US 8,509,866 B2 · Device and method for monitoring body fluid and electrolyte disorders

Abstract

Devices and methods for measuring body fluid-related metric using spectrophotometry that may be used to facilitate diagnosis and therapeutic interventions aimed at restoring body fluid balance. In one embodiment, the present invention provides a device for measuring a body-tissue water content metric as a fraction of the fat-free tissue content of a patient using optical spectrophotometry. The device includes a probe housing configured to be placed near a tissue location which is being monitored; light emission optics connected to the housing and configured to direct radiation at the tissue location; light detection optics connected to the housing and configured to receive radiation from the tissue location; and a processing device configured to process radiation from the light emission optics and the light detection optics to compute the metric where the metric includes a ratio of the water content of a portion of patient's tissue in relation to the lean or fat-free content of a portion of patient's tissue.

Claims24

Dependent claims

A method of assessing changes in volume and osmolarity of body fluids in a body tissue, comprising:

using a sensor:
emitting radiation at a tissue location using light emission optics configured to direct radiation of a given wavelength at the tissue location;
detecting radiation using light detection optics configured to receive radiation from the tissue location;
converting the detected radiation to an electrical signal indicative of the radiation received by the light detection optics;
using a processor:
processing the electrical signal to determine a water balance index and a tissue water concentration, wherein the water balance index comprises a difference between a water fraction in blood and a water fraction in extravascular tissue;
and
analyzing in combination the water balance index and the tissue water concentration to assess the changes in volume and osmolarity of body fluids near the tissue location.

5 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Device and method for monitoring body fluid and electrolyte disorders

Life of this patent

Device and method for monitoring body fluid and electrolyte disorders

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims24