6293 results about "Non invasive" patented technology

A non-invasive physiologic signs monitoring device includes a garment with electrocardiogram electrodes and various inductive plethysmographic sensors sewn, embroidered, embedded, or otherwise attached to the garment with an adhesive. The garment is in the form of a shirt. When the garment is fitted over the torso of the patient to be monitored, the electrodes and sensors generate signals in response to the physiologic signs of the patient. The signals are transmitted to a recording / alarm device where they are monitored for adverse conditions and logged. When an adverse condition or other preprogrammed condition occurs, a message is communicated to the patient by either an audio message or a display. The recording / alarm unit is also connectable to a remote receiving unit for monitoring by a health care professional or other machine.

A monitoring system comprises a module having at least one sensor and preferably skin and ambient temperature sensors within a housing. The device may be durable or disposable. The housing may be provided with certain surface features and shapes to facilitate mounting on and interface with the skin of the wearer for more accurate temperature measurement. A receiver may be provided to obtain and display data from the module. The module may also display the output data. The output data comprises both detected and derived data relating to physiological and contextual parameters of the wearer and may be transmitted directly to a local recipient or remotely over a communications network. The system is capable of deriving and predicting the occurrence of a number of physiological and conditional states and events and reporting the same as output data.

Visual-assisted guidance of an ultra-thin flexible endoscope to a predetermined region of interest within a lung during a bronchoscopy procedure. The region may be an opacity-identified by non-invasive imaging methods, such as high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) or as a malignant lung mass that was diagnosed in a previous examination. An embedded position sensor on the flexible endoscope indicates the position of the distal tip of the probe in a Cartesian coordinate system during the procedure. A visual display is continually updated, showing the present position and orientation of the marker in a 3-D graphical airway model generated from image reconstruction. The visual display also includes windows depicting a virtual fly-through perspective and real-time video images acquired at the head of the endoscope, which can be stored as data, with an audio or textual account.

A blood glucose monitoring system is disclosed which provides for inducing an active pulse in the blood volume of a patient. The induction of an active pulse results in a cyclic, and periodic change in the flow of blood through a fleshy medium under test. By actively inducing a change of the blood volume, modulation of the volume of blood can be obtained to provide a greater signal to noise ratio. This allows for the detection of constituents in blood at concentration levels below those previously detectable in a non-invasive system. Radiation which passes through the fleshy medium is detected by a detector which generates a signal indicative of the intensity of the detected radiation. Signal processing is performed on the electrical signal to isolate those optical characteristics of the electrical signal due to the optical characteristics of the blood.

A blood constituent monitoring method for inducing an active pulse in the blood volume of a patient. The induction of an active pulse results in a cyclic, and periodic change in the flow of blood through a fleshy medium under test. By actively inducing a change of the blood volume, modulation of the volume of blood can be obtained to provide a greater signal to noise ratio. This allows for the detection of constituents in blood at concentration levels below those previously detectable in a non-invasive system. Radiation which passes through the fleshy medium is detected by a detector which generates a signal indicative of the intensity of the detected radiation. Signal processing is performed on the electrical signal to isolate those optical characteristics of the electrical signal due to the optical characteristics of the blood.

The invention relates to a detection method performed on a maternal serum or plasma sample from a pregnant female, which method comprises detecting the presence of a nucleic acid of foetal origin in the sample. The invention enables non-invasive prenatal diagnosis including for example sex determination, blood typing and other genotyping, and detection of pre-eclampsia in the mother.

The present methods are exemplified by a process in which maternal blood containing fetal DNA is diluted to a nominal value of approximately 0.5 genome equivalent of DNA per reaction sample. Digital PCR is then be used to detect aneuploidy, such as the trisomy that causes Down Syndrome. Since aneuploidies do not present a mutational change in sequence, and are merely a change in the number of chromosomes, it has not been possible to detect them in a fetus without resorting to invasive techniques such as amniocentesis or chorionic villi sampling. Digital amplification allows the detection of aneuploidy using massively parallel amplification and detection methods, examining, e.g., 10,000 genome equivalents.

The present invention relates to the field of ambulatory and non-invasive monitoring of a plurality of physiological parameters of a monitored individual. The invention includes a physiological monitoring apparatus with an improved monitoring apparel worn by a monitored individual, the apparel having attached sensors for monitoring parameters reflecting pulmonary function, or parameters reflecting cardiac function, or parameters reflecting the function of other organ systems, and the apparel being designed and tailored to be comfortable during the individual's normal daily activities. The apparel is preferably also suitable for athletic activities. The sensors preferably include one or more ECG leads and one of more inductive plethysmographic sensor with conductive loops positioned closely to the individual to preferably monitor at least basic cardiac parameters, basic pulmonary parameters, or both. The monitoring apparatus also includes a unit for receiving data from the sensors, and for storing the data in a computer-readable medium. The invention also includes systems comprising a central data repository for receiving, storing, and processing data generated by a plurality of physiological monitored apparatus, and for making stored data available to the individual and to health care providers.

