Wearable congestive heart failure management system
Inventors
VARADAN, VIJAY • Rai, Pratyush • Oh, Se Chang • Kumar, Prashanth Shyam • Ramasamy, Mouli
Assignees
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Publication Number
US-10959634-B2
Publication Date
2021-03-30
Expiration Date
Abstract
A non-invasive, wearable and portable medical device for evaluation and monitoring the heart condition for patients with congestive heart failure and a CHF management system is provided comprising a wearable textile-based device utilizing physiologic and biometric sensors, a Signal Acquisition Unit, and a monitoring system executing a suite of software algorithms to monitor and evaluate patients with CHF.
Core Innovation
The invention provides a non-invasive wearable textile-based CHF management system using an elastomeric harness configured to fit a thoracic cage region of a wearer. The harness includes an adjustable elastic horizontal band and an adjustable elastic vertical band arranged relative to the xyphoid process and thoracic cage between the 5th and 6th ribs positions, and relative to a shoulder passing between shoulder muscle and deltoid muscle. The vertical band and horizontal band connect in front at or to the left of the xyphoid process location and at the back on either side of a back-center, enabling placement of sensor arrays in contact with skin along defined vectors.
Sensors are arranged as first and second pluralities of sensors located along a first vector extending along the vertical band and a second vector extending along the horizontal band on a front side of the harness. The first plurality of sensors includes sensors configured to fit above and below the heart and positioned relative to the xyphoid process and mid clavicle position, while the second plurality of sensors includes sensors positioned to the right and left of the heart with downward placement relationships along the horizontal-band vector. The harness is configured such that sensors contact skin with a specified sensor-skin pressure range when worn.
A signal acquisition unit receives signals from the plurality of sensors and generates ECG and ICG signals, and the described system further supports additional sensing such as impedance cardiography, respiration/relative tidal volume, and optional heart sound sensing. Signals are wirelessly transmitted to a remote computing device for processing including decryption and channel separation, feature extraction and pattern recognition, and computation of a composite CHF monitoring metric. The system further supports alerting for impending hospitalization based on the extracted features and changes in the composite score.
Claims Coverage
The provided independent claims cover five main inventive aspects: the geometry and sensor-arrangement of a wearable textile-based CHF harness, the sensor-skin pressure configuration, an end-to-end CHF management system that acquires and wirelessly transmits ECG/ICG signals, a method that monitors cardiovascular health using the harness, and a remote processing and composite CHF monitoring metric.
Wearable textile-based harness with adjustable horizontal and vertical bands
A wearable textile-based harness consisting of an adjustable elastic horizontal band and an adjustable elastic vertical band, where the horizontal band wraps proximate to the thoracic cage region, passes over a xyphoid process and between 5th and 6th ribs positions, and the vertical band wraps over a shoulder passing between shoulder muscle and deltoid muscle; the vertical band and horizontal band connect in front at or to the left of the xyphoid process location and at the back on either side of the back-center.
Vector-based sensor pluralities positioned relative to the heart region
A first plurality of sensors along a first vector extending along the vertical band on a front side of the harness configured to fit above the heart and to the right of the xyphoid process and also below the heart and to the left of the xyphoid process; and a second plurality of sensors along a second vector extending along the horizontal band on the front side of the harness configured for placement to the right and left of the heart with downward relationships along the second vector.
Sensors configured for skin contact pressure
The first and second plurality of sensors are configured for placement in contact with skin with a sensor-skin pressure in the range of 60 to 250 gram-force when the textile-based harness is worn.
CHF management system with signal acquisition unit and wireless transmission of ECG and ICG
A CHF management system comprising the wearable textile-based harness and a signal acquisition unit including an analog front end circuit, a processor, a wireless module, and a power supply, where the SAU receives signals from the plurality of sensors, generates an ECG signal and an ICG signal, and wirelessly transmits at least the ECG signal and the ICG signal to a remote computing device.
Method of monitoring cardiovascular health using harness-based ECG and ICG vector signals
A method of monitoring cardiovascular health in a human that provides the wearable textile-based harness, fits the harness onto the body portion such that the first and second plurality of sensors are placed in contact with skin, and generates at least one ECG vector signal and at least one ICG vector signal from the first and second plurality of sensors.
Across the independent claims, the invention centers on a wearable textile-based harness with adjustable elastic bands configured around the thoracic cage/xyphoid process and shoulder, sensor pluralities arranged along first and second vectors relative to the heart region with a defined sensor-skin pressure range, and a CHF management system/method that uses a signal acquisition unit to generate ECG and ICG vector signals and wirelessly transmits them to a remote computing device.
Stated Advantages
Not explicitly described in patent.
Documented Applications
Not explicitly described in patent.
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