Patient Monitoring Apparatus

Abstract

A patient monitoring system including a sensing-recording device that attaches to a patient and a probe utilized by attending personnel at a trauma site. After an initial interaction between the probe and the sensing-recording device, the sensing-recording device samples one or more physiological parameters and stores time stamped readings in a first memory. The probe is adapted to take other measurements, download the data from the first memory of the sensing-recording device, manipulate the collective data and return data to a second memory in the sensing-recording device. The sensing-recording device continues to accumulate data in the first memory during transport of the patient from a trauma site to a medical facility.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0001]1. Field of the Invention[0002]This invention generally relates to monitoring physiological parameters of a patient and more specifically to the monitoring of such parameters in patients who are geographically remote from a medical facility.[0003]2. Description of Related Art[0004]Monitoring of a patient's physiological parameters in a medical environment is an important element of patient diagnosis and treatment. Within a modern medical facility, such as a hospital, such monitoring is relatively easy to perform. The environment is controlled. The staff, including physicians, nurses, physician assistants and technicians, is qualified. Such facilities have equipment resources for enabling the monitoring of one or more patients for a variety of physiological parameters.[0005]Unfortunately the advantages of a hospital environment with its resources and personnel do not exist at many trauma sites, such as those at accident scenes or at battlefield sites....

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0015]Yet another object of this invention is to provide patient monitoring apparatus that is easy to use and facilitates the measurement of physiological parameters.

Problems solved by technology

Unfortunately the advantages of a hospital environment with its resources and personnel do not exist at many trauma sites, such as those at accident scenes or at battlefield sites.

Moreover, typically no information is recorded about the patient during initial treatment and transport for transfer to the field hospital.

The sensor band is disposable and has a limited life.

As will be apparent, each of these proposals requires the use of bulky equipment.

It is not likely that such a harness would be an acceptable alternative for application to a trauma patient on a battlefield or at another trauma site.

Such apparatus is bulky, so it would be difficult to inventory such harnesses for multiple patients.

In addition, medical personnel would have the additional burden of placing the harness on a trauma patient under adverse circumstances.

They are not always available at a trauma site or on the battlefield.

The use of smart cards or memory cards as suggested in the Ferguson et al. patent present problems because such devices are prone to being lost at a trauma site or during patient transport to a hospital or other central site.

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