| Patent application number | Description | Published |
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| 20080220512 | Tunable laser-based spectroscopy system for non-invasively measuring body water content - The present disclosure relates to a tunable laser-based spectroscopy system for accurately and non-invasively measuring body water content. The body water content is one of the important health indicators, by which one can quantitatively monitor the hydration level of body and determine if it is necessary to supplement or reduce the body water. The disclosed systems, devices, and/or methods may improve wavelength accuracy, wavelength resolution, optical spectral power density, signal-to-noise ration, and available implementation options for the spectroscopy system. | 09-11-2008 |
| 20080221406 | Method and apparatus for estimating water reserves - A system and method are provided for a water reserve index. The method includes determining a lean water fraction of tissue for at least one tissue site and determining skin thickness for the at least one tissue site. The lean water fraction and skin thickness are combined to produce a water reserve estimate. | 09-11-2008 |
| 20080221407 | Method for evaluating skin hydration and fluid compartmentalization - There is provided a system and method for evaluating skin hydration and fluid compartmentalization. The system includes a microneedle array configured to extract fluid from an interstitial space and a pressure sensor configured to measure a pressure differential between the interstitial space and ambient pressure during extraction of the fluid. A processor coupled to the pressure sensor is configured to compute a hydration index based on the pressure differential. A display coupled to the processor is configured to display the hydration index. | 09-11-2008 |
| 20080221412 | Method and apparatus for spectroscopic tissue analyte measurement - Methods and systems for calculating body fluid metrics are provided. In accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present technique, there is provided a method for calculating body fluid metrics by acquiring an absorbance spectrum of a subject's tissue over a range of near-infrared light, performing a multi-linear regression of the absorbance spectrum of the subject's tissue in relation to absorbance spectra of tissue constituents, and calculating body fluid metrics based on the results of the multi-linear regression. A system is provided having a sensor for emitting the light into the subject's tissue and detecting reflected, scattered, or transmitted light, a spectrometer for processing the detected light and generating the absorbance spectrum of the subject's tissue, memory for storing absorbance spectra of the tissue constituents and a multi-linear regression model, and a processor for performing the multi-linear regression and calculating the body fluid metrics. | 09-11-2008 |
| 20080221416 | System and method for detection of macular degeneration using spectrophotometry - Embodiments of the present invention relate to a system and method of detecting or monitoring macular degeneration in a patient. One embodiment of the present invention includes emitting a first light into the patient's retinal tissue at a first wavelength, emitting a second light into the patient's retinal tissue at a second wavelength, detecting the first and second lights after dispersion by the retinal tissue, and determining an amount of lipid proximate the retinal tissue based on the detected first and second lights. | 09-11-2008 |
| 20080221426 | Methods and apparatus for detecting misapplied optical sensors - Methods and apparatus are described for sensing misplacement of an optical sensor on a patient. A wavelength of light which is particularly subject to absorption by a physiological characteristic of interest is used to compare to a reference to determine if the sensor placement is appropriate, such as to generate accurate readings. In one example, the intensity of a wavelength of light which is subject to absorption by bulk tissue, but less subject to absorption by oxygen in the blood will be detected to evaluate the placement of the sensor. | 09-11-2008 |
| 20090326335 | Pulse Oximeter With Wait-Time Indication - The present disclosure provides a system and method for determination and indication of the time remaining before a patient's physical characteristics are displayed on a monitor. The indication may be a numeric count-down, a progress bar, a clock face, an audible signal, or any other time and/or progress indication. The approximate wait-time may be determined, for example, by adding the known, generally fixed durations of characteristic determination processes to the calculated, variable durations of characteristic determination processes. Exemplary processes which may have generally fixed durations include monitor boot-up, sensor validation, and sensor calibration. Exemplary processes which may have variable durations include sensor location determination and pulsation detection. The sum of the pre-determined and calculated durations may be an approximate wait-time, which is indicated to a caregiver via visual or audible display. If a process takes longer than anticipated or an unexpected event occurs, the wait-time indication may be modified to reflect the longer anticipated wait-time. | 12-31-2009 |
| Patent application number | Description | Published |
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| 20080221414 | Method for detection of aberrant tissue spectra - A method is provided for determining contact of a sensor with a patient's tissue. The method comprises comparing the intensity of detected light at a first wavelength to a threshold, wherein the first wavelength is not used to determine a physiological characteristic of the patient, and determining if the sensor is in contact with the patient's tissue based on the comparison. In addition, a method is provided for determining the amount of light shunting during operation of the sensor. The method comprises comparing the intensity of detected light at a first wavelength to a threshold, wherein the first wavelength is not used to determine a physiological characteristic of the patient, and determining the amount of light shunting based on the comparison. | 09-11-2008 |
| 20080221417 | System and method for detection of venous pulsation - In accordance with an embodiment of the present technique, there is provided methods and systems for detecting the presence of venous pulsation by adjusting the sensitivity of a detection algorithm based on a sensor characteristic and/or notifying a caregiver of the presence of venous pulsation by ceasing display of physiological parameters. An exemplary embodiment includes receiving one or more signals from a sensor, the one or more signals corresponding to absorption of light in a patient's tissue; calculating one or more physiological parameters of the patient based on the one or more signals; displaying the patient's physiological parameters; enabling detection of venous pulsation with variable sensitivity based on a location of the sensor; and suspending or terminating the display of the one or more of the patient's physiological parameters when venous pulsation is detected. | 09-11-2008 |
| 20080221462 | Detection of oximetry sensor sites based on waveform characteristics - In accordance with an embodiment of the present technique, there is provided methods and systems for detecting the location of a sensor and determining calibration algorithms and/or coefficients for calculation of physiological parameters based on the detected location. An exemplary embodiment includes receiving a signal corresponding to absorption of at least one wavelength of light by a patient's tissue, generating a plethysmographic waveform from the signal, determining an identifying characteristic of the plethysmographic waveform, and determining a location of the sensor based on a comparison of the identifying characteristic with at least one defined criterion. | 09-11-2008 |
| 20080221463 | System and method for venous pulsation detection using near infrared wavelengths - Methods and systems for detecting venous pulsation are provided. In accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present technique, there is provided a method for detecting venous pulsation, including acquiring a first signal corresponding to absorption at a first near-infrared wavelength, acquiring a second signal corresponding to absorption at a second near-infrared wavelength, deriving an offset metric from the first and second signals, and detecting the presence of venous pulsation based on the offset metric. The method further includes correcting calculations of physiological parameters such as, for example, blood oxygen saturation, when venous pulsation is detected. | 09-11-2008 |
| 20080255436 | Method for Enhancing Pulse Oximery Calculations in the Presence of Correlated Artifacts - A method for determining a physiological parameter in the presence of correlated artifact, including obtaining two digital waveforms, x and y, the waveforms being representative of the absorption of two wavelengths of electromagnetic energy received from a blood-perfused tissue, and where each of the waveforms has a component corresponding to a plethysmographic waveform and a component corresponding to the correlated artifact; calculating several weighted difference waveforms of the form x−R*y, where R is a multiplier, by varying R over a range; evaluating the several weighted difference waveforms using a shape characteristic of the weighted difference waveform; identifying a weighted difference waveform most closely representative of and one most different from the plethysmographic waveform; determining a pleth-based physiological parameter using the waveform most closely representative of the plethysmographic waveform; determining at least one artifact-based physiological parameter using the waveform most different from the plethysmographic waveform; and rejecting other possible candidate values for the pleth-based physiological parameter using the artifact-based physiological parameter. | 10-16-2008 |
