Multi-Configuration Medical Sensor for Digit and Forehead Use
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Solution Overview
Problem
Pulse oximetry sensors often experience measurement inaccuracies and signal artifacts due to improper placement and poor fit on different tissue sites, leading to issues like ambient light interference and mechanical deformation.
Innovation Solution
Development of a multi-configuration sensor with a conformable body that can adapt between different tissue sites, featuring a removable portion and an emitter-detector arrangement that can switch between reflectance and transmission modes, along with an indicator circuit to signal the configuration to monitoring devices.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If a disposable sensor is designed for a specific tissue site (e.g., digit), then measurement accuracy is improved for that site, but the sensor cannot be reused on different tissue sites, leading to waste and increased cost
Solution Approach 1:
The sensor is designed with a conformable body that can be configured in multiple ways (e.g., wrapped around a digit or applied flat to the forehead), allowing a single sensor design to function on multiple tissue sites. The sensor includes configuration indicators that communicate the current configuration to the monitoring device, enabling accurate measurements across different applications.
Solution Approach 2:
The sensor incorporates a removable portion that can be detached to transform the sensor from one configuration (e.g., digit configuration with wrap-around geometry) to another configuration (e.g., forehead configuration with flat geometry). This dynamic reconfiguration capability allows the sensor to adapt to different tissue sites while maintaining measurement accuracy.
2Device complexity
If a sensor is mistakenly placed in the wrong configuration (e.g., transmission-type sensor laid flat on forehead), then device complexity is reduced, but measurement accuracy deteriorates due to calibration mismatch
Solution Approach 1:
The sensor includes configuration indicators (such as visual markers or electrical signals) that communicate the sensor's current configuration to the monitoring device. This feedback mechanism allows the monitoring device to select the appropriate calibration algorithm and processing parameters, ensuring accurate measurements regardless of whether the sensor is in transmission-type or reflectance-type configuration.
Solution Approach 2:
The sensor design incorporates physical or electrical parameters that change based on configuration (e.g., the presence or absence of a removable portion, different reflectivity patterns). These parameter changes are detected by the monitoring device, which then adjusts its measurement and processing parameters accordingly to maintain accuracy across different configurations.
3Ease of operation
If a digit sensor is applied flat on the forehead, then ease of operation is improved, but the sensor fit deteriorates, causing signal artifacts and ambient light interference
Solution Approach 1:
The sensor is divided into a permanent portion and a removable portion. The removable portion can be detached to allow the sensor to conform properly to the forehead's curved surface when in reflectance configuration, improving signal quality and reducing artifacts while maintaining ease of application.
Solution Approach 2:
The sensor employs a conformable sensor body made from flexible materials that can adapt to the contours of different tissue sites. This flexibility allows the sensor to maintain good contact with the forehead surface when applied flat, reducing gaps that would allow ambient light interference and improving signal reliability.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The sensor provides accurate physiological parameter measurements across various tissue sites, reduces waste by allowing reuse, and minimizes signal artifacts through improved fit and configuration flexibility, enhancing monitoring reliability and cost-effectiveness.
Implementation Method 1
a non-invasive sensor that transmits light through a patient's tissue and that photoelectrically detects the absorption and/or scattering of the transmitted light in such tissue
Implementation Method 2
the light passed through the tissue is typically selected to be of one or more wavelengths that may be absorbed or scattered by the blood in an amount correlative to the amount of the blood constituent present in the blood
Data Source
AI summary
A sensor may be adapted to be placed on multiple tissue sites. A sensor is provided that may have one configuration associated with use on a digit and a second configuration associated with use on another tissue site, such as a forehead. Further, a sensor may be adapted to be a transmission-type sensor or a reflectance-type sensor, depending on its configuration.