An automated geographic based configuration of external defibrillators

Abstract

An automated configurable external method involves establishing communication between a configurable external defibrillator (10) and a mobile rescue device (60), and automatically retrieving, by the mobile rescue device (60), parameters / guidelines for configuring at least one of a defibrillation module and a resuscitation module of the configurable external defibrillator (10) based on a geographic location of at least one of the configurable external defibrillator (10) and the mobile rescue device (60). The method further involves automatically configuring, by the configurable external defibrillator (10), the at least one of the defibrillation module and the resuscitation module of the external defibrillator (10) based on the parameters / guidelines retrieved by the mobile rescue device (60).

Description

[0001] AN AUTOMATED GEOGRAPHIC BASED CONFIGURATION OF EXTERNAL DEFIBRILLATORS

[0002] FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

[0003] The present disclosure generally relates to external defibrillators, automated and semiautomated. The present disclosure particularly relates to a configuration of an external defibrillator based on a geographic location of the external defibrillator.

[0004] BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

[0005] Electro-chemical activity within a human heart normally causes the heart muscle fibers to contract and relax in a synchronized manner that results in the effective pumping of blood from the ventricles to the body's vital organs. Sudden cardiac death is often caused by ventricular fibrillation (VF) in which abnormal electrical activity within the heart causes the individual muscle fibers to contract in an unsynchronized and chaotic way. The only effective treatment for VF is electrical defibrillation in which an electrical shock is applied to the heart to allow the heart's electrochemical system to re-synchronize itself. Once organized electrical activity is restored, synchronized muscle contractions usually follow, leading to the restoration of cardiac rhythm.

[0006] FIG. 1 is a prior art illustration of a defibrillator 10 being applied by a user 12 to resuscitate a patient 14 suffering from cardiac arrest. In cardiac arrest, otherwise known as sudden cardiac arrest, the patient is stricken with a life threatening interruption to their normal heart rhythm, typically in the form of ventricular fibrillation (VF) or ventricular tachycardia (VT) that is not accompanied by a palpable pulse (shockable VT). In VF, the normal rhythmic ventricular contractions are replaced by rapid, irregular twitching that results in ineffective and severely reduced pumping by the heart. If normal rhythm is not restored within a time frame commonly understood to be approximately 8 to 10 minutes, the patient 14 will die. Conversely, the quicker defibrillation can be applied after the onset of VF, the better the chances that the patient 14 will survive the event.

[0007] The defibrillator 10 may be in the form of an automatic external defibrillator (AED) capable of being operated by users with a wide variety of skill levels ranging from first responders to physicians, including emergency medical technicians trained in defibrillation (EMT-Ds), police officers, flight attendants, security personnel, occupational health nurses, and firefighters. AEDs can also be used in areas of the hospital where personnel trained in ACLS (advanced cardiac life support) are not readily available.

[0008] Today, AEDs often have accompanying software that a medical director or other responsible party, uses to select the configuration parameters of their choice (e.gs., compression rate, ventilation ratio, pediatric age threshold). The present disclosure is directed to improving the selection of configuration parameters based on an automated system.

[0009] SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

[0010] The present disclosure provides an automated method to configure AEDs efficiently based on the geography where they will be utilized.

[0011] The present disclosure may be embodied as (1) an automated configurable external defibrillation system and (2) an automated configurable external defibrillation method.

[0012] Various exemplary embodiments of an automated configurable external defibrillation system of the present disclosure employing a configurable external defibrillator and a mobile rescue device. When in communication with the configurable external defibrillator, the mobile rescue device automatically retrieves parameters / guidelines for configuring a defibrillation module and / or a resuscitation module of the external defibrillator based on a geographic location of at least one of the external defibrillator and the mobile rescue device, and the configurable external defibrillator automatically configure the defibrillation module and / or the resuscitation module of the external defibrillator based on the parameters / guidelines retrieved by the mobile rescue device.

[0013] Various exemplary embodiments of automated configurable external method involves (1) establishing communication between a configurable external defibrillator and a mobile rescue device, (2) automatically retrieving, by the mobile rescue device, parameters / guidelines for configuring at least one of a defibrillation module and a resuscitation module of the configurable external defibrillator based on a geographic location of at least one of the configurable external defibrillator and the mobile rescue device, and (3) automatically configuring, by the configurable external defibrillator, the at least one of the defibrillation module and the resuscitation module of the external defibrillator based on the parameters / guidelines retrieved by the mobile rescue device. The foregoing exemplary embodiments and other embodiments of the present disclosure as well as various structures and advantages of the present disclosure will become further apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art from the following detailed description of various embodiments of the present disclosure read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The detailed description and drawings are merely illustrative of the present disclosure rather than limiting, the scope of the present disclosure being defined by the appended claims and equivalents thereof.

