Patents Examined by Etsub Berhanu
  • Patent number: 9113793
    Abstract: Among the technical characteristics disclosed in this specification, the pulse wave sensor with one of the technical characteristic includes a construction to detect the pulse wave at a wrist (i.e., a construction to measure the pulse wave to be worn at the wrist). To be more concrete, the pulse wave sensor includes a measurement unit to measure the pulse wave, a power source unit to supply power to the measurement unit, a cable to connect between the measurement unit and the power source unit electrically, and a armlet type housing to contain the measurement unit, the power source unit, and the cable.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 14, 2011
    Date of Patent: August 25, 2015
    Assignee: Rohm Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Koji Terumoto, Daisuke Niwa, Tsuyoshi Satomi, Kazuhiro Oguchi
  • Patent number: 9116835
    Abstract: Methods and apparatuses for estimating activation of cerebral cortical sources from scalp site measurements of electroencephalograms (EEG) from a human subject are provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 29, 2014
    Date of Patent: August 25, 2015
    Assignee: The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army
    Inventor: Christopher C. Smyth
  • Patent number: 9113830
    Abstract: Systems and methods for detecting and monitoring arrhythmias from a signal are provided. A signal processing system may transform a signal using a wavelet transformation and analyze changes in features of the transformed signal to detect pulse rhythm abnormalities. For example, the system may detect pulse rhythm abnormalities by analyzing energy parameters, morphology changes, and pattern changes in the scalogram of a PPG signal. Further, the system may detect pulse rhythm abnormalities by analyzing both the PPG signal and its corresponding scalogram. Physiological information, such as cardiac arrhythmia, may be derived based on the detected pulse rhythm abnormality.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 31, 2011
    Date of Patent: August 25, 2015
    Assignee: Nellcor Puritan Bennett Ireland
    Inventors: Peter Galen, Paul Addison, James Watson, Scott McGonigle
  • Patent number: 9107595
    Abstract: Methods and apparatuses for estimating brain activity of a human subject from the measurement of electroencephalograms (EEG) are disclosed. In one method, cortical neural sources in the cerebral cortex of the brain of the subject are specified. Next, using a model of the human brain which treats the cortical neural sources as nodes in a cortical source network, cortical source activations are estimated from the measured electroencephalograms for each of the cortical neural sources in the network for the subject. Source network modulation control signals are then determined for the subject from the cortical source activations which are assumed to correspond to control modulators in the human brain. And a network activity classification is computed from determined modulation control signals for the subject. The innovative technology may be included in an automated aiding system in the electronic aiding of tasks performed by human operators.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 29, 2014
    Date of Patent: August 18, 2015
    Assignee: The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army
    Inventor: Christopher C. Smyth
  • Patent number: 9089310
    Abstract: Systems and methods for automatically identifying segments of EEG signals or other brain electrical activity signals that contain artifacts, and/or editing the signals to remove segments that include artifacts.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 28, 2013
    Date of Patent: July 28, 2015
    Assignee: BrainScope Company, Inc.
    Inventors: Robert Isenhart, Arnaud Jacquin, Leslie Prichep
  • Patent number: 9089292
    Abstract: Disclosed are methods, apparatuses, etc. for calibrating glucose monitoring sensors and/or insulin delivery systems. In certain example embodiments, blood glucose reference samples may be correlated with sensor measurements with regard to a delay associated with the sensor measurements. In certain other example embodiments, one or more parameters of a probability model may be estimated based on blood glucose reference sample-sensor measurement pairs. Based on such information, function(s) for estimating a blood-glucose concentration in a patient may be determined.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 26, 2010
    Date of Patent: July 28, 2015
    Assignee: Medtronic Minimed, Inc.
    Inventors: Anirban Roy, Barry Keenan, Michael Kremliovsky
  • Patent number: 9078576
    Abstract: A neural response system, including a plurality of filters for each receiving and filtering a plurality of tilt response signals obtained from a person; a segmenter for segmenting the filtered response signals into time segments; and a neural event extractor for performing a neural event extraction process on each of the time segments to obtain and generate biomarker data representing a plurality of biomarkers for each segment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 30, 2008
    Date of Patent: July 14, 2015
    Assignee: Monash University
    Inventor: Brian John Lithgow
  • Patent number: 9066693
    Abstract: A device for measuring the blood flow of a body tissue comprises a catheter having a catheter head for the insertion into the inside of a body tissue and a center piece having a light emission surface, out of which an optical conductor leads, and having a reflection surface, which is disposed opposite of the light emission surface and oriented obliquely to the longitudinal axis of the optical conductor. The optical conductor is disposed such that an emitted light beam is directed at the reflection surface, the emitted light beam can be deflected at the reflection surface and reflected into the body tissue, and a reflected light beam can be reflected out of the body tissue at the reflection surface and fed into the optical conductor. The catheter head is divided into an insertion region and a connecting region, wherein the insertion region comprises a plurality of recesses on the surface thereof. In the direction of the connecting region, the insertion region has an increasing diameter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 7, 2009
    Date of Patent: June 30, 2015
    Assignee: CARAG AG
    Inventors: Kuno Limacher, Jérôme Bernhard, Jörg Hummen, Jevgenij Mannhart, Claudio Steiner
  • Patent number: 9060702
    Abstract: This invention is a validation process for ipsative assessments. Respondents are connected to an Electroencephalograph (EEG) and some or all of the ipsative assessment questions are asked again while connected to the EEG. The EEG measuring frontal lobe responses in terms of gamma waves is compared with the assessment questions. Positive responses provide one frontal lobe response in terms of gamma waves, negative or false answers provide a different gamma response and neutral questions provide a neutral gamma response. Reading the responses then tells whether the respondent initially responded with integrity, if so the assessment is validated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 10, 2012
    Date of Patent: June 23, 2015
    Assignee: Target Training International, Ltd.
