Patient monitor for monitoring microcirculation
AssigneeCercacor Laboratories, Inc.
InventorMassi Joe E. Kiani
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A patient monitor capable of measuring microcirculation at a tissue site includes a light source, a beam splitter, a photodetector and a patient monitor. Light emitted from the light source is split into a reference arm and a sample arm. The light in the sample arm is directed at a tissue site, such as an eyelid. The reflected light from the tissue site is interfered with the light from the reference arm. The photodetector measures the interference of the light from both the sample arm and the reference arm. The patient monitor uses the measurements from the photodetector to calculate the oxygen saturation at the tissue site and monitor the microcirculation at the tissue site.
Claims17
A method for monitoring microcirculation in a patient, the method comprising:
- emitting one or more beams of light from a light source;
- directing the one or more beams of light towards an eyelid of a patient using a beam splitter;
- detecting one or more beams of light reflected from the eyelid;
- calculating oxygen saturation at the eyelid using the detected one or more beams of light;
- calculating a perfusion index at the eyelid using the detected one or more beams of light;
- and
- calculating a flow of blood at the eyelid based at least in part on a ratio of the calculated oxygen saturation and the calculated perfusion index.
A microcirculation monitoring device configured to monitor the microcirculation of a patient at an eyelid, the monitoring device comprising:
- a light source configured to emit one or more beams of light;
- a beam splitter configured to direct at least one beam of light from of the one or more beams of light towards an eyelid, wherein the at least one beam interacts with the eyelid;
- a detector configured to detect one or more beams of light reflected from the eyelid;
- and
- a patient monitor configured to:
- calculate an oxygen saturation using the detected one or more beams of light;
- calculate a perfusion index using the detected one or more beams of light;
- and
- calculate a flow of blood at the eyelid based at least in part on a ratio of the calculated oxygen saturation and the calculated perfusion index.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.