Patent ID: 11957505
Assignee: DL-HRT LLC
Field: Medical technology (Instruments)
Classification: CPC A | IPC A

Claim 0:
1. A method of non-invasive continuous echocardiographic monitoring, the method comprising the steps of:
(A) providing an adhesive pad, a pressure assistance device, an ultrasound transducer, and a bedside monitor, and wherein the bedside monitor includes a monitor central processing unit (CPU), and wherein the pressure assistance device includes a balloon and an air pump, wherein the balloon is integrated into the adhesive pad, and wherein the ultrasound transducer includes a flat body, a transducer head, a footprint, and a piezoelectric crystal arrangement, and wherein the flat body includes an outer body surface and an inner body surface, and wherein the transducer head is hingedly connected to the flat body with a projected angle set between 120 degrees to 180 degrees, and wherein the footprint and the piezoelectric crystal arrangement are integrated into the transducer head, and wherein the adhesive pad includes a first adhesive wing, a second adhesive wing, a third adhesive wing, and a fourth adhesive wing, and wherein the first adhesive wing, the second adhesive wing, the third adhesive wing, and the fourth adhesive wing are arranged into an H-shaped configuration;
(B) attaching the ultrasound transducer onto a specific skin portion of a patient with the adhesive pad, positioning the balloon adjacent to the transducer head, opposite to the piezoelectric crystal arrangement, and pressing the transducer head against the specific skin portion by inflating the balloon with the air pump, wherein the specific skin portion is positioned adjacent to a heart of the patent, and wherein the first adhesive wing and the second adhesive wing are used to secure the transducer head against the specific skin portion, and wherein the third adhesive wing and the fourth adhesive wing are used to secure the flat body against the specific skin portion;
(C) sensing continuous echocardiographic data with the ultrasound transducer;
(D) relaying the continuous echocardiographic data from the ultrasound transducer to the monitor CPU;
(E) generating a real-time ultrasound image of the heart from the continuous echocardiographic data with the monitor CPU, wherein the real-time ultrasound image is a two-dimensional four-chamber view of the heart, a color Doppler four-chamber view of the heart, a spectral Doppler four-chamber view of the heart, or a combination thereof; and
(F) outputting the real-time ultrasound image with the bedside monitor.