[0014] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0015] The present disclosure will present in detail the following description of exemplary embodiments with reference to the following figures wherein:

[0016] FIG. 1 exemplary illustrates a cardiopulmonary resuscitation being administered by a responder to a heart of the patient as known in the art of the present disclosure;

[0017] FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of an automated configurable external defibrillation system in accordance with the present disclosure;

[0018] FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the configurable external defibrillator of FIG. 2 in accordance with the present disclosure;

[0019] FIG. 4 illustrate exemplary embodiment of a controller of FIG. 3 in accordance with the present disclosure;

[0020] FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a mobile rescue device in accordance with the present disclosure; and

[0021] FIG. 6 illustrates exemplary embodiments of flowcharts representative of an automated configurable external defibrillation method in accordance with the present disclosure.

[0022] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0023] The present disclosure provides an automated method to configure AEDs efficiently based on the geography where they will be utilized.

[0024] For purposes of describing and claiming the present disclosure, the terms of the art of the present disclosure as used in the present disclosure broadly encompass the definitions of these terms as known in the art of the present disclosure.

[0025] To facilitate an understanding of the present disclosure, the following description of FIG. 2-6 teaches an exemplary embodiments in accordance with the present disclosure. From the description of FIGS. 2-6, those having ordinary skill in the art of the present disclosure will appreciate how to apply the present disclosure to make and use additional embodiments of in accordance with the present disclosure.

[0026] FIG. 2 is an illustration of a configurable external defibrillator (CED) 10a in accordance with the present disclosure that may be a configurable automated external defibrillator or a configurable semi-automated external defibrillator. The user interface of the CED 10a includes an on-off button 34. A condition indicator 36 indicates the readiness of CED 10a for use. A display 32, typically implemented with LCD technology, provides for visual prompts to the user 12 and may be used to graphically display ECG waveforms and CPR prompts. A speaker 38 provides for audio prompts such as by voice or tones to the user 12. A shock button 30 is pressed by the user 12 responsive to prompts from the CED 10a such as illuminating the shock button 30 and generating audio prompts. A pair of electrodes 16 is plugged into a jack 17 to couple the patient 14 to the CED 10a.

[0027] FIG. 3 is an illustration of exemplary embodiment of CED 10a according to the present disclosure. The pair of electrodes 16 for coupling to the patient 14 are connected to an ECG front end 18 and further connected to an HV switch 28. The ECG front end 18 provides for detection, filtering, and digitizing of the ECG signal from the patient 14. The ECG signal is in turn provided to a controller 26, which runs a shock advisory algorithm that is capable of detecting ventricular fibrillation (VF) or other shockable rhythm that is susceptible to treatment by electrotherapy.

[0028] The shock button 30 is pressed by the user 12 to initiate the delivery of a defibrillation pulse through the pair of electrodes 16 after the controller 26 has detected VF or other shockable rhythm. A battery 24 provides power for the CED 10a in general and in particular for a high voltage charger 22 that charges the capacitors in an energy storage circuit 20. Typical battery voltages are 12 volts or less, while the energy storage circuit 20 may be charged to 1500 volts or more. A charge voltage control signal from the controller 26 determines the charge voltage in the energy storage circuit 20. The shock button 30, display 32, speaker 38, and condition indicator 36 collectively form a user interface 42.

[0029] The energy storage circuit 20 is connected to the HV switch 28 which operates to deliver the defibrillation pulse across the pair of electrodes 16 to the patient 14 in the desired polarity and duration response to the switch control signal from the controller 26. The HV switch 28 is preferably constructed using an H bridge to deliver biphasic defibrillation pulses in the preferred embodiment but could readily be adapted to deliver monophasic or multiphasic defibrillation pulses and still realize the benefits of the present disclosure.

[0030] FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a controller 26a that includes one or more processor(s) 51, memory 52, a user interface 53, a network interface 54, and a storage 55 interconnected via one or more system bus(es) 56.

[0031] Each processor 51 can be any hardware device, as known in the art of the present disclosure or hereinafter conceived, capable of executing instructions stored in memory 52 or storage or otherwise processing data. In a non-limiting example, the processor(s) 51 can include a microprocessor, field programmable gate array (FPGA), application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or other similar devices.

[0032] The memory 52 can include various memories, as known in the art of the present disclosure or hereinafter conceived, including, but not limited to, LI, L2, or L3 cache or system memory. In a non-limiting example, the memory 52 can include static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), flash memory, read only memory (ROM), or other similar memory devices.

