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 for evaluating the cardiovascular system, e.g. pulse, heart rate, blood pressure or blood flow
  • 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
  • A61B5/02225—Measuring pressure in heart or blood vessels by applying pressure to close blood vessels, e.g. against the skin; Ophthalmodynamometers using the oscillometric method
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
  • A61B—DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
  • A61B5/00—Measuring for diagnostic purposes; Identification of persons
  • A61B5/72—Signal processing specially adapted for physiological signals or for diagnostic purposes
  • A61B5/7221—Determining signal validity, reliability or quality
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
  • A61B—DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
  • A61B2560/00—Constructional details of operational features of apparatus; Accessories for medical measuring apparatus
  • A61B2560/02—Operational features
  • A61B2560/0266—Operational features for monitoring or limiting apparatus function
  • A61B2560/0276—Determining malfunction
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
  • A61B—DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
  • A61B2560/00—Constructional details of operational features of apparatus; Accessories for medical measuring apparatus
  • A61B2560/04—Constructional details of apparatus
  • A61B2560/0475—Special features of memory means, e.g. removable memory cards

Definitions

• the invention is generally directed at a non-invasive blood pressure measurement system. More particularly, various inventive methods and apparatus disclosed herein relate a detection device for verifying whether an inflatable cuff of the non-invasive blood pressure measurement system is wrapped around a measurement site of a patient and connected to the non-invasive blood pressure measurement system.
• High blood pressure is a significant risk factor for heart attack, stroke, kidney disease, and vision loss. It often is referred to as the silent killer because it rarely causes any symptoms until considerable organ damage has occurred. For that reason, obtaining regular, accurate blood pressure readings are important to long-term health. In hospital and ambulatory setting, constant or periodic blood pressure monitoring is essential component of monitoring patient's vital signs.
• NIBP non-invasive blood pressure
• NIBP systems support various cuff sizes, from neonatal to extra-large adult cuffs, where the inflation timeout has to be long enough to allow the inflation of the largest supported cuff loosely wrapped around the largest supported limb, because the NIBP system usually does not recognize which size cuff is actually connected. Consequently, the timeout makes it unsuitable for detecting whether or not the cuff is wrapped around a limb for smaller cuffs because a smaller cuff can be inflated to the target pressure faster than the timeout period even though it is not wrapped around a limb.
• cuff off detection is particularly detrimental to automatic blood pressure monitoring systems capable of programmable measurement sequences, because a clinical staff or a patient may intentionally remove or accidentally dislodge the cuff from the measurement site on the limb or disconnect the cuff from the NIBP monitor without stopping the automatic measurement mode or programmable measurement sequence.
• the NIBP system continues to take measurements and may obtain phantom readings due to cuff pressure oscillations caused by stretching of the cuff or movement of the cuff induced by external vibrations, etc.
• US8808189B2 discloses a method of detecting the wrapping strength of a cuff that is wrapped around the limb and not detached from it. The detection is made after the pressure-volume relationship according to a change of the cuff pressure detected in the cuff wrapped around the measurement site and, equally, volume change of the cuff detected by the volume detection unit with the change of its pressure whilst it is controlled by pressurization or depressurization by the pressure control unit.
• this approach does not inform whether or not the inflatable cuff is attached to the measurement site of a patient.
• US4669485A discloses apparatus and related methods for continuous long term noninvasive measurement of the pressure of a pulsatile fluid flowing through a flexible tube, particularly human arterial blood flow, is disclosed.
• the apparatus provides a continuous calibrated pressure measurement by first undertaking a "calibration" phase comprised of determining the pressure at various pre-defined conditions of flow and, in response thereto, ascertaining the values of a plurality of coefficients each of which is associated with a corresponding term in a pre-defined function that characterizes fluid pressure in relation to pulsatile displacement of the wall of the tube; and second, undertaking a "continuous monitoring" phase comprised of determining each subequently occurring pressure value as the pre-defined function of each corresponding pulsatile wall displacement value, and re-initiating the calibration phase at the expiration of pre-defined time intervals which adaptively change based upon current and prior results.
• the invention focuses on a blood pressure measurement system and apparatus capable of detecting improper functioning due to the absence of an inflatable cuff from a patient's measurement site, its improper attachment to the site, or it being disconnected from the blood pressure measurement system.
• this object is addressed by a detection device suitable for use in a blood pressure measurement system, wherein said device is coupled to an inflatable cuff attached to a measurement site at a patient's body part.
• the device is arranged to perform a series of blood pressure measurements, wherein for each measurement of the series, an inflation operation is performed to inflate the cuff.
