Claims:Claims:

We Claim:

1. A system (100) to monitor beat-to-beat blood pressure using multistatic measurements, wherein the system (100) comprises:
a) a chest patch system (110) comprising:
? one or more sensors (201, 202) located on a chest patch to measure at least one of a heart-rate, respiratory rate, blood oxygen, motion, temperature, depth of inhalation, and inhalation-to-exhalation ratio of a patient;
? a sensory hub (203) to collect the measured parameters from the sensors (201, 202) located on the chest patch (110) for a pre-defined time epoch;
b) an arm-band (120) system comprising an arm-band with an inflation cuff (330) connected to a motor (320) to inflate and deflate the inflation cuff, wherein the arm-band (120) system comprises:
? one or more sensors (301) located on the arm-band to measure at least one of a pulse transit-times, pulse wave velocity, pulse-full-width at half-max (FWHM), and temperature of the patient;
c) a wrist-band (130) system comprising:
? one or more sensors (401, 402) located on the wrist-band to measure blood flow velocity, wherein the blood flow velocity is at least one of the peak systolic velocity, end diastolic velocity and average velocity;
? a wearable ultrasound device to be positioned on a radial artery of the patient and has a transducer consisting of a capacitive micromachine ultrasonic transducer (CMUT) array or a piezo array (420) to image the artery, and to measure elasticity of the artery;
? a sensory hub (410) to collect the measured parameters from the sensors (401, 402) located on the wrist-band for a pre-defined time epoch; and
d) a main microcontroller (310) located at the arm-band to receive the measured parameters for time epoch from the sensory hub (203, 410) located on the chest patch and wrist-band for a pre-defined time epoch, wherein the received measured parameters are combined to a neural network to estimate the value of blood pressure for each time epoch to monitor beat-to-beat blood pressure of the patient, wherein each time epoch represents 6-8 heart beats, wherein the value of blood pressure is at least one of a mean arterial pressure, systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure.

2. The system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein:
a) the sensors (201, 202) located on the chest patch is at least one of the photoplethysmography (PPG) sensor (201), an impedance cardiography Sensio Confidential (ICG) sensor, an electrocardiography (ECG) sensor along with an inertial (IMU) and a temperature sensor (202) to measure at least one of a heart-rate, respiratory rate, blood oxygen, motion, temperature, depth of inhalation and inhalation-to-exhalation ratio of a patient;
b) the sensors (301) located on the arm-band is at least one of an impedance plethysmography (IPG) sensor, an ECG sensor and a temperature sensor (301) to measure at least one of a pulse transit-times, pulse wave velocity, pulse-full-width at half-max (FWHM), and temperature of the patient; and
c) the sensors (401, 402) located on the wrist-band is at least one of an impedance plethysmography (IPG) sensor, a photoplethysmography (PPG) sensor, a temperature sensor (401) along with an ultrasound sensor (402), wherein the ultrasound sensor (402) is configured to measure blood flow velocity, wherein the blood flow velocity is at least one of the peak systolic velocity, end diastolic velocity and average velocity.

3. The system (100) as claimed in claim 2, wherein the photoplethysmography (PPG) sensor (201, 401) located at the chest patch and the wrist-band measures the pulsatility and perfusion index of the patient.

4. The system (100) as claimed in claim 2, wherein the ICG signals measured by the ICG sensor at the chest patch provide an indication of the elasticity of the heart muscles and aorta.

5. The system (100) as claimed in claim 2, wherein the IPG signal measured by impedance plethysmography (IPG) sensor at the brachial arm-band provides the nature of the axillary and radial arteries.

6. The system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the arm-band has a display device (340) to display the measured blood pressure for each pre-defined time epoch.