[0033] The user interface 53 can include one or more devices, as known in the art of the present disclosure or hereinafter conceived, for enabling communication with a user such as an administrator. In a non-limiting example, the user interface can include a command line interface or graphical user interface that can be presented to a remote terminal via the network interface 54.

[0034] The network interface 54 can include one or more devices, as known in the art of the present disclosure or hereinafter conceived, for enabling communication other components of a medical device. In a non-limiting example, the network interface 54 can include a network interface card (NIC) configured to communicate according to the Ethernet protocol. Additionally, the network interface 54 may implement a TCP / IP stack for communication according to the TCP / IP protocols. Various alternative or additional hardware or configurations for the network interface 54 will be apparent. The storage 55 can include one or more machine-readable storage media, as known in the art of the present disclosure or hereinafter conceived, including, but not limited to, read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), magnetic disk storage media, optical storage media, flash-memory devices, or similar storage media. In various non-limiting embodiments, the storage 55 can store instructions for execution by the processor(s) 51 or data upon with the processor(s) 51 may operate. For example, the storage 55 may store a base operating system for controlling various basic operations of the hardware.

[0035] The storage 55 also stores application modules in the form of executable software / firmware for implementing the various functions of the present disclosure.

[0036] In one exemplary embodiment as shown, storage 55 stores application modules 57 including a defibrillation / CPR modules 58 as known in the art of the present disclosure and a parameter configuration module 59, particularly in accordance with flowchart 90 of FIG. 6 that will subsequently be described herein.

[0037] FIG. 2 further illustrates a mobile rescue device 60 of the present disclosure operable to be in communication with CED 10a via a comm-link 40 as known in the art of the present disclosure and hereinafter conceived and FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a mobile rescue device 60a of the present disclosure. In practice, mobile rescue device 60a may be in the form of a smartphone, a laptop, a tablet or a smart watch and incorporate communication technology with controller 26 of external defibrillator 10a as known in the art of the present disclosure.

[0038] Referring to FIG. 5, mobile rescue device 60a includes one or more processors 61 and a non-transitory storage medium 62 as known in the art of the present disclosure.

[0039] Mobile rescue device 60a further employs an automated configuration module 70 in the form of executable software / firmware for implementing the various functions of the present disclosure, particularly in accordance with a flowchart 80 of FIG. 6 that will be subsequently described herein.

[0040] Automated configuration module 70 includes defibrillation / CPR guidelines 71 for configuring defibrillation / CPR modules 58 based on geographic location of external defibrillator 10a. In practice, defibrillation / CPR guidelines 71 are stored with medium 62 and updated as needed. An exemplary embodiment of defibrillation / CPR guidelines 71 includes the following parameters:

[0041] 1. Age Definition: Adult, Pediatric (child), Pediatric (infant), Newborn;

[0042] 2. Chest Compression Depth: Adult, Pediatric (child), Pediatric (infant), Newborn;

[0043] 3. Chest Compression Rate: Adult, Pediatric (child), Pediatric (infant), Newborn;

[0044] 4. Compression Ventilation Ratio: Adult, Pediatric (child), Pediatric (infant), Newborn;

[0045] 5. Defibrillation Energy Levels: Adult, Pediatric (child), Pediatric (infant), Newborn; and

[0046] 6. Prompt Protocols: Language.

[0047] Such parameters may be in accordance with establish guidelines as known in the art of the present disclosure, such as, for example, the American Heart Association Guidelines, European Resuscitation Council Guidelines and any local Resuscitation Council Guidelines.

[0048] FIG. 6 illustrates exemplary embodiments of a flowchart 80 and a flowchart 90 representative of an automated configurable external defibrillation method of the present disclosure.

[0049] Referring to FIG. 6, automated configuration module 70 and parameter configuration module 59 are activated during respective stage S82 of flowchart 80 and stage S92 of flowchart 90 upon a connection between external defibrillator 10a and mobile rescue device 60a as known in the art of the present disclosure.

[0050] A stage S84 of flowchart 80 involves configuration communicator 72 retrieving configuration parameters / guidelines 71 based on geographic location of external defibrillator 10a or mobile rescue device 60a.

[0051] In one exemplary embodiment of stage S84, configuration communicator 72 receives location information from external defibrillator 10a.

