Abstract: A system, method and apparatus for monitoring uterine and/or cervical activity indicative of labor in a patient. The system includes a medical device and a data processor in communication with the medical device. The medical device includes a structural component, a first electrode attached to the structural component, and a second electrode attached to the structural component. The structural component is structured to be in contact with a cervical surface and a vaginal surface of the patient, such that said first electrode is in electrical contact with said cervical surface and said second electrode is in electrical contact with said vaginal surface. The first electrode is adapted to receive an electrical activity of the cervical surface and the second electrode is adapted to receive an electrical activity of the uterus through the vaginal surface. The data processor is adapted to process the electrical activity of the electrodes to detect contractions on a surface of the patient indicative of labor.

Abstract: A point-of-care, screening kit for use by a heath care worker to create custom test strips for screening the bodily fluids of an individual for various, medical conditions includes: (a) a plurality of reagents (12), (b) a substrate (18) configured to: i) receive one of the reagents and react with it so as to cause it to acquire a first characteristic color, and, ii) upon the addition of the individual's bodily fluid to the substrate, acquire, as a result of the formulation of each of the reagents, a second, dichotomous characteristic color when the individual has a specific one of the various, medical conditions.

Abstract: An embodiment in accordance with the present invention provides a device and method for hemodialysis including a needle access port having a housing defining a septum, wherein the septum is configured for needle access. Generally, the needle access port will have three septa for communication with valves configured to be anastomosed to a large-diameter blood vessel. The valves are in fluid communication with a flow of blood through the large-diameter blood vessel. The device also includes an elongate tube having a first and a second elongate lumen, wherein a first end of the tube is coupled to the needle access port and a second end of the tube is coupled to the valve. The device can be cleaned by injecting a cleaning fluid into a first septum of the needle access port and extracting it though the second septum of the needle access port.

Abstract: A point-of-care, screening kit for use by a heath care worker to create custom test strips for screening the bodily fluids of an individual for various, medical conditions includes: (a) a plurality of reagents (12), (b) a substrate (18) configured to: i) receive one of the reagents and react with it so as to cause it to acquire a first characteristic color, and, ii) upon the addition of the individual's bodily fluid to the substrate, acquire, as a result of the formulation of each of the reagents, a second, dichotomous characteristic color when the individual has a specific one of the various, medical conditions.

Abstract: Featured is an apparatus an apparatus including a monitoring and sensing means, an electrode patch and a control device operably coupled to each of the sensing means and the electrodes and outputs signals to the electrodes for purposes of stimulating the phrenic nerve to thereby cause breathing by natural contraction of the diaphragm. The control device is configured and arranged to initially localize the phrenic nerve with respect to a given set of electrodes that is effective, when appropriately energized, for stimulating the phrenic nerve to establish negative pressure induced respiration in the body, based on the output signal(s) from the monitoring and sensing means. After such initially localizing; the control device thereafter repetitively outputs stimulation signals via the given set of electrodes so as to thereby continuously stimulate negative pressure induced respiration. Also featured are methods related thereto.

Abstract: An embodiment in accordance with the present invention provides a device and method for hemodialysis including a needle access port having a housing defining a septum, wherein the septum is configured for needle access. Generally, the needle access port will have three septa for communication with valves configured to be anastomosed to a large-diameter blood vessel. The valves are in fluid communication with a flow of blood through the large-diameter blood vessel. The device also includes an elongate tube having a first and a second elongate lumen, wherein a first end of the tube is coupled to the needle access port and a second end of the tube is coupled to the valve. The device can be cleaned by injecting a cleaning fluid into a first septum of the needle access port and extracting it though the second septum of the needle access port.

Abstract: An embodiment in accordance with the present invention provides a valve including a housing having a top portion and a bottom portion. The top portion of the housing defines a first and second nozzle, and the bottom portion of the housing defines an opening. A diaphragm has an open position and a closed position, and the diaphragm is disposed between the top portion of the housing and the bottom portion of the housing. A first fluid flow path between the first nozzle and the second nozzle is defined by the housing and the diaphragm, when the diaphragm is in the closed position. A second fluid flow path between the opening and the first nozzle is defined by the housing and the diaphragm, when the diaphragm is in the closed position. Such a valve can be used for a number of purposes including hemodialysis procedures.

