(12) United States Patent
`Platt et al.
`
`USOO648.5416B1
`(10) Patent No.:
`US 6,485,416 B1
`(45) Date of Patent:
`Nov. 26, 2002
`
`(54) REMOTE MONITORING APPARATUS FOR
`MEDICAL CONDITIONS
`
`(75) Inventors: Harry Louis Platt, 12 Flower Street,
`Maroubra, NSW, 2035 (AU); Vladimir
`Jankov, Randwick (AU)
`(73) Assignee: Harry Louis Platt, Maroubra (AU)
`(*) Notice:
`Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this
`patent is extended or adjusted under 35
`U.S.C. 154(b) by 0 days.
`(21) Appl. No.:
`09/463,465
`(22) PCT Filed:
`Jul. 24, 1998
`(86) PCT No.:
`PCT/AU98/00591
`S371 (c)(1),
`(2), (4) Date: Mar. 21, 2000
`(87) PCT Pub. No.: WO99/04687
`PCT Pub. Date: Feb. 4, 1999
`Foreign Application Priority Data
`(30)
`Jul. 25, 1997 (AU) ............................................ PO 8265
`(51) Int. Cl." .............................................. A61B5/0404
`(52) U.S. Cl. ......................... 600/300; 128/904; 607/27;
`607/32; 600/301
`(58) Field of Search ................................. 600/300, 301;
`128/904; 607/27, 60, 32, 36, 62
`
`(56)
`
`References Cited
`U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
`4,337,377 A
`6/1982 Van Riper et al. .......... 179/2 R
`4,535,783 A * 8/1985 Marangoni........
`... 128/711
`5,172,698 A 12/1992 Stanko ....................... 128/697
`
`5,317,269 A * 5/1994 Mills et al. ................. 324/427
`5,462,051. A 10/1995 Oka et al. ................... 128/630
`5,544,661 A 8/1996 Davis et al. ................ 128/700
`6,219,408 B1
`4/2001 Kurth .................... 379/106.02
`
`FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS
`
`WO
`WO
`
`9728736
`98.38611
`
`8/1997
`9/1998
`
`* cited by examiner
`Primary Examiner Kennedy Schaetzle
`(74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Edwin D. Schindler
`(57)
`ABSTRACT
`A physiological monitoring apparatus comprising a cellular
`phone handset connected to a cellular phone network is
`disclosed. The handset includes a removable battery con
`tainer (12) having a physiological monitoring device (14)
`contained therein as well as a battery power source (13). The
`battery power Source (13) provides power for the operation
`of the handset (11) as well as providing power for the
`physiological monitoring device (14). The battery container
`(12) has detectors (15) located on its outer Surface, commu
`nicating with the physiological monitoring device (14)
`through apertres in the battery container (12). Acoustic
`coupling means (18) are adapted to couple tones produced
`by the physiological monitoring device (14) with a Sound
`microphone of the cellular phone handset. The physiological
`monitoring device (14) is activated by placing it against the
`chest of a patient and the cellular phone handset is used to
`connect to a remote monitoring Station via the cellular phone
`network. The cellular phone handset Sends an electromag
`netic Signal corresponding to the acoustically coupled tonal
`Signal produced by the physiological monitoring device
`(14).
`
`12 Claims, 2 Drawing Sheets
`
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`1
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`APPLE 1006
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`U.S. Patent
`U.S. Patent
`
`Nov.26, 2002
`Nov. 26, 2002
`
`Sheet 1 of 2
`Sheet 1 of 2
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`US 6,485,416 B1
`US 6,485,416 B1
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`FIG. 1
`FIG.
`1
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`2
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`

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`U.S. Patent
`
`Nov. 26, 2002
`
`Sheet 2 of 2
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`US 6,485,416 B1
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`15
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`BO-SENSOR
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`BIO-ACQUISITION UNIT
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`BIO-AMPLIFER
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`ACQUI SITION
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`SPEAKER OUTPUT
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`CONNECTOR INTERFACE
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`FIG. 2
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`3
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`

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`1
`REMOTE MONITORING APPARATUS FOR
`MEDICAL CONDITIONS
`
`The present invention relates to the field of monitoring
`physiological parameters and, in particular, a cardiac
`patient's electrical cardiac activity at a central location by
`means of an apparatus associated with a cellular mobile
`phone handset and transmitting the information over the
`cellular phone/ telephone network. The present invention
`can also be used to measure and control other physiological
`parameterS Such as in blood pressure monitoring, asthma
`control, pregnancy monitoring, oxygen Saturation
`monitoring, diabetes measurement, heart Sound monitoring
`and other like measurements.
`BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION
`Although the following description referS generally to
`remote cardiac monitoring equipment, the equipment can
`also find utility in any situation in monitoring of other
`physiological parameters or any other possible use.
`Therefore, reference to cardiac monitoring is also meant to
`encompass any monitoring of other physiological param
`eters where, by Suitable modification if necessary, the inven
`tion can also be utilised.
`Throughout the World, cardiac disease, including heart
`attack and angina, is the leading. cause of death, It is
`responsible for more deaths than any other diseases.
`It is estimated that 2–4% of the general population suffer
`from heart disease and 10–12% of the general population are
`considered to have two or more heart disease risk factors
`which would ideally require periodic diagnostics or preven
`tive medical treatments.
`The activity of the heart is regulated by electrical
`impulses which can be measured and presented for diag
`nostic or preventive purposes, in the form of an electrocar
`diogram (ECG).
`To acquire an ECG, electrodes are physically attached to
`a designated position on the patient's chest to pick up
`electrical impulses. Traditionally ECG diagnostic tests were
`carried out in hospitals or clinics where the patient would be
`attached to an ECG recorder.
`Most people experience Some form of arrhythmia
`(abnormal rythym disturbance of the heart). Rarer forms of
`arrhythmia, Such as Ventricular fibrillation, often result in the
`heart Stopping and death. According to cardiologists, just
`under 20% of all people who experience some form of heart
`attack will die in the first hour due to the severity of the
`attack.
`The most Striking fact about Survival after heart attacks is
`the predominance of deaths within the first 24 hours after the
`attack begins and the Significant proportion of these deaths
`which are within the first few hours. In fact, 60% or more of
`heart attack deaths occur before the victims reach a hospital.
`Once victims arrive at hospitals and Survive the first day,
`overall chances of Survival are much improved.
`Denial time is the time interval between Symptom onset
`and a request for medical care. This So-called denial time
`contributes greatly to the 3 hour average time lapse between
`Symptom onset and medical intervention. This 3 hour inter
`Val is of major Significance. It is estimated that each year
`about 25% of all myocardial infarct patients die before
`reaching a hospital and that 66% of all Sudden deaths occur
`outside the hospital in the first 2-3 hours after onset of
`Symptoms.
`Early therapy, ie within 3 hours of the onset of Symptoms,
`for heart attack victims using anti-clotting agents has shown
`to Significantly increase patient Survival rates.
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`US 6,485,416 B1
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`With the development of advanced microprocessors com
`puting and data transmission technologies, the remote trans
`mission and acquisition of ECG is possible presenting new
`possibilities in home care, preventive diagnosis and emer
`gency Systems.
`Existing Systems for the remote monitoring of a patient's
`electrical cardiac activity use known ECG equipment which
`generate tone signals or the like to be sent via a telephone
`network to a central location which is used to record and
`monitor the tone signals. The tone signals ire generally
`acoustically coupled to the telephone handset which trans
`duces the tone signals into electrical Signals to be sent over
`the telephone network.
`Existing ECG equipment uses electrodes and wires to
`provide the electrical Signals produced when detected from
`the patient's cardiac activity. These electrical Signals travel
`over the wires to a transducer device which produces tone
`Signals which are then acoustically coupled to the telephone
`network,
`The use of these existing Systems is awkward and rela
`tively user unfriendly as the patient is not always in a
`position or situation where its use is Satisfactory or conve
`nient Such as when the patient is in public places. The use of
`the existing ECG equipment including the electrodes and
`wires also introduces the possibility of errors in the readings
`due to noise pickup from the wires and electrodes.
`It would be advantageous to provide a monitoring appa
`ratus which includes the ECG equipment and telephone
`handset in the one device So that the apparatus is simple and
`convenient to use by the cardiac patient in all circumstances
`as well as dispensing with the need to have the electrodes
`connected to the equipment by leads or wires which can
`introduce errors in the readings. It would also be advanta
`geous to have the mobile telephone handset device con
`nected to a cellular mobile telephone network So that the
`apparatus can be used at public locations which are not
`accessible by the normal telephone network
`It would also be advantageous for the mobile cellular
`phone handset to be used in its normal way as a means for
`Verbal or other communication over the cellular phone
`network when it is not being used for the remote monitoring
`of the cardiac activity of the patient.