The present invention relates to a non-invasive device for measuring physiological processes. More particularly, it concerns a device that can be applied externally to the body of an animal or human to detect and quantify displacement, force, motion, vibration and acoustic effects resulting from internal biological functions. Specifically, an inexpensive device is disclosed that is compact, light, portable and comfortable, and operates satisfactorily even with imprecise location on the body, ambient noise, motion and light.

Instruments and methods are described for performing non-invasive measurements of analyte levels and for monitoring, analyzing and regulating tissue status, such as tissue glucose levels.

A blood constituent monitoring method for inducing an active pulse in the blood volume of a patient. The induction of an active pulse results in a cyclic, and periodic change in the flow of blood through a fleshy medium under test. By actively inducing a change of the blood volume, modulation of the volume of blood can be obtained to provide a greater signal to noise ratio. This allows for the detection of constituents in blood at concentration levels below those previously detectable in a non-invasive system. Radiation which passes through the fleshy medium is detected by a detector which generates a signal indicative of the intensity of the detected radiation. Signal processing is performed on the electrical signal to isolate those optical characteristics of the electrical signal due to the optical characteristics of the blood.

The present invention is directed to a computer aided design method for producing an implant for a patient prior to operation comprising the steps of: generating data with a non-invasive 3D (3-dimensional) scan of the patient's defect site that digitally represents the area that will receive the implant; designing and validating an implant on a computer based on digital data generated from a volume image of the patient; and fabricating the implant based solely on the implant design data generated on computer.

Methods, systems, and configured storage media are provided for discovering software updates, discovering if a given computer can use the software update, and then updating the computers with the software as needed automatically across a network without storing the updates on an intermediate machine within the network. Furthermore, when a failure is detected, the rollout is stopped and the software can be automatically removed from those computers that already were updated. The software update can be stored originally at an address that is inaccessible through the network firewall by intermediately uploading the software update to an update computer which is not a part of the network but has access through the firewall, which is then used to distribute the update.

A system and method for continuous non-invasive glucose monitoring is disclosed. According to one embodiment of the present invention, the method includes the steps of (1) contacting a remote device to an area of biological membrane having a permeability level, the remote device comprising a sensor and a transmitter; (2) extracting the at least one analyte through and out of the area of biological membrane and into the sensor; (3) generating an electrical signal representative of a level of the at least one analyte; (4) transmitting the electrical signal to a base device; (5) processing the electrical signal to determine the level of the at least one analyte; and (6) displaying the level of the at least one analyte in real time. The system includes a remote device that includes a sensor that generates an electrical signal representative of the concentration of the at least one analyte; and a transmitter that transmits the electrical signal. The system further includes a base device that includes a receiver that receives the electrical signal; a processor that processes the electrical signal; and a display that displays the processed signal in real time.

Valve prostheses are disclosed that are adapted for secure and aligned placement relative to a heart annulus. The valve prostheses may be placed in a non-invasive manner, e.g., via trans-catheter techniques, and may be positioned / repositioned until proper alignment and positioning is achieved. The valve prosthesis may include a resilient ring, a plurality of leaflet membranes mounted with respect to the resilient ring, and a plurality of positioning elements movably mounted with respect to the flexible ring, each of the positioning elements defining a first tissue engaging region and a second tissue engaging region spaced from the first tissue engaging region. The positioning elements are adapted to substantially completely invert by rotating relative to the resilient ring between a first position in which each of the first and second tissue engaging regions is inwardly directed for facilitating positioning of the valve prosthesis within a delivery catheter, and a second position in which each of the first and second tissue engaging regions is outwardly directed for engaging tissue. The valve prosthesis may also include a valve skirt mounted with respect to the resilient ring.

A method and apparatus for estimating a respiratory rate of a patient. The method comprises the steps of recording respiratory sounds of the patient, deriving a plurality of respiratory rates from the recorded sounds using a plurality of respiratory rate estimating methods and applying a heuristic to the plurality of derived respiratory rates, the heuristic selecting one of the derived respiratory rates. The selected respiratory rate is the estimated respiratory rate. The apparatus comprises at least one sensor recording respiratory sounds of the patient, a plurality of respiratory rate processors, each of the processors comprising a respiratory rate calculating method, a heuristic means for selecting one of the calculated respiratory rates and a display means for displaying the selected respiratory as the estimated respiratory rate.

The present invention relates generally to a non-invasive method and apparatus for measuring a fluid analyte, particularly relating to glucose or alcohol contained in blood or tissue, utilizing spectroscopic methods. More particularly, the method and apparatus incorporate means for detecting and quantifying changes in the concentration of specific analytes in tissue fluid. Also, the method and apparatus can be used to predict future levels of analyte concentration either in the tissue fluid or in blood in an adjacent vascular system.

