Medical sensor connector with removable encoding device
AssigneeNellcor Puritan Bennett LLC
InventorsSteve L. Nierlich, Phillip S. Palmer, Adnan I. Merchant
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Abstract
A connector for a medical sensor is provided. The connector includes a number of contacts, and includes an electronic device for encoding a characteristic of the medical sensor. The electronic device is insertable into the connector. This simplifies the design of a sensor, which no longer needs to include a calibration element. In addition, the sensor can be made more cheaply, which is especially important for disposable sensors.
Claims25
A connector for a medical sensor, comprising:
- a housing;
- a plurality of connector contacts disposed at least partially within a periphery of said housing;
- and
- an electronic device for encoding a characteristic of said medical sensor, removably mounted in said housing such that said electronic device may be inserted or removed without opening or disassembling said housing, and connected to at least one of said connector contacts before insertion into said housing.
A connector for an oximeter sensor, comprising:
- a housing;
- a plurality of connector contacts at least partially contained in said housing;
- an electronic device for encoding information corresponding to a wavelength spectrum of a light emitting diode in said oximeter sensor;
- a plug, separable from said housing, holding said electronic device and having a pair of device contacts, similar in shape to said connector contacts, extending therefrom;
- and
- an opening in said housing for receiving said plug such that said connector contacts and said device contacts are substantially parallel when said plug is inserted into said housing.
A method for constructing a connector for a medical sensor, comprising the steps of:
- providing a connector body with a plurality of first contacts;
- connecting an electronic device to at least one second contact, said electronic device encoding a characteristic of said medical sensor;
- enclosing said electronic device in a plug;
- inserting said plug into an opening in said connector body such that said first contacts and said at least one second contact are substantially parallel.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.