• the device includes a determining unit for determining inflation speed-dependent parameter values during inflation operations, and a processor module arranged for receiving the determined inflation speed-dependent parameter values.
• the processor module is configured to check whether the difference between the cuff inflation parameter value determined during the corresponding inflation operation and the cuff inflation parameter value determined during a preceding inflation operation meets a predetermined criterion.
• the corresponding inflation operation and the preceding inflation operation are sequential operations in an automatic measurement series and/or programmable measurement sequences.
• the "cuff off detection is particularly important during a series of automatic measurements and programmable measurement sequences.
• the inflation speed-dependent parameter is defined as a period of time required during the inflation operation to bring the pressure of the cuff from the first pressure level to the second pressure level.
• the first pressure level is a pressure of the cuff at the start of the inflation operation.
• the second pressure level may be any pressure between the first pressure level and the target cuff pressure at the end of the inflation operation.
• the second pressure level is substantially smaller than the target cuff pressure at the end of the inflation operation in order to stop an unnecessary inflation as soon as possible.
• the inflation speed-dependent parameter is the first derivative (dP/dt ) of the cuff pressure during inflation.
• the device is arranged to stop the inflation process if the difference between the measured inflation speed-dependent parameter and the reference inflation-speed dependent parameter exceeds a predetermined value. All measurements are conducted during the inflation process, which helps to both avoid running the pump for a long time (more than 1 minute) before timeout occurs or deformation of the cuff due to overlong inflation.
• the invention focuses on a method for checking whether an inflatable cuff has been disconnected from the device or has been attached to a measurement site of a body part of a patient.
• the method is performed by a device for using in a blood pressure measurement system, which is coupled to the inflatable cuff attached to a measurement site of a body part of a patient.
• the device performs a series of blood pressure measurements, whereby for each measurement of the series an inflation operation is performed to inflate the cuff.
• the method includes the following steps:
• determining an inflation speed-dependent parameter value during the inflation operation receiving the inflation speed-dependent parameter values determined, and determining the difference between the cuff inflation parameter value determined during the corresponding inflation operation and the cuff inflation parameter value determined during a preceding inflation operation.
• Fig. 1 shows a block diagram of a system for non-invasive of monitoring blood pressure with the device for checking whether an inflatable cuff is attached to a patient's limb;
• Fig. 2 shows a graph of the cuff inflation and deflation cycle
• Fig. 3 shows a graph of the cuff inflation process
• Fig. 4 shows the method's flow diagram
• a non- invasive blood pressure monitoring system includes an inflatable cuff 101 connected to the blood pressure monitoring system and attached to the measurement site; for example, an upper arm 100 of a patient 1.
• the system includes a display 109 for displaying measurement results, a main processor module 107, a memory unit 117 and an air system including: a source of pressured air 106, an optional inflate valve 105, deflate valve(s) 104, and pressure transducer(s) 103.
• the blood pressure cuff 101 is connected by a hose 102 to the housing of system 2 and can be inflated and deflated for occluding the brachial artery of the patient 1 when in the fully inflated condition.
• the blood pressure cuff 101 is deflated using deflate valves(s) 104 via an exhaust 110, the arterial occlusion is gradually relieved.
• the deflation of the blood pressure cuff 101 by the deflate valve(s) 104 is controlled by the central processor module 107 through a control line 111.
• a pressure transducer 103 is coupled via the hose 102 to the blood pressure cuff 101 for sensing the pressure within the cuff 101.
• the pressure transducer 103 is used to sense pressure oscillations in the cuff 101 that are generated by pressure changes in the artery under the cuff.
• the electrical oscillation signals from the pressure transducer 103 are obtained by the central processor module 107, using an analog to digital converter through a connection line 113.
• the source of compressed air 106 comprises a pump or gas cylinder filled with compressed air.
• the compressed air is supplying the pressured air via duct 114 to the inflate valve(s) 105.
• the operation of the inflate valve(s) 105 or source of pressurized air 106 is controlled by the central processor mo dule 107 through the control line 111.
• the inflation and deflation of the blood pressure cuff 101 is controlled by the central processor 107 through the deflate valve(s) 104 and the inflate valve(s) ( 105) or source of pressurized air 106, respectively.
• FIG 2 illustrates the measurement cycle for oscillometric blood pressure.
• the oscillometric method measures blood pressure by monitoring the pulsatile changes in pressure that are caused by the flow of blood through an artery that is restricted by an occluding cuff.
• the cuff pressure for a measurement cycle is characterized by the wave 201.
• the cuff pressure rapidly increases to a maximum above the patient's systolic P s pressure and is then deflated in a sequence of steps to a point below the diastolic pressure Pa.
• the sensitive transducer measures cuff pressure and small pressure oscillations within the cuff.
