Aural heart monitoring apparatus and method
AssigneeKoninklijke Philips N.V.
InventorDANIEL POWERS
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A heart monitoring method is disclosed including an electroacoustic transducer such as an earphone coupled to a controller. The method proceeds with positioning a transducer in a person's ear in acoustic communication with the tympanum. Signals from the transducer are processed to determine the presence of pulsatile blood flow. The heart monitor may be incorporated into a portable media playback device alternating between playback and monitoring mode or performing both simultaneously using one earphone for each function. The heart monitor may be incorporated into a defibrillator to sense the presence of blood flow for use in a shock delivery decision.
Claims7
A method for determining a condition treatable by an electrotherapy shock, comprising the steps of:
- positioning an electroacoustic transducer proximate the person's ear to be in acoustic communication with the person's tympanum;
- receiving a signal from the transducer;
- processing the signal from the transducer to extract data corresponding to the person's pulsatile blood flow;
- outputting the extracted data to a shock delivery circuit in a defibrillator analyzing an ECG signal for a pulsatile ECG signal with an ECG processor in the defibrillator;
- and
- making a decision to deliver a shock based upon an absence of a pulsatile ECG signal from the ECG processor and an absence of pulsatile blood flow in the extracted data.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.