    Inventors: Bill J. Bonnstetter, Ronald J. Bonnstetter, Dustin Hebets, Thomas F. Collura
  • Patent number: 9055927
    Abstract: A method and system for a user interface for artifact removal in an EEG is disclosed herein. The invention allows an operator to select a plurality of artifacts to be automatically removed from an EEG recording using a user interface. The operator pushes a button on the user interface to apply a plurality of filters to remove the plurality of artifacts from the EEG and generate a clean EEG for viewing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 23, 2012
    Date of Patent: June 16, 2015
    Assignee: Persyst Development Corporation
    Inventors: Nicolas Nierenberg, Scott B. Wilson, Mark L. Scheuer
  • Patent number: 9044557
    Abstract: Various embodiments of an tracheal tube having a sensor coupled to a selectively permeable membrane are provided. In some embodiments, the membrane may be permeable to one or more blood gases and/or blood analytes. Certain embodiments of the endotracheal tube may be capable of deploying the sensor during intubation to sense one or more indicators of blood flow characteristics, such as a level of blood gases and/or blood analytes, in the respiratory tract. Embodiments of the present invention may include positioning of the sensor in a variety of suitable positions with respect to the permeable membrane, such as mounting the sensor to the underside of an inflatable permeable membrane.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 1, 2013
    Date of Patent: June 2, 2015
    Assignee: COVIDIEN LP
    Inventors: Alan Finneran, Garret Coady, John Desmond, Mark Cleary, David Powell, Patrick Dowling
  • Patent number: 9042952
    Abstract: The disclosed embodiments relate to pulse oximetry. An exemplary pulse oximeter comprises a probe that is adapted to be attached to a body part of a patient to create a signal indicative of an oxygen saturation of blood of the patient, and a processor that is adapted to receive the signal produced by the probe, to calculate an SPO2 value based on the signal, to detect a plurality of pattern types of SPO2 indicative of pathophysiologic events, and to produce an output indicative of a detected one of the plurality of pattern types.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 10, 2006
    Date of Patent: May 26, 2015
    Inventors: Lawrence A. Lynn, Eric N. Lynn
  • Patent number: 9037225
    Abstract: The present invention, herein is a method and apparatus that significantly limits the effect of high frequency (“HF”) interferences on acquired electro-physiological signals, such as the EEG and EMG. Preferably, this method comprises of two separate electronic circuitries and steps or electronics for processing the signals. One circuit is used to block the transmission of HF interferences to the instrumentation amplifiers. It is comprised of a front-end active filter, a low frequency electromagnetic interference (“EMI”) shield, and an isolation barrier interface which isolates the patient from earth ground. The second circuit is used to measure the difference in potential between the two isolated sides of the isolation barrier. This so-called “cross-barrier” voltage is directly representative of the interference level that the instrumentation amplifier is subjected to. This circuit is used to confirm that the acquired signals are not corrupted by the interference.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 22, 2011
    Date of Patent: May 19, 2015
    Assignee: NeuroWave Systems Inc.
    Inventors: Thomas V. Saliga, Stephane Bibian, Tatjana Zikov
  • Patent number: 9028410
    Abstract: Systems and methods for continuous measurement of an analyte in a host are provided. The system generally includes a continuous analyte sensor configured to continuously measure a concentration of analyte in a host and a sensor electronics module physically connected to the continuous analyte sensor during sensor use, wherein the sensor electronics module is further configured to directly wirelessly communicate sensor information to one or more display devices. Establishment of communication between devices can involve using a unique identifier associated with the sensor electronics module to authenticate communication. Times tracked at the sensor electronics module and the display module can be at different resolutions, and the different resolutions can be translated to facilitate communication. In addition, the frequency of establishing communication channels between the sensor electronics module and the display devices can vary depending upon whether reference calibration information is being updated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 6, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 12, 2015
    Assignee: DexCom, Inc.
