Method and apparatus for monitoring fetal status data

Abstract

A system is provided for remotely monitoring fetal status parameters. Status parameters are sampled from patient sensors and are processed and stored in a medical facility data management system. A general purpose data presentation application, such as a browser, is employed on a client side to access the data via a network, such as the Internet. Support software is called upon to format user-viewable pages and to insert data transmitted from the medical facility for remote viewing. The technique is particularly well suited to monitoring of a variety of parameters at various sampling rates for remote medical evaluation, such as in obstetrics applications.

1 . A system for remotely monitoring a patient status parameter, the system comprising: 
 a fetal monitor including a sensor for detecting a patient status parameter and for producing a parameter signal representative thereof;    a server-side controller coupled to the sensor for receiving the parameter signal and for incorporating the parameter signal into a client viewable presentation; and    a client-side controller including a general purpose browser configured to be coupled to the server-side controller via a network connection to receive data from the server-side controller and for displaying the client viewable presentation.    
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the client viewable presentation includes at least one viewable page formatted via a markup language.  
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein th-e client viewable presentation includes a graphical representation of the patient status parameter.  
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the sensor is configured to detect a heartbeat of a fetus.  
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the client viewable presentation includes historical presentation of the patient status parameter viewable via the browser by user selection of a time period range.  
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , comprising a plurality of sensors coupled to the server-side controller for detecting a plurality of patient status parameters, including at least one fetal monitor parameter, and wherein the client viewable presentation includes a display of data representative of the plurality of patient status parameters.  
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the client-side controller is configured to be coupled to the server-side controller via an open network.  
     
     
         8 . A system for monitoring a physiological parameter of a patient in real time, the system comprising: 
 a patient monitoring sensor, the sensor being configured to detect at least one physiological parameter of a patient and to generate parameter signals representative thereof, at least one parameter signal being representative of a condition of a fetus;    a monitoring circuit coupled to the sensor, the monitoring circuit receiving the parameter signals, processing the parameter signals, and storing data representative of the parameter signals for transmission to a remote location upon demand from a user; and    a user station including a general purpose browser and network communications circuitry, the user station being configured to link to the monitoring circuit via a network, to demand transmission of the parameter signals and to display the data representative of the parameter signals in response to user commands.    
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the patient monitoring sensor detects signals representative of cardiac activity in a fetus.  
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the monitoring circuit processes the parameter signals to produce graphically displayed data.  
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the graphically displayed data is formatted for viewing in a web page defined by a markup language.  
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the monitoring circuit stores historical data for display with data acquired during a connection session with the user station.  
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the monitoring circuit is configured to transmit the historical data upon receipt of a command from the user station.  
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the monitoring circuit and the user station are configured to transmit the data via an Internet connection.  
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the data is adapted for graphical display in a format emulating a strip chart readout.  
     
     
         16 . A method for monitoring a condition of a patient, the method comprising the steps of: 
 (a) detecting a fetal parameter of interest and generating a fetal condition signal representative thereof;    (b) storing the fetal condition signal;    (c) defining a general purpose network presentation including data representative of the fetal condition signal; and    (d) transmitting the presentation to a general purpose display station via a configurable network link upon receipt of a command from the display station.    
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein step (a) includes real time monitoring of the parameter and step (c) includes real time updating of the network presentation to include data representative of most recently available monitored fetal condition signals.  
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein step (d) includes real time retransmission of the real time updated network presentation.  
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the network presentation is based upon a web page defined in a markup language.  
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the display station includes a general purpose computer and a browser operating to display the network presentation.  
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the network presentation includes historical data accessible by a user at the display station in response to a user command.  
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the network presentation includes a graphical representation of the data.  
     
     
         23 . A method for remotely monitoring a fetal condition via a configurable network connection, the method including the steps of: 
 (a) monitoring a physiological parameter of a fetus and generating fetal parameter data representative thereof;    (b) defining a user viewable, interface page including user selectable command devices;    (c) updating the interface page to include the parameter data;    (d) establishing a network link between a server and a client station; and    (e) transmitting the updated interface page from the server to the client station for display.    
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein steps (a) and (b) include updating the parameter data in real time.  
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein the user viewable interface page includes a graphical representation of the parameter data.  
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein the user viewable interface page includes historical parameter data viewable by a user by selection of a command device.  
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein step (e) includes real time updating of the interface page by retransmission of at least a portion thereof to the client station.