Forehead Sensor Placement Template for Accurate Multi-Sensor Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Accurate positioning of medical sensors, such as regional oximetry and depth of consciousness sensors, is challenging due to patient variability and the need for simultaneous placement of multiple sensors, which can lead to inaccurate readings and interference.
Innovation Solution
The use of templates with recesses matching sensor shapes and clinical offsets to guide precise placement on the patient's forehead, ensuring sensors are aligned with target tissue and minimizing interference.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If medical sensors are placed manually on the patient's forehead, then the placement process is flexible and adaptable, but the positioning accuracy and consistency deteriorate due to patient variability and operator skill differences
Solution Approach 1:
A template acts as an intermediary tool between the operator and the patient's forehead. The template includes recesses that receive sensors and guide their placement at predetermined positions, ensuring consistent spacing and orientation without requiring advanced operator skill. The template mediates the transfer of positioning information from the packaging to the patient's skin.
Solution Approach 2:
The sensor positions are predetermined and prepared in advance during the packaging process. The template is pre-configured with recesses at specific locations and orientations that correspond to optimal sensor placement positions on the patient's forehead. This preliminary preparation eliminates the need for complex real-time positioning decisions during application.
2Reliability
If multiple sensors are placed simultaneously on the patient, then comprehensive physiological monitoring is achieved, but sensor interference and signal noise increase
Solution Approach 1:
Each sensor is placed in a specific recess of the template that is designed for its particular type and function. The template ensures that each sensor type (e.g., oximetry, EEG, ECG) is positioned at the optimal location for its specific measurement requirements. This localized optimization minimizes interference between different sensor types and maintains high measurement reliability for each physiological parameter.
3Manufacturing precision
If sensor placement is performed without a guide, then the application process is quick and simple, but placement consistency and reproducibility deteriorate across different patients and operators
Solution Approach 1:
The template and sensor packaging are merged into a single integrated unit. The template is attached to the packaging, and sensors are pre-positioned within recesses that are part of the packaging structure. This combination allows the entire placement system to be applied to the patient's forehead as one unit, ensuring consistent positioning without requiring separate steps for template application and sensor placement.
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure describes example devices and techniques for appropriately positioning a medical sensor to monitor a physiological parameter of a patient. A guide for placement of a medical sensor onto a patient includes a template having an upper edge, a lower edge, and a recess defined in the upper edge of the template. The recess includes a contour that matches a shape of a medical sensor such that the recess is sized to seat the medical sensor into the recess. The recess is displaced above the lower edge of the template by a defined distance corresponding to a clinical offset of the medical sensor above the patient's eyebrow.