`It would also be advantageous for a monitoring apparatus
`which includes the other forms of physiological measure
`ment and telephone handset in the one device So that the
`apparatus is simple and convenient to use by the patient in
`all circumstances as well as dispensing with the need to have
`the electrodes or other Such detectors connected to the
`equipment by leads or wires which can introduce errors in
`the readings.
`
`OBJECT OF THE INVENTION
`It is an object of the present invention to provide a
`physiological monitoring apparatus which Substantially
`overcomes or ameliorates the above mentioned disadvan
`tages. At the very least, the object of the invention is to
`provide an alternative to known physiological monitoring
`apparatuS.
`
`DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
`According to one aspect of the present invention there is
`disclose d a physiological monitoring apparatus comprising
`a cellular phone handset connected to a cellular phone
`network, Said handset including a removable modified bat
`tery power Source pack container having a physiological
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`US 6,485,416 B1
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`15
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`monitoring means contained therein as well as a battery
`power Source means, Said battery power Source means
`providing power for the operation of the Handset as well as
`providing power for the physiological monitoring means,
`Said modified battery power Source pack container having
`located on its outer Surface detector means are in commu
`nication with the physiological monitoring means through
`apertures in the modified battery power Source pack con
`tainer whereby the detector means are attached to the
`modified battery power Source pack container, acoustic
`coupling means adapted to couple tones produced by Said
`physiological monitoring means with a Sound microphone
`of the cellular phone handset wherein Said physiological
`monitoring means is activated by placing it against the chest
`of a patient and Said cellular phone handset is used to
`connect to a remote monitoring Station via the cellular phone
`network, Said cellular phone handset Sending an electromag
`netic Signal corresponding to the acoustically coupled tonal
`Signal produced by the physiological monitoring means,
`Preferably, the physiological monitoring means monitors
`cardiac activity by means of an electrocardiogram ECG
`apparatus. The present invention can also be used to measure
`and control other physiological parameterS Such as in blood
`preSSure monitoring, asthma and respiratory function
`control, pregnancy and foetal condition monitoring, oxygen
`Saturation monitoring, diabetes and blood chemistry
`measurement, heart Sound monitoring and other like mea
`SurementS.
`In one preferred form of the invention, the cellular phone
`connection between the handset and the network is activated
`by the production of the tonal signal by the ECG monitoring
`CS.
`In a preferred form of the invention, the physiological
`monitoring means monitorS Signals received from a device
`implanted in the patient, Such as a pacemaker or the like,
`Such that the Signals indicate correct functioning thereof.
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`4
`can be used according to the Specific requirements of the
`testing of the patient eg cardiac activity etc.
`The battery power source 13 is used to power the opera
`tion of the ECG monitoring device 14 as well as the
`operation of the cellular phone handset 10 for its regular use
`and is able to be charged in the normal way.
`The ECG monitoring device 14 produces tone signals
`corresponding to the Signals detected by the electrodes 15
`and is acoustically coupled via the Speaker output 18 to the
`microphone of the cellular phone handset 10 which is able
`to transmit these tone signals over a cellular phone network
`to a central location which collects and collates these signals
`as data which is then interpreted by medical practicioners
`In one preferred form, the ECG monitoring device 14 and
`cellular phone handset 10 are activated by the receipt of
`electrical cardiac Signals received from the electrodes 15
`when the patient places the electrodes against his or her
`chest in the appropriate manner. The ECG is recorded and
`Simultaneously transmitted to a Service centre for diagnostic
`evaluation after it is received down the “phone line”.
`The advantages of the apparatus of the preferred embodi
`ment is that the handset 10 with electrodes 15 “built in
`provides a simple and convenient method of detecting and
`transmitting data corresponding to electrical cardiac activity
`without the possibility of noise and errors being present as
`is the case with present methods of existing devices. The
`patient is able to carry a single device in the form of a
`cellular phone handset and be able to be connected at any
`time to the central location for analysis of the data.
`Naturally the device of the present invention is suitable
`for the detection of other physiological parameters and use
`the appropriate detection as required.
`In a preferred form of the invention, the physiological
`monitoring means monitorS Signals received from a device
`implanted in the patient, Such as a pacemaker or the like,
`Such that the Signals indicate correct functioning thereof.
