data in said memory means for delayed transmission to said transmission means, said control means controlling the operation of said apparatus.
• the apparatus also includes a display means display means for displaying either in real time or from the memory means the blood pressure data which is acquired.
• the transducer means converts the data into signals which are sent to a speaker output as audio signals which are preferably transmitted over a telephone network to a remote receiving station which decodes and analyses the received audio signals.
• the apparatus also comprises other physiological sensors such as ECG, SAO2, temperature, etc and corresponding signal acquisition and amplifying means.
• the apparatus uses the control means, transducer means and output means to transmit the corresponding data to a remote location via the telephone network.
• Fig. 1 is a schematic block diagram of the apparatus of the present invention.
• a blood pressure monitoring apparatus 10 is illustrated in the drawing.
• the apparatus 10 includes a blood pressure monitor 11 which has a blood pressure sensor cuff (not illustrated) connected thereto and a transtelephonic controller 12.
• the monitor 11 uses the auto-inflate cuff to record blood pressure from the upper arm, wrist or finger of the patient, where the data is received by a blood pressure transducer 13 contained within the monitor 11.
• the pressure transducer 13 is connected to a microprocessor 14 which receives signals from the transducer 13, analyzes the received data and displays measured blood pressure on a display 15.
• a power supply 16 supplies power to the microprocessor 14 and the display 15.
• the blood pressure monitor 11 is activated by a pushbutton 17 "START".
• the monitor 11 calibrates itself and starts measurement routines.
• a signal 18 which is acquired is pulled high at this stage and held high by the microprocessor 14 until measurement is complete.
• the monitor 11 displays the results on the display 15 and outputs measured values via a serial interface comprised of two signals; signal 19 being a serial clock output and signal 20 being a serial data output.
• Protocol of the transmission is compatible with well known Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI).
• Transtelephonic functionality is implemented by the transtelephonic controller 12 which is made up of a microcontroller 21 , serial memory 22, pushbutton 23 and speaker 24.
• the transtelephonic controller 12 is connected to the monitor 11 by a connector 25.
• the transtelephonic controller 12 is activated either by the acquired signal 18 from the monitor 11 for a new data recording or by the pushbutton 23 for data transmission, ie uploading.
• the transtelephonic controller 12 waits for serial clock signal 19 and serial data output signal 20. Five bytes are transmitted by the microprocessor 14 to the transtelephonic controller 12 via SPI signals 19 and 20 and recorded into memory 22.
• the transtelephonic controller 12 reads the recorded data from memory 23, converts the recorded data into corresponding audio tones and outputs frequency modulated data via the speaker 24 for acoustically coupled transmission of recording via a telephone network to a remote receiving station (not illustrated).
• the remote receiving station preferably automatically decodes and analyses the frequency modulated audio signals and creates a report to a physician as required.
• Technique of encoding and decoding of analogue and digital data can be implemented in different forms such as frequency or phase modulation, dual tone multi-frequency etc.
• the apparatus 10 also includes as preferable features, other physiological sensors 17 such as ECG, SAO2, temperature, etc, whereby the corresponding acquired signals are amplified and conditioned and supplied to the transtelephonic controller 12 for transmission to the remote receiving station.
• other physiological sensors 17 such as ECG, SAO2, temperature, etc

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• Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Biomedical Technology (AREA)
• Medical Informatics (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Cardiology (AREA)
• Biophysics (AREA)
• Pathology (AREA)
• Vascular Medicine (AREA)
• Veterinary Medicine (AREA)
• Heart & Thoracic Surgery (AREA)
• Public Health (AREA)
• Molecular Biology (AREA)
• Surgery (AREA)
• Animal Behavior & Ethology (AREA)
• General Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• Physiology (AREA)
• Ophthalmology & Optometry (AREA)
• Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
• Measuring Pulse, Heart Rate, Blood Pressure Or Blood Flow (AREA)
• Measuring And Recording Apparatus For Diagnosis (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Publications (1)

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• 1999
  • 1999-10-11 AU AUPQ3344A patent/AUPQ334499A0/en not_active Abandoned
• 2000
  • 2000-10-11 WO PCT/AU2000/001234 patent/WO2001026544A1/en not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 2000-10-11 CN CN00814165A patent/CN1378435A/zh active Pending
  • 2000-10-11 CA CA002387139A patent/CA2387139A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2000-10-11 EP EP00969096A patent/EP1229827A1/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 2000-10-11 IL IL14907400A patent/IL149074A0/xx unknown
  • 2000-10-11 JP JP2001529340A patent/JP2003511142A/ja active Pending

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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