Abstract: A system, method and apparatus for monitoring uterine and/or cervical activity indicative of labor in a patient. The system includes a medical device and a data processor in communication with the medical device. The medical device includes a structural component, a first electrode attached to the structural component, and a second electrode attached to the structural component. The structural component is structured to be in contact with a cervical surface and a vaginal surface of the patient, such that said first electrode is in electrical contact with said cervical surface and said second electrode is in electrical contact with said vaginal surface. The first electrode is adapted to receive an electrical activity of the cervical surface and the second electrode is adapted to receive an electrical activity of the uterus through the vaginal surface. The data processor is adapted to process the electrical activity of the electrodes to detect contractions on a surface of the patient indicative of labor.

Abstract: General diagnostic and real-time application of digital Hermite functions allows features to be extracted from a measured signal through expansion of the measured signal. Specifically, the digital Hermite functions represent the shape of the measured signal in a set of vectors derived from a symmetrical tridiagonal matrix. This allows for efficient computation of the Hermite expansion coefficients, in real-time, to represent the expanded signal. The signal expansion also allows any artifacts, such as noise, to be isolated and removed, allowing the underlying signal of interest to be revealed.

Abstract: Featured is an apparatus an apparatus including a monitoring and sensing means, an electrode patch and a control device operably coupled to each of the sensing means and the electrodes and outputs signals to the electrodes for purposes of stimulating the phrenic nerve to thereby cause breathing by natural contraction of the diaphragm. The control device is configured and arranged to initially localize the phrenic nerve with respect to a given set of electrodes that is effective, when appropriately energized, for stimulating the phrenic nerve to establish negative pressure induced respiration in the body, based on the output signal(s) from the monitoring and sensing means. After such initially localizing; the control device thereafter repetitively outputs stimulation signals via the given set of electrodes so as to thereby continuously stimulate negative pressure induced respiration. Also featured are methods related thereto.

Abstract: A surgical metal detection apparatus. The apparatus comprises an elongate, tubular cannula and a removable element, which may be a trocar, releasably engaged within the cannula. A metal detection coil is positioned within the removable element or, in some embodiments, within the cannula. The metal detection coil is connected to a metal detection circuit which is adapted to detect the presence of a metallic element proximate to the end of the removable element or cannula. When a metallic element has been detected, the removable element may be removed from the cannula to permit the passage of a removal tool, such as a screwdriver, through the cannula without removing or changing the position of the cannula.

Abstract: The present invention relates to general diagnostic and real-time applications of discrete Hermite functions to digital data. More specifically, the invention relates to methods and systems for the application of dilated discrete digital Hermite functions (DDHF) to biomedical data, for example, to extract features from digital signals, including but not limited to, ECGs, EMGs, EOGs, EEGs, and others, by expanding the measured signals using a computationally efficient technique. These digital Hermite functions form the basis for the new discrete Hermite transform, generated on a beat by beat basis, which provides information about the shape of the signals, such as that in the BCG artifact in an EEG or in an ECG interval, or any noise in any other electrical signal. An automated system and method for real-time interpretation of any abnormalities present in a digital biomedical signal is provided.

Abstract: The present invention relates to methods and systems for evaluating abnormalities in electrocardiograms (ECGs), including abnormalities associates with cardiac ischemia. More particularly, the present invention relates to an automated system and method for interpreting any abnormalities present in an electrocardiogram (ECG), including those abnormalities associated with cardiac ischemia. In one embodiment, the present invention relates to a method for monitoring abnormalities in an ECG, the method comprising the steps of: (a) gathering at least one ECG; (b) subjecting the at least one ECG to a QRS detection algorithm in order to scan for R-peak location; (c) calculating the Hermite coefficients corresponding to the individual ECG complexes from each individual ECG; and (d) subjecting the Hermite coefficients to a Neural Network in order to determine the present and/or absence of ECG abnormalities.