Sheathed Oximeter StO2 Averaging for Consistent Tissue Readings
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing oximeters face challenges in improving reuse, reducing contamination during use, enhancing measurement accuracy, and ensuring quick and accurate oxygen saturation measurements under non-ideal conditions, particularly in clinical settings like surgery and recovery rooms.
Innovation Solution
A compact, handheld oximeter housed in a sheath that shields it from contaminants, allowing reuse by averaging oximetry measurements across multiple tissue locations to account for variability and ensuring consistent contact, with self-contained source-detector arrangements for robust calibration and spatially-resolved spectroscopy.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If oximetry measurements are taken at multiple tissue locations, then measurement accuracy is improved by averaging out contact variability, but measurement time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by automatically prompting the user to lift the device and take additional measurements at different tissue locations. The processor monitors contact status and initiates the averaging process before the user completes the measurement sequence, ensuring accurate results without requiring manual intervention for each measurement location.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback by displaying messages to the user indicating when additional measurements are needed and showing the averaging progress. The processor continuously monitors measurement quality and provides real-time feedback through the display, guiding the user through the multi-location measurement process and informing them when the average has been calculated.
2Reliability
If the oximeter is housed in a sheath to prevent contamination, then device reliability for reuse is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system is segmented into two distinct components: a reusable oximeter device and a disposable sheath. The sheath contains all contamination-prone elements and is discarded after single use, while the main oximeter device remains sterile and can be reused. This segmentation resolves the contradiction by isolating the contamination risk to a separate, disposable component.
Solution Approach 2:
The sheath is designed as a cheap, disposable component that is discarded after a single use. By making the protective barrier disposable rather than attempting to sterilize and reuse it, the system ensures reliability for reuse of the expensive oximeter device while accepting the cost of single-use sheaths. This approach simplifies the overall system by eliminating complex sterilization mechanisms.
3Measurement precision
If contact variability on tissue is averaged out by measuring multiple locations, then measurement consistency is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs self-service by automatically monitoring contact status through the sensor and autonomously determining when additional measurements are needed. The processor manages the entire averaging process, including prompting the user and calculating results, without requiring the user to understand or manage the complexity of multi-location measurements. This maintains ease of operation while achieving measurement consistency.
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
Enables accurate, reusable oximetry measurements with reduced contamination risk, improving measurement accuracy and consistency, suitable for various medical applications including plastic surgery and spinal surgery.
Implementation Method 1
a capacitance sensor, an inductor, or other contact sensor may be used to detect contact between the sheath or system unit and tissue
Implementation Method 2
Tissue oximeters can measure oxygen levels in human tissue by exploiting these light-absorption differences
Implementation Method 3
Light absorption differs significantly for oxygenated and deoxygenated hemoglobins at certain wavelengths of light
Data Source
AI summary
An oximetry device sealed in a sheath directs a user to allow the oximetry device to make oximetry measurements at a number of different tissue locations of a patient and average two or more of the oximetry measurements by directing the lifts and placements of the oximetry device and sheath to and from the different tissue locations and detecting the lift and placements. The averages are generated and displayed on a display of the device for the oximetry measurements if the lifts are made while use directions for the lifts are displayed on a display of the oximetry device. The averages are not generated if the lifts are not made while the user directions for the lifts are not displayed. The averages are simultaneously displayed with the oximetry measurements which are instantaneous measurement for patient tissue.