Vital sign monitoring apparatuses and methods of using same

Abstract

A system for vital sign measuring of a patient, comprising: a first sensor removably attachable with a first body portion of the patient and configured to measure, when in operable position, a vital sign of the patient; at least one additional sensor removably attachable with a second body portion of the patient and configured to measure, when in operable position, a vital sign of the patient; and a processor configured to provide data descriptive of a level of correspondence between measurements of the vital signs provided by the first sensor and the at least one additional sensor.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system for measuring diastolic and/or systolic blood pressure of a patient, the system comprising:
 first and second plethysmographs removably attachable to a same hand of a patient;   a pressure cuff removably attachable to a finger of the same hand, and configured to occlude blood flow in the finger in an inflated state of the pressure cuff;   a pump configured to inflate and deflate the pressure cuff in intervals for a plurality of times; and   a processor configured to:   (a) determine the diastolic blood pressure to be a pressure to which the pressure cuff was inflated when a transition in the reading from the plethysmographs exceeds a predefined amount; and   (b) determine a level of correspondence between a first signal from the first plethysmograph and a second signal from the second plethysmograph; and   (c) determine the systolic blood pressure of the patient based on a change in the level of correspondence.   
     
     
         2 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein the pump is configured to inflate the pressure cuff such that:
 1) the inflating in each of the plurality of times is at least to a slightly higher pressure than the inflating before it;   2) additional inflating is only performed after the initial deflating is complete.   
     
     
         3 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to determine the systolic blood pressure of the patient based on the change in the level of correspondence when a correlation drops precipitously to a level below a certain correlation threshold. 
     
     
         4 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein the first and second plethysmographs are removably attachable to first and second fingers of the same hand, and wherein the cuff is removably attachable to the first finger between the first plethysmograph and a respective ipsilateral palm of the patient. 
     
     
         5 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein the first and second plethysmograph comprise photo-plethysmographs configured to detect at least two wavelengths. 
     
     
         6 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein the pump further comprises a valve configured to control flow rate during deflation of the pump. 
     
     
         7 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein the pump comprises a syringe. 
     
     
         8 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein the processor is located remotely from the patient. 
     
     
         9 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein signals in the system are communicated wirelessly. 
     
     
         10 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein the system is configured to be wearable by the patient. 
     
     
         11 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of the system is configured to be wearable by an attending medical professional. 
     
     
         12 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to determine, from received signals, at least one of: mean arterial pressure, pulse rate, breathing rate, breathing pattern, hemoglobin oxygen saturation level, motor function, temperature, and cognitive ability of the patient. 
     
     
         13 . A method comprising:
 removably attaching a first plethysmograph to a hand of a patient;   removably attaching a second plethysmograph to the same hand of the patient;   removably attaching a pressure cuff to a finger of the same hand between the first plethysmograph and a respective ipsilateral palm of the patient;   occluding blood flow in the finger by inflating and deflating the pressure cuff in intervals for a plurality of times;   determining a level of correspondence between a first signal from the first plethysmograph and a second signal from the second plethysmograph; and   determining systolic blood pressure of the patient based on a change in the level of correspondence.   
     
     
         14 . The method according to  claim 13 , further comprising determining diastolic blood pressure to be a pressure to which the pressure cuff was inflated when a transition in the reading from the plethysmographs exceeds a predefined amount. 
     
     
         15 . The method according to  claim 13 , wherein inflating the pressure cuff comprises
 1) the inflating in each of the plurality of times is at least to a slightly higher pressure than the inflating before it;   2) additional inflating is only performed after the initial deflating is complete.   
     
     
         16 . The method according to  claim 13 , wherein determining the systolic blood pressure of the patient based on the change in the level of correspondence comprises determining when a correlation drops precipitously to a level below a certain correlation threshold. 
     
     
         17 . The method according to  claim 13 , wherein removably attaching the first and second plethysmographs comprises removably attaching the first and second plethysmographs to first and second fingers of the same hand of the patient. 
     
     
         18 . A method comprising:
 removably attaching first and second plethysmographs to first and second fingers of a patient;   in intervals, occluding blood flow in the first finger of the patient;   determining (i) a parameter of blood pressure of the patient by determining a change in a level of correspondence between a first signal from the first plethysmograph and a second signal from the second plethysmograph; and (ii) a parameter of blood pressure of the patient based on oscillometry measurements from the first finger; and   calculating systolic and diastolic blood pressure of the patient based on the determining.   
     
     
         19 . The method according to  claim 18 , wherein removably attaching the first and second plethysmographs, comprises removably attaching plethysmographs to first and second fingers of the same hand of the patient.