The present invention relates to the field of ambulatory and non-invasive monitoring of a plurality of physiological parameters of a monitored individual. The invention includes a physiological monitoring apparatus with an improved monitoring apparel worn by a monitored individual, the apparel having attached sensors for monitoring parameters reflecting pulmonary function, or parameters reflecting cardiac function, or parameters reflecting the function of other organ systems, and the apparel being designed and tailored to be comfortable during the individual's normal daily activities. The apparel is preferably also suitable for athletic activities. The sensors preferably include one or more ECG leads and one of more inductive plethysmographic sensor with conductive loops positioned closely to the individual to preferably monitor at least basic cardiac parameters, basic pulmonary parameters, or both. The monitoring apparatus also includes a unit for receiving data from the sensors, and for storing the data in a computer-readable medium. The invention also includes systems comprising a central data repository for receiving, storing, and processing data generated by a plurality of physiological monitored apparatus, and for making stored data available to the individual and to health care providers.

A system for determining a biologic constituent including hematocrit transcutaneously, noninvasively and continuously. A finger clip assembly includes including at least a pair of emitters and a photodiode in appropriate alignment to enable operation in either a transmissive mode or a reflectance mode. At least one predetermined wavelength of light is passed onto or through body tissues such as a finger, earlobe, or scalp, etc. and attenuation of light at that wavelength is detected. Likewise, the change in blood flow is determined by various techniques including optical, pressure, piezo and strain gage methods. Mathematical manipulation of the detected values compensates for the effects of body tissue and fluid and determines the hematocrit value. If an additional wavelength of light is used which attenuates light substantially differently by oxyhemoglobin and reduced hemoglobin, then the blood oxygen saturation value, independent of hematocrit may be determined. Further, if an additional wavelength of light is used which greatly attenuates light due to bilirubin (440 nm) or glucose (1060 nm), then the bilirubin or glucose value may also be determined. Also how to determine the hematocrit with a two step DC analysis technique is provided. Then a pulse wave is not required, so this method may be utilized in states of low blood pressure or low blood flow.

A sensor cartridge according to embodiments of the disclosure is capable of being used with a non-invasive physiological sensor. Certain embodiments of the sensor cartridge protect the sensor from damage, such as damage due to repeated use, reduce the need for sensor sanitization, or both. Further, embodiments of the sensor cartridge are positionable on the user before insertion in the sensor and allow for improved alignment of the treatment site with the sensor. In addition, the sensor cartridge of certain embodiments of the disclosure can be configured to allow a single sensor to comfortably accommodate treatment sites of various sizes such as for both adult and pediatric applications.

A blood analysis system functions as a non-invasive blood parameter analyzer when a monitor is coupled with an optical sensor and as an invasive blood sample analyzer when the monitor is coupled with a blood analysis adapter. The blood analysis adapter has a transmitting assembly and a receiving assembly in electrical communications with the adapter connector so as to receive emitter signals for driving emitters within the transmitting assembly and so as to transmit a detector signal for responding to at least one detector in the receiving assembly. A cuvette containing a blood sample is irradiated with multiple wavelength light from the emitters, the detector responds to the multiple wavelength light after attenuation by the blood sample, and the monitor analyzes the blood sample according to the detector signal.

Systems and methods for assessment of tissue properties, noninvasively, by acquiring data relating to at least one aspect of intrinsic and / or induced tissue displacement, or associated biological responses, are provided. Data relating to tissue displacement and associated biological changes may be acquired by detecting acoustic properties of tissue using ultrasound interrogation pulses, preferably in a scatter or Doppler detection mode. Based on this data, tissue properties are assessed, characterized and monitored. Specific applications for systems and methods of the present invention include non-invasive assessment and monitoring of intracranial pressure (ICP), arterial blood pressure (ABP), CNS autoregulation status, vasospasm, stroke, local edema, infection and vasculitus, as well as diagnosis and monitoring of diseases and conditions that are characterized by physical changes in tissue properties. Methods and systems for localizing physiological condition(s) and / or biological response(s), such as pain, by targeting and selectively probing tissues using the application of focused ultrasound are also provided.

A method is provided for building improved calibration models or for improving modifications to these models or validation of the models used in the non-invasive spectroscopic measurement of an analyte or attribute of tissue. The method uses a matched reference sample and measurement of that sample to ensure that the correct relationship between the spectra and analyte is made during the model building, modification or calibration process. A matched reference sample is one in which the analyte of interest or attribute of interest in the reference sample is representative of the analyte or attribute at the site being non-invasively sampled or the agreement between the reference concentration and the non-invasively sampled concentration is clinically significant.

Described are devices, methods, and kits for non-invasively measuring glucose. In general, the devices comprise skin patches for placement on a skin surface and measurement devices for measuring glucose collected in the patches. The patches may include an adhesive material, a collection layer, an interface layer, and a sweat-permeable membrane. The sweat-permeable membrane is configured to act as a barrier to epidermal contaminants and glucose brought to the skin surface via diffusion. In this way, non-correlatable skin surface glucose will not be measured. The patches may further include components to induce a local sweat response. The measurement device typically includes a display, a processor, and a measurement mechanism. The methods typically include the steps of wiping the skin surface with a wipe containing at least one solvent for removing glucose, placing a patch on a skin surface, and measuring glucose collected in the patch. Kits comprising the patch and measurement device are also described.