• a typical determination takes 10-12 deflation steps. Each step is made sufficiently long enough to include at least one heartbeat. As the pressure in the cuff decreases further, the pulses reach maximum amplitude Am. The pressure in the cuff that corresponds to the point of the maximum oscillation has been shown to correlate to a patient's mean arterial pressure (MAP). As the pressure in the cuff is decreased further, the pulses begin to decrease in amplitude (A d ). The rising and falling amplitude of the pressure pulses creates an envelope that is used to determine the patient's systolic (Ps), mean (Pm) and diastolic (Pd) pressures.
• Ps systolic
• Pm mean
• Pd diastolic
• the algorithm determines a patient's systolic and diastolic pressures by locating the points on the pulse pressure envelope that correspond to a predetermined percentage of the maximum amplitude (A m ).
• NIBP measurements can be taken manually, i.e. when each time only one measurement is taken, and automatically, when the measurement is repeated at specified intervals.
• the NIBP device measures the duration from the start of the inflation until a predefined cuff pressure level is reached (Ptarget)- If this duration has increased significantly from the previous to the current inflation, the NIBP monitor indicates that the cuff has been disconnected from the device or is no longer applied to the patient's limb, aborts the current inflation, stops the automatic measurement series or programmable measurement sequence and issues a technical alarm; e.g. "Check Cuff.
• the verification of whether or not an inflatable cuff is attached to the measurement site of a patient is performed during the inflation process.
• the processor 107 checks whether the difference between the cuff inflation parameter value determined during the corresponding inflation operation and the cuff inflation parameter value determined during a preceding inflation operation meets a predetermined criterion. If the predetermined conditions are met, the measurements continue and, if not, the measurements terminate.
• FIG. 4 shows a diagram illustrating a method, performed by the blood pressure monitoring system 2.
• the cuff inflation parameter values are determined in the processor 107 and stored in the memory unit 117.
• the processor 107 reads the cuff inflation parameter values determined during two corresponding inflation operations.
• the processor 107 also compares the first inflation parameter with the second one in step 203. Based on the result of the comparison, the processor 107 decides in step 204 whether to continue or stop the measurements.
• the graph illustrates the time available for the inflation to a target cuff pressure P ta r g et, called timeout, which should be long enough to allow the inflation of the largest supported cuff loosely wrapped around the largest supported limb to the highest cuff pressure.
• the timeout is dependent on some variables, such as cuff size, the power of the source of pressured air, how tight the cuff is wrapped around a limb, the target cuff pressure, etc. Since it is not desirable to run a source of pressured air 106 without stopping, a timeout is set as a kind of safety mechanism that stops the source of pressured air 106 after the maximum expected time is over.
• a subsystem 120 comprising the processor 107 and the memory unit 117, measures the speed-dependent parameter when an automatic measurement series or programmable measurement series is running.
• a speed-dependent parameter a period of time required during the inflation operation that brings the pressure of the cuff 101 from the first level (PI) to the second level (P2) (see FIG. 3) can be used.
• the second pressure level is substantially smaller than the target cuff pressure Ptarget at the end of the inflation operation, such that an unnecessary inflation stops as soon as possible if the cuff is dislodged from the desired measurement site. This means that the second pressure level is selected such a patient feels no or only limited discomfort in his or her arm until the inflation process stops, if the cuff is accidentally or intentionally moved from the intended measurement site.
• the inflation speed-dependent parameter is the first derivative dP/dt of the cuff pressure during inflation.
• the processor 107 receives the inflation speed-dependent parameters and when a blood pressure monitoring system is in the automatic measurement series or programmable measurement series mode, the processor checks the difference between the cuff inflation parameter values determined during corresponding inflation operations in the measurement series. The processor 107 stops the inflation operation if the difference between the inflation speed-dependent parameter of the corresponding and the previous inflation operations exceeds a predetermined criterion.
• inventive embodiments are presented by way of example only and that, within the scope of the appended claims and equivalents thereto, inventive embodiments may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described and claimed.
• inventive embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to each individual feature, system, article, material, kit, and/or method described herein.

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• Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
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• Computer Vision & Pattern Recognition (AREA)
• Ophthalmology & Optometry (AREA)
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• Measuring Pulse, Heart Rate, Blood Pressure Or Blood Flow (AREA)

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• 2016
  • 2016-10-07 US US15/761,822 patent/US20180263516A1/en active Pending
  • 2016-10-07 EP EP16781719.6A patent/EP3359028B1/en active Active
  • 2016-10-07 JP JP2018516134A patent/JP6823054B2/ja active Active
  • 2016-10-07 CN CN201680058622.7A patent/CN108135510B/zh active Active
  • 2016-10-07 WO PCT/EP2016/074014 patent/WO2017060436A1/en not_active Ceased

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