Adjustable Alert Thresholds for Physiological Event Detection
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing alert management systems for detecting worsening heart failure (WHF) events in congestive heart failure (CHF) patients suffer from fractured or perpetual alerts, leading to unnecessary healthcare resource consumption and ineffective event distinction.
Innovation Solution
A system and method for managing alerts using adjustable onset and reset thresholds to optimize alert issuance, ensuring that alerts satisfy specified characteristics such as frequency, duration, and timing, thereby improving the detection of WHF events.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If alert thresholds are set to be sensitive for detecting WHF events, then detection sensitivity is improved, but false positive rate increases leading to fractured alerts
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by making the alert thresholds adjustable rather than fixed. The system dynamically adapts thresholds based on individual patient baselines and response patterns, allowing sensitivity to be optimized for each patient while reducing false positives through personalized calibration.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes parameters by adjusting alert thresholds based on patient-specific baselines and historical data. The system modifies threshold values dynamically to balance detection sensitivity with false positive reduction, transforming static thresholds into adaptive parameters that respond to individual patient characteristics.
2Reliability
If alert thresholds are set to be stringent to reduce false positives, then false positive rate decreases, but detection sensitivity is reduced leading to missed events
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts thresholds based on patient-specific baselines rather than using fixed stringent values. This allows the system to maintain high reliability by reducing false positives while preserving detection sensitivity through personalized threshold calibration that adapts to each patient's normal variability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transforms static stringent thresholds into dynamic parameters that are customized for each patient. By changing threshold values based on individual patient data and response patterns, the system achieves both low false positive rates and high detection sensitivity simultaneously.
3Loss of time
If frequent monitoring is implemented to improve event detection, then detection timeliness is improved, but healthcare resource consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by tailoring monitoring intensity to individual patient needs rather than applying uniform frequent monitoring to all patients. The system identifies patients at higher risk and directs intensive monitoring resources to them, while using less intensive monitoring for stable patients, thereby improving detection timeliness for those who need it most while conserving healthcare resources.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes monitoring parameters dynamically based on patient status and risk stratification. By adjusting monitoring frequency and intensity according to individual patient characteristics and real-time data, the system achieves timely detection for high-risk patients while reducing unnecessary resource consumption for low-risk patients.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
Systems, devices, and methods for managing alerts associated with a target physiological event such as a worsening heart failure event are described. A system may detect one or more alert onsets using an onset threshold, and one or more corresponding alert terminations using a reset threshold. Alerts may be issued corresponding to the detected alert onsets and alert terminations. The system may compare the alerts to a specified alert characteristic, and iteratively adjust the onset or reset threshold until the alerts corresponding to the adjusted onset or reset threshold satisfy the specified alert characteristic. The adjusted onset and reset thresholds may be presented to a user or a process for detecting the target physiological event.