[0052] In a second exemplary embodiment of stage S84, configuration communicator 72 executes location techniques as known in the art of the present disclosure or hereinafter conceived to ascertain the location of external defibrillator 10a or mobile rescue device 60a. In a third exemplary embodiment of stage S84, configuration communicator 72 may retrieve parameters / guidelines 71 as stored in the memory 62 of the mobile rescue device 60a..

[0053] In a fourth exemplary embodiment of stage S84, configuration communicator 72 may retrieve / update configuration parameters / guidelines 71 if connected to an appropriate network.

[0054] Upon retrieving the parameters / guidelines 71, communicator 72 will automatically transmit parameter / guidelines 71 to external defibrillator 10.

[0055] Upon receipt of the parameter / guidelines 71 during a stage S94 of flowchart 90, parameter configuration module 59 will configurate defibrillation / CPR modules 58 (FIG. 4) as needed to facilitate a resuscitation within the local guidelines.

[0056] In one exemplary embodiment, the defibrillation module is configured to be executable for an automated external defibrillation as known in the art of the present disclosure or hereinafter conceived, or a semi-automated external defibrillation as known in the art of the present disclosure or hereinafter conceived.

[0057] In another exemplary embodiment, the resuscitation module is configured to be executable for a shockable resuscitation involving shock delivery decisions as known in the art of the present disclosure or hereinafter conceived, or a non-shockable resuscitation involving non-shock delivery decisions as known in the art of the present disclosure or hereinafter conceived.

[0058] From the description of FIGS. 1-6 herein, those having ordinary skill in the art will appreciate the numerous benefits of the present disclosure including, but not limited to, adapting an automatic configuration of an external defibrillator based on geographic location.

[0059] The present disclosure has been described with reference to the preferred embodiments. Modifications and alterations may occur to others upon reading and understanding the preceding detailed description. It is intended that the disclosure be construed as including all such modifications and alterations insofar as they come within the scope of the appended claims or the equivalents thereof.

[0060] Further, as one having ordinary skill in the art shall appreciate in view of the teachings provided herein, features, elements, components, etc. disclosed and described in the present disclosure / specification and / or depicted in the appended Figures and / or recited in the Claims can be implemented in various combinations of hardware and software, and provide functions which may be combined in a single element or multiple elements. For example, the functions of the various features, elements, components, etc. shown / illustrated / depicted in the Figures and / or recited in the Claims can be provided through the use of dedicated hardware as well as hardware capable of executing software in association with appropriate software. When provided by a processor, the functions can be provided by a single dedicated processor, by a single shared processor, or by a plurality of individual processors, some of which can be shared and / or multiplexed. Moreover, explicit use of the term “processor” or “controller” should not be construed to refer exclusively to hardware capable of executing software, and can implicitly include, without limitation, digital signal processor (“DSP”) hardware, memory (e.g., read only memory (“ROM”) for storing software, random access memory (“RAM”), non-volatile storage, etc.) and virtually any means and / or machine (including hardware, software, firmware, combinations thereof, etc.) which is capable of (and / or configurable) to perform and / or control a process.

[0061] Moreover, all statements herein reciting principles, aspects, and exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, as well as specific examples thereof, are intended to encompass both structural and functional equivalents thereof. Additionally, it is intended that such equivalents include both currently known equivalents as well as equivalents developed in the future (e.g., any elements developed that can perform the same or substantially similar functionality, regardless of structure). Thus, for example, it will be appreciated by one having ordinary skill in the art in view of the teachings provided herein that any block diagrams presented herein can represent conceptual views of illustrative system components and / or circuitry embodying the principles of the disclosure. Similarly, one having ordinary skill in the art should appreciate in view of the teachings provided herein that any flow charts, flow diagrams and the like can represent various processes which can be substantially represented in computer readable storage media and so executed by a computer, processor or other device with processing capabilities, whether or not such computer or processor is explicitly shown.

[0062] Having described preferred and exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, which embodiments are intended to be illustrative and not limiting, it is noted that modifications and variations can be made by persons having ordinary skill in the art in view of the teachings provided herein, including the appended Figures and claims. It is therefore to be understood that changes can be made in / to the preferred and exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure which are within the scope of the present disclosure and exemplary embodiments disclosed, described and taught herein.

[0063] Moreover, it is contemplated that corresponding and / or related systems incorporating and / or implementing the device or such as may be used / implemented in a device in accordance with the present disclosure are also contemplated and considered to be within the scope of the present disclosure. Further, corresponding and / or related method for manufacturing and / or using a device and / or system in accordance with the present disclosure are also contemplated and considered to be within the scope of the present disclosure.

