Patent ID: 9554739
Date: 2017-01-31
CPC Classifications: A61B,G16H

Claim:
1. A smart cable for communicably coupling a medical sensor to an electronic patient monitor comprising: a photoplethysmographic sensor comprising an emitter configured to transmit light at one or more wavelengths into tissue, a detector configured to generate an analog signal based on light received at the detector after the light is transmitted into the tissue, and a sensor connector; a first cable connector configured to connect to the sensor and to receive the analog signal from the photoplethysmographic sensor via the sensor connector, wherein the first cable connector is disposed on a first end of the cable and configured to removably couple the cable to the sensor connector such that the photoplethysmographic sensor and the sensor connector are removable from the cable; a second cable connector configured to connect to a monitor connector associated with the electronic patient monitor and to transmit a digital signal to the electronic patient monitor, wherein the second cable connector is disposed on a second end of the cable and configured to removably couple the cable to the monitor connector; interconnection cabling directly coupled to and between the first cable connector and the second cable connector; an analog-to-digital converter disposed within the cable in the first cable connector, the second cable connector, or a combination thereof, that is configured to digitize the analog signal to obtain the digital signal; and a processor housed within the cable, wherein the processor receives the digital signal from the analog-to digital converter, processes the digital signal to determine a physiological parameter based on the light received, and transmits the physiological parameter to the monitor when the second cable connector is coupled to the monitor connector.