7. The system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the system (100) further comprises:
a) a neck-band system (140) comprising:
? one or more sensors located on a neck-band, wherein the sensors are at least one of an ultrasound (USG) sensor, a photoplethysmography (PPG) sensor and an electrocardiography (ECG) sensor located on the neck-band, wherein the USG sensor is used to assess the lumen and elasticity of the carotid artery and to measure the blood flow velocity, wherein the photoplethysmography (PPG) sensor and an electrocardiography (ECG) sensor is configured to assess the pulse transit time;
? a sensory hub to collect the measured parameters from the sensors located on the neck-band (140) for a pre-defined time epoch;
b) a finger-band system (150) comprising:
? one or more sensors located on a finger-band, wherein the sensors are at least one of a PPG and an ECG sensor to assess the pulse transit time;
? a sensory hub to collect the measured parameters from the sensors located on the finger-band for a pre-defined time epoch;
c) the main microcontroller (310) located at the arm-band to receive the measured parameters for time epoch from the sensory hub (203, 410) located on the chest patch, wrist-band, neck-band and finger-band, wherein the received measured parameters are combined using a neural network to estimate the value of blood pressure for each time epoch to monitor beat-to-beat blood pressure of the patient, wherein the value of blood pressure is at least one of a mean arterial pressure, systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure.
, Description:Preamble to the Description
[0001] The following specification describes the invention and the manner in which the invention is to be performed:
DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Technical field of the invention
[0002] The present invention relates to a system to monitor beat-to-beat blood pressure using multistatic measurements, and more particularly relates to a non-invasive blood pressure system to monitor beat-to-beat blood pressure using multistatic measurements.
Background of the invention
[0003] Patient monitoring and treatment involves invasive means that require inserting sensors within a patient to acquire the requisite data, such as a blood pressure of the patient. The blood pressure of a patient is a critical measurement that is used in monitoring and treating the patient. In the invasive means, the blood pressure is obtained by accessing the radial artery for catheterization. These arterial lines involve cannulation and catheterization of the radial arterial for several days. The thin catheter inserted into the artery has strain gauges to continuously monitor blood pressure (BP) in situ. Here, accessing the radial artery for catheterization is not easy and needs high skill.
[0004] Further, the invasive means can cause discomfort in the patient or the subject for which the blood pressure is being measured. Additionally, there is an increased risk of complications and/or increased expense due to the invasive nature of such blood pressure measurement.
[0005] Hence, there exists a need of a non-invasive wearable technology to replace invasive arterial lines to monitor beat-to-beat blood pressure in critical care.
Summary of the invention

[0006] The present invention relates to a system to monitor beat-to-beat blood pressure using multistatic measurements. The system mainly comprises a chest patch system, an arm-band system and a wrist-band system. The chest patch system comprises sensors located on a chest patch to measure at least one of a heart-rate, respiratory rate, blood oxygen, motion, temperature, depth of inhalation, and inhalation-to-exhalation ratio of a patient. The chest patch system further comprises a sensory hub to collect the measured parameters from the sensors located on the chest patch for a pre-defined time epoch.

[0007] In an embodiment, the arm-band system comprises an arm-band with an inflation cuff connected to a motor to inflate and deflate the cuff. The arm-band system further comprises one or more sensors located on the arm-band to measure at least one of a pulse transit-time, pulse wave velocity, pulse-full-width at half-max (FWHM), and temperature of the patient.

[0008] In an embodiment, the wrist-band system comprises sensors located on the wrist-band to measure blood flow velocity. The blood flow velocity is at least one of the peak systolic velocity, end diastolic velocity and average velocity. The wrist-band system comprises a wearable ultrasound device to be positioned on a radial artery of the patient and has a transducer consisting of a capacitive micromachine ultrasonic transducer (CMUT) array or a piezo array to image the artery, and to measure the elasticity of the artery. The wrist-band system also comprises a sensory hub to collect the measured parameters from the sensors located on the wrist-band for a pre-defined time epoch. The parameters measured by the sensors located at the chest-patch, wrist-band and arm-band are used to estimate blood pressure.