    Inventors: Kenneth San Vicente, Indrawati Gauba, Siddharth Waichal, Andrew Walker
  • Patent number: 9022944
    Abstract: An electronic sphygmomanometer includes a cuff, a tank that stores a prescribed amount of fluid, a pressure adjusting unit that adjusts pressurization of the cuff or the tank by supplying or discharging the fluid, a pressure detector that detects a pressure in the cuff or a pressure in the tank based on pressure information output from a pressure sensor, a blood pressure calculating unit that calculates a blood pressure value based on a change in the pressure in the cuff detected by the pressure detector, an abnormality detector, and a first channel through to the pressure adjusting unit and the pressure detector and that has one of the tank and the cuff selectively connected thereto. The abnormality detector detects whether the pressure sensor is abnormal in a state where the tank is connected to the first channel and the fluid is supplied to the tank.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 4, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 5, 2015
    Assignee: Omron Healthcare Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Atsushi Kawano, Yukiya Sawanoi
  • Patent number: 9020586
    Abstract: What is provides is a brain activity deducing apparatus, a brain activity deducing method, a brain activity measuring apparatus, a brain activity measuring method, and a brain-machine interface device, capable of deducing a brain activity signal of a source subject. The information presentation device presents perceptible information to the first subject. The brain activity measurement device acquires a brain activity signal representing a brain activity of the first subject. The individual conversion device deduces a brain activity signal of the second subject from the acquired brain activity signal based on the individual conversion information, which correlates the brain activity signal of the first subject and the brain activity signal of the second subject.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 11, 2012
    Date of Patent: April 28, 2015
    Assignees: Honda Motor Co., Ltd., Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International
    Inventors: Kentaro Yamada, Yukiyasu Kamitani
  • Patent number: 9020585
    Abstract: A method comprises the steps of obtaining a baseline measurement corresponding to a representation of brain activity from a living body and storing the baseline measurements on a storage device configured to be wearable on the living body in combination with obtaining, at a time subsequent to the baseline measurement, a second measurement representing brain activity from the living body, reading the baseline measurement from the storage device and evaluating the living body based on a comparison of the second measurement to the baseline measurement. A system for analyzing electrical brain activity, the system comprises a component for reading, from a storage medium, data corresponding to a baseline measurement of brain activity of a living body and a component for determining data representing a current brain activity of the living body in combination with a component for evaluating the living body by comparing the baseline measurement data and the current brain activity data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 17, 2008
    Date of Patent: April 28, 2015
    Assignee: New York University
    Inventors: Erwin Roy John, Leslie S. Prichep
  • Patent number: 9017264
    Abstract: An electronic blood pressure meter includes a cuff, an inflation control unit that controls a pump for outputting a fluid into the cuff so that a pressure in the cuff is increased at an inflation speed target in accordance with a driving voltage, a pressure detection unit that detects a cuff pressure signal indicating a cuff pressure, a blood pressure calculation unit that calculates a blood pressure value based on a pulse wave superimposed on the detected cuff pressure signal, and a target changing unit that varies the inflation speed target during an inflation process in which the cuff pressure begins to increase at an initial inflation speed target and continues to increase. The target changing unit varies the inflation speed target so that the driving voltage measured during the inflation process stays within a voltage range corresponding to a range in which the pump is capable of output.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 10, 2012
    Date of Patent: April 28, 2015
    Assignee: OMRON HEALTHCARE Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Tatsuya Kobayashi, Yuki Yamashita, Hiroyuki Kinoshita, Hironori Sato, Kenji Fujii, Yukiya Sawanoi
  • Patent number: 9011345
    Abstract: A microradio is provided with a hysteretic switch to permit an optimum range increasing charging cycle, with the charging cycle being long relative to the transmit cycle. Secondly, an ensemble of microradios permits an n2 power enhancement to increase range with coherent operation. Various multi-frequency techniques are used both for parasitic powering and to isolate powering and transmit cycles. Applications for microradios and specifically for ensembles of microradios include authentication, tracking, fluid flow sensing, identification, terrain surveillance including crop health sensing and detection of improvised explosive devices, biohazard and containment breach detection, and biomedical applications including the use of microradios attached to molecular tags to destroy tagged cells when the microradios are activated. Microradio deployment includes the use of paints or other coatings containing microradios, greases and aerosols.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 15, 2011
    Date of Patent: April 21, 2015
    Assignee: RadioFIDO, LLC
    Inventors: Karl D. Brommer, Tracey H. Brommer
  • Patent number: 8998821
    Abstract: Systems, devices and methods provide for acquiring respiration information. A respiration information device includes timer circuitry to time a plurality of shorter time apertures and a plurality of longer time apertures. A respiration sensor, which may be implemented as a transthoracic impedance sensor, is configured to generate a signal indicative of patient respiration. For each aperture of the plurality of shorter time apertures and for each aperture of the plurality of longer time apertures, an estimated characteristic of the respiration is determined. Respiration metrics are developed using one or both of the estimated respiration characteristics of the shorter time apertures and the estimated respiration characteristics of the longer time apertures.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 26, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 7, 2015
    Assignee: Cardiac Pacemakers, Inc.
    Inventor: John D. Hatlestad