Claims

Claims:

1. An automated configurable external defibrillation system, comprising: a mobile rescue device (60); a configurable external defibrillator (10) including at least one of a defibrillation module and a resuscitation module; wherein, when in communication with the configurable external defibrillator (10), the mobile rescue device (60) is configured to automatically retrieve parameters / guidelines for configuring at least one of the defibrillation module and the resuscitation module of the configurable external defibrillator (10) based on a geographic location of at least one of the configurable external defibrillator (10) and the mobile rescue device (60); and wherein, when in communication with the mobile rescue device (60), the configurable external defibrillator (10) is configured to automatically configure the at least one of the defibrillation module and the resuscitation module of the configurable external defibrillator (10) based on the parameters / guidelines retrieved by the mobile rescue device (60).

2. The automated configurable external defibrillation system of claim 1 , wherein the configurable external defibrillator (10) is one of a configurable automated external defibrillator (10) or a configurable semi-automated external defibrillator (10).

3. The automated configurable external defibrillation system of claim 1, wherein the mobile rescue device (60) is one of a smartphone, a laptop, a tablet or a smart watch.

4. The automated configurable external defibrillation system of claim 1 , wherein the parameters / guidelines includes at least one of the following parameters / guidelines associated with the geographic location of the configurable external defibrillator (10): an age definition; a chest compression depth; a chest compression rate; a compression ventilation ratio;a defibrillation energy level; and a prompt protocol.

5. The automated configurable external defibrillation system of claim 1, wherein the parameters / guidelines includes at least one of the following parameters / guidelines associated with the geographic location of the mobile rescue device (60): an age definition; a chest compression depth; a chest compression rate; a compression ventilation ratio; a defibrillation energy level; and a prompt protocol.

6. The automated configurable external defibrillation system of claim 1 , wherein the mobile rescue device (60) is configured to automatically retrieve parameters / guidelines from an external memory of the mobile rescue device (60) or from a network.

7. The automated configurable external defibrillation system of claim 1, wherein the mobile rescue device (60) is configured to establish a communication link with the configurable external defibrillator (10).

8. The automated configurable external defibrillation system of claim 1, wherein the configurable external defibrillator (10) is configured to establish a communication link with the mobile rescue device (60).

9. An automated configurable external method, comprising: establishing communication between a mobile rescue device (60) and a configurable external defibrillator (10) including at least one of a defibrillation module and a resuscitation module;automatically retrieving, by the mobile rescue device (60), parameters / guidelines for configuring the at least one of the defibrillation module and the resuscitation module of the external defibrillator (10) based on a geographic location of at least one of the external defibrillator (10) and the mobile rescue device (60); and automatically configuring, by the configurable external defibrillator (10), the at least one of the defibrillation module and the resuscitation module of the external defibrillator (10) based on the parameters / guidelines retrieved by the mobile rescue device (60).

10. The automated configurable external defibrillation method of claim 9, wherein the automatically configuring, by the configurable external defibrillator (10), the defibrillation module includes automatically configuring one of an automated external defibrillation executable by the configurable external defibrillator (10) or a semi-automated external defibrillation executable by the configurable external defibrillator (10).

11. The automated configurable external defibrillation method of claim 9, wherein the automatically configuring, by the configurable external defibrillator (10), the resuscitation module includes automatically configuring one of a shockable resuscitation executable by the configurable external defibrillator (10) or a non-shockable resuscitation executable by the configurable external defibrillator (10).

12. The automated configurable external defibrillation method of claim 9, wherein the parameters / guidelines includes at least one of the following parameters / guidelines associated with the geographic location of the configurable external defibrillator (10): an age definition; a chest compression depth; a chest compression rate; a compression ventilation ratio; a defibrillation energy level; and a prompt protocol.

13. The automated configurable external defibrillation method of claim 9, wherein the parameters / guidelines includes at least one of the following parameters / guidelines associated with the geographic location of the mobile rescue device (60): an age definition; a chest compression depth; a chest compression rate; a compression ventilation ratio; a defibrillation energy level; and a prompt protocol.

14. The automated configurable external defibrillation method of claim 9, wherein the automatically retrieving, by the mobile rescue device (60), parameters / guidelines includes at least one of: automatically retrieving the parameters / guidelines from an external memory of the mobile rescue device (60) automatically retrieving the parameters / guidelines from a guidelines network.

15. The automated configurable external defibrillation method of claim 9, wherein establishing communication between the mobile rescue device (60) and the configurable external defibrillator (10) includes one of: establishing, by the mobile rescue device (60), a communication link with the configurable external defibrillator (10), or establishing, by the configurable external defibrillator (10), a communication link with the mobile rescue device (60).

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