[0009] In an embodiment, a main microcontroller located at the arm-band receives the measured parameters for time epoch from the sensory hub located on the chest patch and the wrist-band. The received measured parameters are combined using a suitable neural network to estimate the value of blood pressure for each time epoch to monitor and further estimate beat-to-beat blood pressure of the patient. Here, each time epoch typically represents 6-8 heart beats, which can be further reduced to a single heart beat.

[0010] Thus, the system of the present invention estimates the value of blood pressure for each time epoch to monitor beat-to-beat blood pressure of the patient by using a chest patch system, an arm-band system and a wrist-band system in a non-invasive manner.

Brief description of the drawings

[0011] The foregoing and other features of embodiments will become more apparent from the following detailed description of embodiments when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0012] FIG 1 illustrates a block diagram of a system to monitor beat-to-beat blood pressure using multistatic measurements, according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0013] FIG 2 illustrates a block diagram of a chest patch system, according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0014] FIG 3 illustrates a block diagram of an arm-band system, according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0015] FIG 4 illustrates a block diagram of a wrist-band system, according to one embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed description of the invention

[0016] In order to make the matter of the invention clear and concise, the following definitions are provided for specific terms used in the following description.

[0017] The term “time epoch” represents 6-8 heart beats.

[0018] FIG 1 illustrates a block diagram of a system to monitor beat-to-beat blood pressure using multistatic measurements, according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0019] As exemplarily illustrated in FIG 1, the system (100) to monitor beat-to-beat blood pressure using multistatic measurements mainly comprises a chest patch system (110), an arm-band (120) system and a wrist-band (130) system. The chest patch system (110) comprises sensors (201, 202, as exemplarily illustrated in FIG 2) located on a chest patch to measure at least one of a heart-rate, respiratory rate, blood oxygen, motion, temperature, depth of inhalation, and inhalation-to-exhalation ratio of a patient. The chest patch system (110) further comprises a sensory hub (203, as exemplarily illustrated in FIG 2) to collect the measured parameters from the sensors (201, 202, as exemplarily illustrated in FIG 2) located on the chest patch (110) for a pre-defined time epoch. Here, the sensors (201, 202) located on the chest patch is at least one of the photoplethysmography (PPG) sensor (201), an impedance cardiography Sensio Confidential (ICG) sensor, an electrocardiography (ECG) sensor along with an inertial (IMU) and a temperature sensor (202).

[0020] In an embodiment, the arm-band (120) system comprises an arm-band with an inflation cuff (330, as exemplarily illustrated in FIG 3) connected to a motor (320, as exemplarily illustrated in FIG 3) to inflate and deflate the cuff. The arm-band (120) system further comprises one or more sensors (301, as exemplarily illustrated in FIG 3) located on the arm-band to measure at least one of a pulse transit-times, pulse wave velocity, pulse-full-width at half-max (FWHM), and temperature of the patient. The sensors (301, as exemplarily illustrated in FIG 3) located on the arm-band is at least one of an impedance plethysmography (IPG) sensor, an ECG sensor and a temperature sensor (301, as exemplarily illustrated in FIG 3) to measure at least one of a pulse transit-times, pulse wave velocity, pulse-full-width at half-max (FWHM), and temperature of the patient.

[0021] In an embodiment, the wrist-band (130) system comprises sensors located on the wrist-band to measure blood flow velocity. The blood flow velocity is at least one of the peak systolic velocity, end diastolic velocity and average velocity. The sensors (401, 402) located on the wrist-band is at least one of an impedance plethysmography (IPG) sensor, a photoplethysmography (PPG) sensor, a temperature sensor (401) along with an ultrasound sensor (402). Here, the ultrasound sensor (402) is configured to measure blood flow velocity, as well as estimate the lumen and elasticity of the radial artery. The blood flow velocity is at least one of the peak systolic velocity, end diastolic velocity and average velocity.