`the foregoing describes only one embodiment of the
`present invention, and modifications obvious to those skilled
`in the art can be made thereto without departing from the
`Scope of the present invention.
`What is claimed is:
`1. A physiological monitoring apparatus, comprising:
`a cellular telephone handset connected to a cellular tele
`phone network, Said cellular telephone handset includ
`ing a removable modified battery power Source pack
`container having physiological monitoring means con
`tained therein and a battery power Source, Said battery
`power Source providing power for operating Said cel
`lular telephone handset and for providing power for
`Said physiological monitoring means, Said modified
`battery Source pack container having an outer Surface
`with detector means located on Said outer Surface, Said
`detector means being in communication with Said
`physiological monitoring means through apertures in
`Said modified battery power Source pack container, So
`that Said detector means is attached to Said modified
`battery power Source, Said cellular telephone handset
`further including a Sound microphone, and,
`acoustic coupling means for coupling tones produced by
`Said physiological monitoring means via Said Sound
`microphone of Said cellular telephone handset, thereby
`activating Said physiological monitoring means by
`placing Said physiological monitoring means against a
`patient's chest, Said cellular telephone handset being
`used for connecting to a remote monitoring Station via
`the cellular telephone network, Said cellular telephone
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`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`The present invention will be now be described with
`reference to the accompanying drawing in which:
`FIG. 1 is a rear perspective view of a cellular phone
`handset incorporating the apparatus according to the pre
`ferred embodiment of the present invention; and
`FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the apparatus according to the
`preferred embodiment of the present invention,
`
`BEST MODE OF CARRYING OUT THE
`INVENTION
`A cellular phone handset 10 incorporating the apparatus
`of the preferred embodiment is illustrated in the drawings
`and as Seen from the rear has a casing 11 including a
`removable modified battery power pack container 12 remov
`ably attached thereto.
`The battery pack container 12 has contained therein a
`battery power Source 13 together with a bio-acquisition unit
`14 which is preferably an ECG monitoring device which
`formulates the results of electrical cardiac activity detected
`by a bio sensor 15 which are preferably electrodes which are
`fixedly attached to the container 12. The bio-acquisition unit
`14 includes a bio-amplifier 16 connected to a acquisition
`controller 17 having a Speaker output 18 and a connector
`interface 19 which is preferably a RS232 connector. The
`electrodes 15 connect to the ECG monitoring device 14 via
`apertures in the container 12. In this embodiment three
`electrodes 15 are shown, however any number of electrodes
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`US 6,485,416 B1
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`S
`handset Sending an electromagnetic Signal correspond
`ing to an acoustically coupled tonal Signal produced by
`Said physiological monitoring means, with means for
`connecting Said telephone handset with the cellular
`telephone network being activated by producing Said
`acoustically coupled tonal Signal.
`2. The physiological monitoring apparatus according to
`claim 1, wherein Said physiological monitoring means moni
`toring cardiac activity via an electrocardiogram ECG appa
`ratuS.
`3. The physiological monitoring apparatus according to
`claim 1, wherein Said physiological monitoring means moni
`tors blood pressure.
`4. The physiological monitoring apparatus according to
`claim 1, wherein Said physiological monitoring means moni
`tors respiratory function.
`5. The physiological monitoring apparatus according to
`claim 1, wherein Said physiological monitoring means moni
`tors pregnancy and fetal condition.
`6. The physiological monitoring apparatus according to
`claim 1, wherein Said physiological monitoring means moni
`tors oxygen Saturation.
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`7. The physiological monitoring apparatus according to
`claim 1, wherein Said physiological monitoring means moni
`tors blood chemistry.
`8. The physiological monitoring apparatus according to
`claim 1, wherein Said physiological monitoring means moni
`tors heart Sounds.
`9. The physiological monitoring apparatus according to
`claim 1, wherein Said physiological monitoring means moni
`tors electrical impulses emanating from a patient's body.
`10. The physiological monitoring apparatus according to
`claim 1, wherein Said detector means includes at least one
`fixedly attached electrode.
`11. The physiological monitoring apparatus according to
`claim 1, wherein Said physiological monitoring means moni
`torS Signals received from a medical device implanted in a
`patient with Said Signals indicating a proper functioning of
`Said medical device.
`12. The physiological monitoring apparatus according to
`claim 11, wherein Said medical device is a pacemaker.
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