US4974601A
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Portable heart monitor performing multiple functions
Assignee: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
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Filing: 1988-09-05
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Granted: 1990-12-04
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Expires: 2008-09-05
Abstract
Abstract A method and apparatus for monitoring multiple aspects of a patient's cardiac condition which is portable microprocessor based, and can be programmed to select (for storage in random access memory (RAM)) anomalous heartbeat waveforms while rejecting normal waveforms. In addition, the cardiac monitor gives real time warnings of erratic heartbeat waveforms and stores these waveforms for future analysis. The cardiac monitor also detects and energizes an alarm signal if a patient's heartbeat skips a predetermined number of beats.
Inventors
- 👤 Farid M. Tranjan
- 👤 Mohammed Said
- 👤 Bharati Vadhar
- 👤 Paul Sandok
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-23 19:04
CPC Classifications
A; A61; A61B; A61B5/00; A61B5/24; A61B5/316; A61B5/318; A61B5/333; A61B5/335; A61B5/02; A61B5/024; A61B5/02438
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 15
Claim 1
Independent Claim
191 words
An apparatus for monitoring multiple aspects of a patient's cardiac condition comprising: (a) means for generating a present pulse signal indicative of a patient's present pulse rate and a present heartbeat waveform signal; (b) means for receiving the present pulse signal and generating an average pulse rate signal indicative of the pulse rate over a predetermined period of time; (c) means for storing the average pulse rate signal; (d) means for comparing the present pulse signal and the average pulse rate signal and generating an alarm signal if the difference between these signals exceeds a first predetermined threshold; (e) means for receiving the present heartbeat waveform signal and generating an average heartbeat waveform signal indicative of the patient's average heartbeat over a predetermined period of time; (f) means for storing the average heartbeat waveform signal; (g) means for comparing the present heartbeat waveform signal and the average heartbeat waveform signal and generating an alarm signal if the difference between these signals exceeds a second predetermined threshold; and (h) means for storing the present heartbeat waveform signal indicative of the patient's present heartbeat that resulted in the generation of an alarm signal.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
191 words
An apparatus for monitoring multiple aspects of a patient's cardiac condition comprising: (a) means for generating a present pulse signal indicative of a patient's present pulse rate and a present heartbeat waveform signal; (b) means for receiving the present pulse signal and generating an average pulse rate signal indicative of the pulse rate over a predetermined period of time; (c) means for storing the average pulse rate signal; (d) means for comparing the present pulse signal and the average pulse rate signal and generating an alarm signal if the difference between these signals exceeds a first predetermined threshold; (e) means for receiving the present heartbeat waveform signal and generating an average heartbeat waveform signal indicative of the patient's average heartbeat over a predetermined period of time; (f) means for storing the average heartbeat waveform signal; (g) means for comparing the present heartbeat waveform signal and the average heartbeat waveform signal and generating an alarm signal if the difference between these signals exceeds a second predetermined threshold; and (h) means for storing the present heartbeat waveform signal indicative of the patient's present heartbeat that resulted in the generation of an alarm signal.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
84 words
The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the means for generating a present signal indicative of a patient s present pulse rate and a present heartbeat waveform signal comprises: means for sensing a patient's heartbeat and generating a signal representing the patient's heartbeat; means for storing the signal representing the patient's heartbeat; means for storing the signal representing the patient's heartbeat; means for generating the heartbeat waveform signal from the stored heartbeat signal and; means for calculating a pulse rate from the stored heartbeat signal.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
37 words
The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the means for receiving the present pulse signal and generating an average pulse rate signal comprises: means for storing the present pulse signal and generating an average pulse rate signal therefrom.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
25 words
The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the apparatus further comprises: means for displaying a representation of the present pulse signal indicating the present pulse rate.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
34 words
The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the means for generating an average heartbeat waveform comprises: means for storing a plurality of present heartbeat waveform signals and generating an average electric heartbeat waveform signal therefrom.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
57 words
The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the means for generating a present pulse signal indicative of a patient's present pulse rate and present heartbeat waveform comprises: a transducer for generating an analog signal representative of a patient's present heartbeat; means for amplifying the analog signal; and means for converting the amplified analog signal to a digital signal.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
50 words
The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the means for receiving the present pulse signal and generating an average pulse rate signal indicative of the patient's pulse rate comprises: means for converting heartbeat signals into a square waveform signal; and means for calculating a pulse rate from a square waveform signal.
Claim 9
Independent Claim
171 words
A method for monitoring multiple aspects of a patient's cardiac condition comprising: (a) generating a present pulse signal indicative of a patient's current pulse rate and a present heartbeat waveform signal; (b) generating an average pulse rate signal indicative of the patient's pulse rate over a predetermined period of time; (c) storing the average present pulse rate signal; (d) comparing the present pulse signal and the average pulse rate signal and generating an alarm signal if the difference between these signals exceeds a first predetermined threshold; (e) receiving the present heartbeat waveform signal and generating an average heartbeat waveform signal indicative of the patient's average heartbeat over a predetermined period of time; (f) storing the average heartbeat waveform signal; (g) comparing the present heartbeat waveform signal and the average heartbeat waveform signal and generating an alarm signal if the difference between these signals exceeds a second predetermined threshold; and (h) storing the present heartbeat waveform signal indicative of the patient's current heartbeat that resulted in the generation of an alarm signal.
Claim 10
Independent Claim
171 words
A method for monitoring multiple aspects of a patient's cardiac condition comprising: (a) generating a present pulse signal indicative of a patient's current pulse rate and a present heartbeat waveform signal; (b) generating an average pulse rate signal indicative of the patient's pulse rate over a predetermined period of time; (c) storing the average present pulse rate signal; (d) comparing the present pulse signal and the average pulse rate signal and generating an alarm signal if the difference between these signals exceeds a first predetermined threshold; (e) receiving the present heartbeat waveform signal and generating an average heartbeat waveform signal indicative of the patient's average heartbeat over a predetermined period of time; (f) storing the average heartbeat waveform signal; (g) comparing the present heartbeat waveform signal and the average heartbeat waveform signal and generating an alarm signal if the difference between these signals exceeds a second predetermined threshold; and (h) storing the present heartbeat waveform signal indicative of the patient's current heartbeat that resulted in the generation of an alarm signal.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
21 words
The method of claim 8 further comprising: displaying a numerical representation of the present pulse signal indicating the present pulse rate.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
30 words
The method of claim 8 wherein the step of generating an average pulse rate signal comprises: storing the present heartbeat waveform signals and generating the average pulse rate signal therefrom.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
36 words
The method of claim 8 wherein the step of generating an average heartbeat waveform comprises: storing the present heartbeat waveform signals and generating an average electric heartbeat waveform signal therefrom over a predetermined period of time.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
59 words
The method of claim 8 wherein the step of generating a present pulse signal indicative of a patient's current pulse rate and a present heartbeat waveform comprises: sensing the patient's heartbeat and generating a heartbeat signal; storing the heartbeat signals; generating a heartbeat waveform from the stored heartbeat signals; and calculating a pulse rate from the stored heartbeat signals.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
35 words
The method of claim 8 wherein the step of receiving the present pulse signal and generating an average pulse rate signal comprises: storing the present pulse signal and generating an average pulse rate signal therefrom.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
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| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1993-12-03 | 1994-06-04 | 1994-12-04 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1997-12-03 | 1998-06-04 | 1998-12-04 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2001-12-03 | 2002-06-04 | 2002-12-04 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |