Method and system for continuously monitoring cardiac output

Abstract

The present invention is a method and system for continuously monitoring cardiac output. In a preferred embodiment, the method and system of the present invention comprises a pneumotachograph, differential pressure transducer, and a signal amplifier/conditioner interconnected to a programmed digital computer. A patient, preferably, inserts the pneumotachograph in his mouth or, alternatively, the pneumotachograph is connected to a patient's tracheal cannula. As the patient exhales and inhales the differential pressure transducer measures the drop in pressure as air flows through the pneumotachograph thereby producing a weak electrical signal non-linearly proportional to flow. Next, the weak signal is directed through the amplifier/signal conditioner which increases the amplitude and removes some of the noise contained in the transducer output. A digital computer is then utilized to convert the analog time varying electrical signal into a stream of digital data, store it on disk, display it in real time and processes the signal using an experimentally determined correlation factor and mathematical equations relating the fluctuations in air flow with stroke volume to obtain the cardiac output.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.