Systems and methods for physiological event marking

Abstract

Systems and methods are provided for storing event markers. The value of a monitored physiological metric may be monitored and compared to a reference value. A patient monitoring system may compute a difference between a monitored metric and a reference value, and compare the difference to a threshold value to determine whether a physiological event has occurred. Based on the determination, a patient monitoring system may store an event marker, trigger a response, update a metric value, or perform any other suitable function.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for calibrating a blood pressure monitoring system using electronic processing equipment, the method comprising:
 receiving, using the electronic processing equipment, a physiological signal from a sensor;   determining, using the electronic processing equipment, at least two of: pulse rate, pulse statistical moment, pulse wave centroid, pulse wave rotational moment, and photoplethysmograph (PPG) DC offset based on the physiological signal;   calculating, using the electronic processing equipment, a composite metric value determined based on a combination of the at least two of: pulse rate, pulse statistical moment, pulse wave centroid, pulse wave rotational moment, and PPG DC offset;   determining, using the electronic processing equipment, a calibration coefficient for the blood pressure monitoring system when the composite metric exceeds a threshold; and   calibrating the blood pressure monitoring system based on the calibration coefficient.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the sensor is a pulse oximetry sensor configured to detect light attenuated by a subject and generate the physiological signal based on the detected attenuated light. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the physiological signal is a PPG signal. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the electronic processing equipment comprises a PPG monitor. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 calculating, using the electronic processing equipment, a blood pressure measurement of a subject based on the calibration of the blood pressure monitoring system.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the threshold is based on a change in the composite metric value. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the threshold is based on whether the change in the composite metric value is positive or negative. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the threshold is based on a current blood pressure measurement of a subject. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the threshold is based on user input. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the combination of the at least two of: pulse rate, pulse statistical moment, pulse wave centroid, pulse wave rotational moment, and PPG DC offset is calculated based on a weighted sum. 
     
     
         11 . A system for blood pressure monitoring, the system comprising:
 a sensor; and   electronic processing equipment configured to:
 receive a physiological signal from the sensor; 
 determine at least two of: pulse rate, pulse statistical moment, pulse wave centroid, pulse wave rotational moment, and photoplethysmograph (PPG) DC offset based on the physiological signal; 
 calculate a composite metric value determined based on a combination of the at least two of: pulse rate, pulse statistical moment, pulse wave centroid, pulse wave rotational moment, and PPG DC offset; 
 determine a calibration coefficient for the blood pressure monitoring system when the composite metric exceeds a threshold; and 
 calibrate the blood pressure monitoring system based on the calibration coefficient. 
   
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the sensor is a pulse oximetry sensor configured to detect light attenuated by a subject and generate the physiological signal based on the detected attenuated light. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the physiological signal is a PPG signal. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the electronic processing equipment comprises a PPG monitor. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the electronic processing equipment is further configured to:
 calculate a blood pressure measurement of a subject based on the calibration of the blood pressure monitoring system.   
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the threshold is based on a change in the composite metric value. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the threshold is based on whether the change in the composite metric value is positive or negative. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the threshold is based on a current blood pressure measurement of a subject. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the threshold is based on user input. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the combination of the at least two of: pulse rate, pulse statistical moment, pulse wave centroid, pulse wave rotational moment, and PPG DC offset is calculated based on a weighted sum.