Abstract:
The system and method of the present application includes an ECG acquisition device having a USB connector for connecting the device to a host device and a patient connector for connecting the device to a patient with ECG leads. The ECG acquisition device of the present system further includes a processor and storage medium, a power management and brokering module, a USB communications control module, an ECG acquisition circuit, and a patient isolation module. Unlike prior art ECG acquisition systems, the system of the present application affords a truly portable ECG acquisition device that may be connected through the USB connector to any host device having software processing capabilities and a display. The ECG acquisition device auto-loads and runs ECG monitoring software onto the host device eliminating the need to install additional acquisition software and/or drivers to the host device, and allows the acquisition device to interface with a host device of varying platforms.

Description:
FIELD 
       [0001]    The present application is directed to the field of patient monitoring and diagnostic electrocardiography systems. More specifically, the present application is directed to the field of portable ECG systems. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    In current electrocardiograph (ECG) systems, there exists solutions whereby a set of ECG leads are configured for collecting ECG data from a patient and delivering that signal from the collected ECG data to a monitor or computing device. In current systems, the computing device must have software pre-installed for receiving, compiling and providing a user interface for use with the ECG system. 
         [0003]    Further, current monitoring systems may also require the user to install special device drivers or other residual changes to the host computing device in order to utilize the ECG system. These requirements make it difficult to implement a fully portable ECG system, whereby a user such as a physician or other clinical worker may use the ECG leads with any available computing device. Obviously, the current ECG systems make it very difficult to have a true portable ECG system as computing devices must be equipped with special software and/or devices, but the current systems also make portable ECG collection and analysis expensive by requiring multiple licenses and/or installation on a number of computing devices in a healthcare environment. 
         [0004]    An embodiment of an ECG system  10  of the prior art is illustrated in  FIG. 1 . This system  10  includes an acquisition device  20 , having a USB communication control module  30 , an ECG analog to digital converter  35  and a patient isolation module  40 . This prior art solution also includes a patient connector  70  (ECG leads), connecting the acquisition device  20  to the patient  80 . The acquisition device  20  further includes a USB connector  60  for coupling to a monitoring device  50 . Again, it should be noted that this acquisition device includes only a patient isolation module  40 , which is required in electronic devices that are attached to patients, a USB communication control  30  that acts as an interface between the acquisition device  20  and the monitoring device  50 , and the converter  35  that prepares the acquired signal for the software application resident on the monitoring device  50 . In essence, software on the monitoring device  50 , through the USB connector  60 , controls the entire operation of the acquisition system  10 . The acquisition device  20  in this case is not entirely a portable acquisition device or complete ECG system at all, but rather a mere middleman or transfer device between the monitoring device  50 , and the patient connector  70 . As stated previously, this system  10  is severely limited in that it can only operate with monitoring devices  50  that have the appropriate resident software or drivers. Further, such systems do not include an acquisition device  20  equipped with power management and brokering for use with host devices with limited capabilities for providing start-up power. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0005]    The system and method of the present application includes an ECG acquisition device having a USB connector for connecting the device to a host device and a patient connector for connecting the device to a patient with ECG leads. The ECG acquisition device of the present system further includes a processor and storage medium, a power management and brokering module, a USB communications control module, an ECG acquisition circuit, and a patient isolation module. Unlike prior art ECG acquisition devices, the system of the present application affords a truly portable ECG acquisition system that may be connected through the USB connector to any host device having software processing capabilities and a display. The ECG acquisition device auto-loads and runs ECG monitoring software onto the host device eliminating the need to install additional acquisition software and/or drivers to the host device, and allows the acquisition device to interface with a host device of varying platforms. 
         [0006]    A portable electrocardiograph (ECG) acquisition system, the system comprising an acquisition device, the acquisition device including a storage medium including a set of executable code embodying a host software application in a plurality of formats, an ECG connector including a set of ECG leads, wherein the ECG leads collect a set of ECG data from a patient, a USB connector, wherein the USB connector is configured to couple the acquisition device with a host device, an ECG acquisition subsystem module, wherein the ECG acquisition module controls the collection of the set of ECG data from the patient, and processor, wherein the processor loads the set of executable code in an appropriate one of the plurality of formats on to the host device and executes the set of executable code in the host device when the USB connector is coupled with the host device, and further wherein the executed code starts the software application and displays the software application on a display of the host device. 
         [0007]    An electrocardiograph (ECG) acquisition device, the device comprising a storage medium including a set of executable code embodying a host software application in a plurality of formats, an ECG connector for connecting a set of ECG leads, wherein the ECG leads collect a set of ECG data from a patient, a USB connector, wherein the USB connector is configured to couple the acquisition device with a host device, an ECG acquisition subsystem module, wherein the ECG acquisition subsystem module controls the collection of the set of ECG data from the patient, and a processor, wherein the processor communicates with the host device to identify an appropriate one of the platforms of the host device and loads the set of executable code on to the host device and executes the set of executable code in the host device when the USB connector is coupled with the host device, and further wherein the executed code starts the software application and displays the software application on a display of the host device. 