[0022] The wrist-band (130) system comprises a wearable ultrasound device to be positioned on a radial artery of the patient and has a transducer consisting of a capacitive micromachine ultrasonic transducer (CMUT) array or a piezo array (420, as exemplarily illustrated in FIG 4) to image the artery, and to measure the lumen in real-time and elasticity of the artery. The wrist-band (130) system also comprises a sensory hub (410) to collect the measured parameters from the sensors (401, 402) located on the wrist-band for a pre-defined time epoch.

[0023] In an embodiment, the photoplethysmography (PPG) sensor (201, 401) located at the chest patch (110) and the wrist-band (130) measures the pulsatility and perfusion index of the patient. Further, the ICG signals measured by the ICG sensor (202) at the chest patch provide an indication of the elasticity of the heart muscles and aorta. The IPG signal measured by impedance plethysmography (IPG) sensor (301) at the brachial arm-band provides the nature of the axillary and radial arteries. Thus, the parameters measured by the sensors (201, 202, 301, 401, 402) located at the chest-patch, wrist-band and arm-band can be used to estimate blood pressure.

[0024] In an embodiment, a main microcontroller (310) located at the arm-band receives the measured parameters for a specified time epoch from the sensory hub (203, 410) located on the chest patch (110) and the wrist-band (130) for a pre-defined time epoch. The received measured parameters are combined using a suitable neural network to estimate the value of blood pressure for each time epoch to monitor beat-to-beat blood pressure of the patient. Here, each time epoch represents 6-8 heart beats typically, which can be further reduced to a single heart beat. Further, the value of blood pressure is at least one of a mean arterial pressure, systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure.

[0025] In an embodiment, the system (100) further comprises a neck-bandneck-band system (140) and a finger-band finger-band system (150). The neck-band system (140) comprises one or more sensors located on a neck-band. The sensors located on the neck-band are at least one of an ultrasound (USG) sensor, a photoplethysmography (PPG) sensor and an electrocardiography (ECG) sensor. The USG sensor is used to estimate the lumen and elasticity of the carotid artery as well as to measure the blood flow velocity. The photoplethysmography (PPG) sensor and an electrocardiography (ECG) sensor is configured to assess the pulse transit time. The neck-band system (140) comprises a sensory hub to collect the measured parameters from the sensors located on the neck-band (140) for a pre-defined time epoch.

[0026] In an embodiment, a finger-band system (150) comprises one or more sensors located on a finger-band. The sensors are at least one of a PPG and an ECG sensor to assess the pulse transit time. The finger-band system (150) comprises a sensory hub to collect the measured parameters from the sensors located on the finger-band for a pre-defined time epoch. The main microcontroller (310) located at the arm-band receives the measured parameters for time epoch from the sensory hub (203, 410) located on the chest patch, wrist-band, neck-band and finger-band. The received measured parameters are combined using a suitable neural network to estimate the value of blood pressure for each time epoch to monitor beat-to-beat blood pressure of the patient. The value of blood pressure is at least one of a mean arterial pressure, systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure.

[0027] FIG 2 illustrates a block diagram of a chest patch system, according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0028] As exemplarily illustrated in FIG 2, the chest patch has 2 lateral ECG electrodes (230, 240) and a PPG sensor board. The chest patch is worn on top of the chest so that the main board is centrally placed while the PPG sensor is placed on the sternum.

[0029] FIG 3 illustrates a block diagram of an arm-band system, according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0030] As exemplarily illustrated in FIG 3, the arm-band has a display device (340) to display the measured blood pressure for each pre-defined time epoch.

[0031] Thus, the system (100) of the present invention estimates the value of blood pressure for each time epoch to monitor beat-to-beat blood pressure of the patient by using a chest patch system (110), an arm-band (120) system and a wrist-band (130) system in a non-invasive manner.

[0032] Further, since numerous modifications and variations will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation illustrated and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be restored to, falling within the scope of the invention.