Method and system for automatic or semi-automatic defilbrillation using redundant processing
AssigneePhysio-Control, Inc.
InventorsDean D. Campbell, Robert A. Wiley
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method and system for automatic or semi-automatic defibrillation using redundant processing is provided. In a preferred embodiment, two microprocessors each separately analyze electrocardiogram signals from a patient in order to separately determine whether the patient should be treated. If both microprocessors determine that the patient should be treated, a treatment subsystem defibrillates the patient by delivering a defibrillation charge to the patient. In a semi-automatic embodiment, the treatment subsystem only delivers a defibrillation charge to the patient if a human operator has responded to a visual indication that the patient should be treated by manually activating the defibrillator.
Claims37
A method for using redundant processing to perform automatic or semi-automatic defibrillation by determining whether a defibrillation shock should be delivered to a patient, the method comprising the steps of:
- analyzing electrocardiogram signals from the patient under the control of a first processor in order to determine whether the patient should be treated;
- analyzing electrocardiogram signals from the patient under the control of a second processor in order to determine whether the patient should be treated;
- and
- if the analysis under the control of the second processor determines that the patient should be treated and the analysis under the control of the first processor determines that the patient should be treated, determining that a defibrillation charge should be delivered to the patient.
In a computer system having at least two microprocessors, a method for analyzing electrocardiogram samples from a patient to determine whether the patient should be defibrillated, the method comprising the steps of:
- in each microprocessor, successively analyzing each of a plurality of groups of electrocardiogram samples to produce a result for each group for each microprocessor, the result being either a treat result if the analysis shows that the patient should be defibrillated or a do not treat result if the analysis shows that the patient should not be defibrillated;
- for each microprocessor, maintaining a count of the number of treat results produced by the microprocessor and a count of the number of do not treat results produced by the microprocessor;
- if the counts of the number of treat results produced by both microprocessors exceeds a treatment threshold, determining that the patient should be defibrillated;
- and
- if the count of the number of do not treat results produced by either microprocessor exceeds a non-treatment threshold, determining that the patient should not be defibrillated.
A dual processor semi-automatic defibrillator, comprising:
- a first processor for analyzing electrocardiogram signals from a patient and producing either a treat result if the analysis shows that the patient should be treated or a do not treat result if the analysis shows that the patient should not be treated;
- a second processor for analyzing the same electrocardiogram signals analyzed by the first processor and producing either a treat result if the analysis shows that the patient should be treated or a do not treat result if the analysis shows that the patient should not be treated;
- and
- a treatment subsystem coupled to receive either a treat result or a do not treat result from each of the processors, the treatment subsystem for defibrillating the patient if and only if both the first processor and the second processor produce a treat result.
A redundant electrocardiogram analysis system for an automatic or semi-automatic defibrillator, comprising:
- an analog-to-digital converter for receiving and converting to digital form electrocardiogram signals from a patient;
- a main processor for analyzing the electrocardiogram signals converted to digital form by the analog-to-digital converter;
- an auxiliary processor for analyzing the electrocardiogram signals converted to digital form by the analog-to-digital converter;
- a treatment subsystem for determining that a charge should be delivered to the patient when both the main processor and the auxiliary processor determine that the patient should be treated.
A method for using redundant processing to perform automatic or semi-automatic defibrillation by determining whether a defibrillation shock should be delivered to a patient, the method comprising the steps of:
- analyzing electrical signals from the patient under the control of a first processor in order to determine whether the patient should be treated;
- analyzing electrical signals from the patient under the control of a second processor in order to determine whether the patient should be treated;
- and
- if the analysis under the control of the second processor determines that the patient should be treated and the analysis under the control of the first processor determines that the patient should be treated, determining that a defibrillation charge should be delivered to the patient.
A dual processor semi-automatic defibrillator, comprising:
- a first processor for analyzing electrical signals from a patient and producing either a treat result if the analysis shows that the patient should be treated or a do not treat result if the analysis shows that the patient should not be treated;
- a second processor for analyzing the same electrical signals analyzed by the first processor and producing either a treat result if the analysis shows that the patient should be treated or a do not treat result if the analysis shows that the patient should not be treated;
- and
- a treatment subsystem coupled to receive either a treat result or a do not treat result from each of the processors, the treatment subsystem for defibrillating the patient if and only if both the first processor and the second processor produce a treat result.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.