         [0008]    A method of portable collection of an electrocardiograph (ECG) from a patient with a portable USB ECG acquisition device, the method comprising connecting the acquisition device to a host device with a USB connector, identifying the platform of the host device with a processor in the acquisition device, automatically loading a set of executable code from a storage medium in the acquisition device having an appropriate format for the host device on to the host device, automatically executing the set of executable code on the host device with the processor, starting an ECG monitoring software application, connecting a set of ECG leads to the patient, wherein the ECG leads are coupled with the acquisition device, and receiving in the acquisition device commands from a user operating the software application on the host device, wherein the commands initiate collecting a set of ECG data from the patient. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES 
         [0009]      FIG. 1  is a schematic block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a portable USB electrocardiograph system of the prior art. 
           [0010]      FIG. 2  is a schematic block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a portable USB electrocardiograph system of the present application. 
           [0011]      FIG. 3  is a flowchart illustrating an embodiment of a portable USB method of the present application. 
           [0012]      FIG. 4  is a graphical representation illustrating an embodiment of a portable USB system of the present application. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0013]    An embodiment of the acquisition system  100  of the present application is depicted in  FIG. 2 . Here, an acquisition device  110  includes a CPU and memory  120 , a USB communication control  130 , a power management and brokering module  140 , an ECG acquisitions module  150  and a patient isolation module  160 . The acquisition device  110  is coupled to a patient  195  with a patient connector  190 , and further coupled to a host device  170  with a USB connector  180 . 
         [0014]    Referring still to  FIG. 2 , the acquisition system  100  includes a patient connector  190  that utilizes ECG leads to connect with the patient  195 . The ECG leads may be a standard 12-lead configuration for collecting ECGs, or any other lead configuration known in the art to collect ECG data from the patient  195 . The end of the patient connector  190  connects directly to the acquisition device  110  and may be hardwired to the acquisition device  110  or removable. Furthermore, the patient connector  190  may be a continuous cable from the acquisition device  110  to the set of ECG leads, or may alternatively be a cable extending from the data from the acquisition device  110  having an adapter-type end in order to connect with a variety of possible ECG lead configurations. The patient isolation module  160  is an optical or other-known device in the art that isolates the patient  195  from power mains so that the patient  195  is not exposed dangerously to current power sources. Patient isolation modules  160  are known in the art and are a standard of patient-connected medical electronics. 
         [0015]    The USB connector  180  preferably protrudes from the acquisition device  110  and is a standard USB-type connector as known in the art. The requirements of the host device  170  of the present acquisition system  100  is to include a USB port, have a processor and storage medium in order to store and execute a set of executable code in the form of a software application. The host device  170  must also include a display and input/output devices so that a user may interact with the software (SW) application. Accordingly, such qualifying host devices  170  include, but are not limited to, a PC, a laptop, a PDA, cell phone, or any other personal computing device. As will be discussed in further detail in this application, the acquisition device  110 , and its corresponding software, will be capable of interacting with a host device  170  having a multitude of platforms and/or operating systems. The USB communications control module is a subsystem that controls the serial communications between the acquisition device  110  and the host system  170  via the USB port of the acquisition device  110 , and will manage all communications between the acquisition device  110  and the host device  170  such that they are compliant with USB standards for communication. 
         [0016]    The CPU and memory  120  includes a storage medium and a processor. The storage medium stores an SW application in the form of a set of executable code in a number of formats to accommodate a host device  170  having any computing platform. The processor effectuates the loading and executing of this code at the appropriate time for the appropriate platform, which will be discussed in further detail below. Lastly, upon receiving instructions from the SW application, the ECG acquisition module  150  will facilitate the collection of ECG data from the patient  195  through the patient connector  190 . 
         [0017]    The power management and brokering module  140  is a module included in the embodiment of the present system. When the acquisition device  110  is plugged into a host device  170  that is not a device with an adequate power supply, an internal power source with power management and power brokering capabilities may be used so that the acquisition device  110  can be used with mobile host platforms. 
         [0018]    Still referring to  FIG. 2 , in operation when a user plugs the USB connector  180  of the acquisition device  110  into the host device  170 , the technical effect is that the processor communicates with the host device  170  to identify the platform of the host device  170 , and then the processor effectuates the loading of the appropriate SW application into the host device  170  according to the platform of the host device  170 . The processor then executes the SW application on the host device  170 . A user then interacts with the SW application in order to monitor a patient and collect ECG data from that patient. The SW application is further configured to organize, review and manipulate the ECG data in a way suitable for the user, which will be discussed further below as well. 
