Systems and methods for indicating an amount of use of a sensor
AssigneeMasimo Corporation
InventorAmmar Al-Ali
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Aspects of the present invention include systems and methods for indicating an amount of use of a pulse oximetry sensor. According to one embodiment, the system includes an oximeter that monitors the amount of use for a given sensor. The oximeter and/or the sensor may advantageously include a visual alarm, an audio alarm, a vibrational alarm, a power down function, or the like, which can be activated when a predetermined amount of use has expired. According to another embodiment, the system includes a sensor having a memory device storing a unique identifier.
Claims13
A noninvasive optical probe capable of indicating an amount of use in a determination of whether the noninvasive optical probe has expired from overuse, the noninvasive optical probe comprising:
- one or more emitters capable of emitting light;
- at least one conductor capable of communicating an emitter drive signal to the one or more emitters;
- a memory device electrically connected to the at least one conductor and capable of monitoring an amount of use of the noninvasive optical probe;
- and
- a detector capable of detecting the light after the light has been attenuated by body tissue, wherein attenuated light is indicative of one or more physiological parameters of the body tissue.
A method of determining an amount of use of an optical probe, the method comprising:
- communicating with one or more emission devices of a noninvasive optical probe over at least one conductor to drive the one or more emission devices;
- communicating with a timer of the noninvasive optical probe over the at least one conductor used to drive the one or more emission devices;
- incrementing the timer during use of the noninvasive optical probe;
- and
- when the timer is proximate to a predetermined amount, activating an indicator configured to illustrate that the use of the noninvasive optical probe is proximate the predetermined amount.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.