Wearable Defibrillator Blood Pressure Sensing for Shock Decisions
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing wearable cardioverter defibrillators (WCDs) lack the capability to accurately monitor blood pressure during heart arrhythmias, which is crucial for determining the need for therapeutic electric shocks.
Innovation Solution
Integration of a non-invasive blood pressure (NIBP) monitor within the WCD system to continuously measure blood pressure without the use of cuffs, allowing for more accurate shock determination algorithms.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If a non-invasive blood pressure monitor is integrated into the WCD system, then the accuracy of shock determination is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the WCD system with a non-invasive blood pressure monitor into a single integrated device. The blood pressure monitor includes a processor that receives ECG data from the WCD and processes it to determine blood pressure, merging two previously separate functions into one unified system that can simultaneously monitor both cardiac rhythm and blood pressure.
Solution Approach 2:
The integrated device performs multiple functions: it monitors ECG for arrhythmia detection, measures blood pressure non-invasively, and uses both datasets to make shock determination algorithms. This multi-functional approach allows a single device to provide comprehensive cardiac monitoring and blood pressure management.
2Reliability
If continuous blood pressure monitoring is implemented, then the effectiveness of shock determination is improved, but the energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The blood pressure monitoring operates periodically rather than continuously. The processor analyzes ECG data at specific intervals to determine blood pressure, and the system can adjust the monitoring frequency based on the patient's condition. During stable periods, monitoring can be reduced in frequency, while increasing during critical events.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses feedback from blood pressure measurements to adjust the shock determination algorithm. When blood pressure is measured, this information feeds back into the decision-making process to determine whether a shock is needed, allowing the system to optimize its response based on real-time physiological status.
Data Source
AI summary
A wearable cardioverter defibrillator (WCD) system comprises a plurality of patient parameter electrodes and a plurality of defibrillator electrodes to contact a patient's skin when the WCD is delivering therapy to the patient, a processor to receive one or more patient parameters from the one or more patient parameter electrodes, an energy storage device to store a charge to provide electrical therapy to the patient via the plurality of defibrillator electrodes, and a non-invasive blood pressure (NIBP) monitor to obtain a blood pressure measurement of the patient and to provide the blood pressure measurement to the processor. The processor is to determine whether to provide electrical therapy to the patient based on the one or more patient parameters during an episode, and to obtain the blood pressure measurement from the NIBP monitor during the episode.