         [0019]    In operation, when the acquisition device  110  is plugged into a host device  170 , the acquisition device will select the appropriate SW application by platform and the SW application will auto-run from the acquisition device  110 , which means that it does not need to be installed on the host device  170 . However, if the host device  170  is one that has been used with this acquisition system  100 , the software may have been already saved on the host device  170 . Following, the SW application is loaded directly from the acquisition device  110  and is executed. The auto-run SW application of the host device  170  platform includes a user interface which allows a user to control and communicate with the ECG acquisition subsystem module  150  on the acquisition device  110 , to enter patient and test information for ECG acquisitions, to conduct real-time signal conditioning, e.g., filtering for noise and display of the ECG signal, to perform automated configurized analysis of the signals including analysis for the purposes of indicating signal quality, lead placement problems, ECG measurement/interpretation. The SW application further allows the users to generate a report of the acquired and analyzed ECG data in either a printed report or digital storage format, to review and make basic physician over-read edits to the generated ECG reports, print the report using printing devices available to the host device  170  platform, and to transfer digital records of recorded ECGs back to the acquisition device  110  for storage. 
         [0020]    An embodiment of the acquisition method  200  of the present application is included in the flowchart of  FIG. 3 . It should be noted that this flowchart includes both software functions as well as clinical workflow steps, and that the software portions of the acquisition method  200  will be parsed out in the appended claim set. Referring to  FIGS. 2 and 3  simultaneously, in step  205  of the acquisition method  200 , the acquisition device  110  is connected to the host device  170 . In step  208 , the processor identifies the platform of the host device  170 , and in step  210 , the SW application having an appropriate format is automatically loaded to the host device  170 . Once the SW application is loaded, the SW application steps  215  include first in step  220 , the acquisition device  110  automatically executing the SW application on the host device  170 . In step  222 , a user may then enter patient information for the patient to be monitored into the SW application. In step  225 , the clinician or user connects the ECG leads to the patient. In step  230 , upon instructing the system through the SW application, ECG data is collected from the patient, and in step  235 , the data is received in the SW application on the host device, where the data may be analyzed, and reports may be created, reviewed, printed and/or stored. In step  240 , if there is more data to collect, then the method  200  returns to step  230 . If no further data is needed, then in step  245 , ECG leads are disconnected from the patient, and in step  250 , the acquisition device  110  is disconnected from the host device  170 , and the SW application is closed. 
         [0021]    A further embodiment of the present application is illustrated in  FIG. 4 . Here, the acquisition system  300  again includes an acquisition device  305 . The USB connector  310  of the acquisition device  305  is able to connect with any host device  340   a, b, c , having a USB port or appropriate adapter  345 . A non-exhaustive list of possible examples of host devices  340   a, b, c , includes, but is not limited to, a medical monitor  340   a  including a USB port, a handheld PDA and/or smart phone  340   b  utilizing an appropriate adapter  345  if no USB port is available, or a laptop or desktop computing device  340   c , or any similar computing device. 
         [0022]    Still referring to  FIG. 4 , the acquisition device  305  is further equipped with an LED power/signal indicator  315 . This LED power/signal indicator  315  may include any number of LED lights that are utilized to indicate to a user proper application of the acquisition device  305 . This LED power/signal indicator  315  may be configurable by the user to indicate whether the appropriate power is available to the acquisition device  305 , or whether a signal strength from collected ECG data is adequate for viewing on the SW application on the host device  340   a, b, c . Again, this LED power/signal indicator  315  is configurable by the user to detect any number of conditions related to the acquisition device  305 . The ECG connector  320 , once again is connected to the acquisition device  305  in a removable or fixed manner, and may be a continuous lead to the ECG leads  325 , or may include an ECG adapter  330  in order to provide an easier way to disconnect and connect different configurations of ECG leads  325 . Here, the patient  335  has four ECG leads  325  attached to its torso. This is an exemplary figure only, and in fact, a standard ECG lead  325  set would include a 12-lead configuration, and in some casts an 8-lead configuration. It is important to note that the system and method of the present application would utilize the various standard ECG lead  325  configurations known in the art, and not necessarily the 4-lead configuration shown in  FIG. 4 . 
         [0023]    This written description uses examples to disclose the invention, including the best mode, and also to enable any person skilled in the art to make and use the invention. The patentable scope of the invention is defined by the claims, and may include other examples that occur to those skilled in the art. Such other examples are intended to be within the scope of the claims if they have structural elements that do not differ from the literal language of the claims, or if they include equivalent structural elements with insubstantial differences from the literal languages of the claims.