Abstract:
The present invention describes a method for changing frequency channels of a wireless electronic medical apparatus, which transmits or receives physiological signals produced by human bodies by means of a transmitter and its corresponding receiver of the wireless electronic medical apparatus, and such method includes a step of issuing an instruction to a channel switching module for switching a channel, if there is a conflict of using a frequency channel while several medical apparatuses are using the same frequency channel at the same time.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0002]     The present invention relates to a method for changing frequency channels of wireless electronic medical apparatus, which is used for transmitting and receiving physiological information of human bodies and changing the frequency channel of the wireless electronic medical apparatus.  
         [0003]     2. Description of the Related Art  
         [0004]     Before electronic stethoscopes were introduced, a traditional stethoscope adopted a long hollow tube to transmit biological sounds to the ears of a doctor, and such traditional stethoscope has the shortcomings of a distortion caused by resonances and a sound loss resulted from a long-distance transmission. Therefore, electronic stethoscopes were developed and related innovative technologies for amplifying signals greatly improve weak signals and transmission loss.  
         [0005]     Wireless stethoscopes are further introduced, and a wireless stethoscope receives analog sounds produced by a patient&#39;s body through a contact type microphone. The analog signals are converted into digital signals that are sent by a transmitting circuit and received by a wireless receiver. The stethoscope for hearing physiological information of human organs is integrated with the wireless transmission technology to covert various analog sound signals produced by human organs into digital audio signals and then the digital signals are sent out. After digital signals are received by a corresponding receiver, sounds can be heard from an electronic earpiece or the stethoscope.  
         [0006]     Referring to  FIG. 5 , the foregoing prior art wireless electronic stethoscope only provides digital data and discloses general wireless transmission functions, but the prior art wireless electronic stethoscope does not have a solution for the frequency channel interference problem of the wireless transmission. Particularly, if the wireless electronic stethoscope is applied in medical treatments in a clinic and medical professionals use different wireless electronic medical apparatuses (such as wireless electronic stethoscopes) for auscultations at the same time, and there is a conflict of frequency channels, the medical professionals may obtain wrong signals from other patient&#39;s heart sounds, lung sounds and related biological signals and result a wrong diagnosis.  
         [0007]     Although a wireless network has mobility and convenience that traditional cable network cannot accomplish, the transmitting medium of the wireless network involves electromagnetic radiation in a particular form such as infrared and radio waves.  
         [0008]     As to the present wireless transmission technology, three standard Industrial Scientific Medial (ISM) bands are opened for the long-distance wireless area network transmission and these frequency channels are 902˜928 MHz, 2.4˜2.483 GHz and 5.725˜5.875 GHz. Since communication products using the ISM bands become increasingly popular, therefore the IEEE802.11 wireless LAN standard is introduced.  
         [0009]     According to the IEEE802.11 wireless LAN standard established by the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, various wireless LAN devices in compliance with this standard can use a 2.4 GHz band for transmitting wireless signals and achieving the purpose of exchanging information, and the 2.4 GHz band of the IEEE802.11 wireless LAN standard is a free band. Users need not to file an application to any organization for using the band. Furthermore, the wireless transmission rate of such standard has been updated from 2 Mbits per second to the present 11 Mbits per second, and the transmission will reach a much faster speed to support multimedia transmission through networking.  
         [0010]     However, the IEEE802.11a operating band according to the IEEE802.11 specification falls between 5.18 GHz and 5.805 GHz, and both IEEE802.11b and IEEE802.11 are operated at the wireless frequency band between 2.402 GHz and 2.483 GHz (which is called the Industrial, Scientific and Medical, ISM, band). At present, only 11 channels are available for the wireless base stations in Taiwan. For example, only three independent channels (including Channels  1 ,  6  and  11 ) are provided for the IEEE802.11b wireless transmissions. In other words, a fourth wireless base station will be interfered by other wireless base stations which use any of the three available bands. For Bluetooth technology that provides a short-distance wireless LAN transmission standard, the Bluetooth standard stems from mobile phones. To provide convenient connections of mobile phones and peripherals, Ericcson, Nokia, IBM, Toshiba and Intel jointly defined and developed a wireless transmission specification.  
         [0011]     The Bluetooth technology is similar to the Infrared Data Association (IrDA) wireless transmission technology, and both are designed for short-distance wireless transmissions, but an IrDA device requires aligning two transmission devices with each other for transmitting data. The infrared may be blocked by walls or other objects, and thus most of the present wireless LAN products use radio waves as media. The Bluetooth technology is a “point” transmission technology, of which data is transmitted out in a radial and spherical form from a transmitting point for the signal transmissions.  
         [0012]     Bluetooth technology provides a radial transmission, and thus several receiving ends can share a transmitting end in general networking applications, but Bluetooth is not applicable for medical detections while strictly no misjudgment is allowed. Therefore, there is no existing wireless transmission method for the wireless stethoscope or feasible solution for overcoming the mutual interference problem.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0013]     In view of the foregoing problems, it is a primary objective of the present invention to provide a method of changing frequency channels of wireless electronic medical apparatus.  
         [0014]     To achieve the foregoing objective, the present invention discloses a method of changing frequency channels of wireless electronic medical apparatus, which comprises a physiological measuring device having a chest piece of an electronic stethoscope or a pulse sensor of an electronic sphygmomanometer in contact with a patient&#39;s body, and the measuring device has a first transceiver with a microcontroller and a wireless transmitting circuit for sending out processed human organ information; a wireless receiving device having a second transceiver of the wireless receiving circuit for receiving the information transmitted from the first transceiver. The physiological signals of the human organ information such as heart sounds, lung sounds, or pulses are detected by the physiological measuring device, sent to the second transceiver of the wireless receiving circuit, and provided to medical professions for accurate diagnoses and follow-ups.  
         [0015]     If the physiological measuring device and the wireless receiver come with factory default serial numbers and a plurality of default backup frequency channels, and different sets of physiological measuring devices are using the same frequency channel, then an instruction for changing frequency channels is issued, such that a channel switching module changes the frequency channel at the same time and uses another backup frequency channel for transmitting or receiving signals.  
         [0016]     The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken with the accompanying drawings. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0017]      FIG. 1  is a flow chart of a method of changing frequency channels of wireless electronic medical apparatus in accordance with the present invention;  
         [0018]      FIG. 2  is a schematic view of a wireless stethoscope applied in the present invention;  
         [0019]      FIG. 3  is a schematic view of a wireless sphygmomanometer applied in the present invention;  
         [0020]      FIG. 4  is a schematic view of a wireless stethoscope applied in a preferred embodiment of the present invention; and  
         [0021]      FIG. 5  is a schematic view of a prior art device. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0022]     To make it easier for our examiner to understand the present invention, the following detailed description with reference to the accompanying drawings of an embodiment are given for example, but such preferred embodiment is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention.  
         [0023]     Referring to  FIG. 1 , a flow chart of a method of changing frequency channels of wireless electronic medical apparatus in accordance with the present invention is shown. If a transmitter  10  sends out human body information, a first transceiver  15  will detect whether or not different sets of wireless electronic medical apparatuses are concurrently using the same frequency channel and will check whether or not the serial numbers are the same. If there is no signal transmitted through the same frequency channel, then the human body information will be sent to a receiver  20  having the same serial number. If there are signals transmitted concurrently through the same frequency channel, then a first transceiver  15  of the transmitter will send out a concurrent frequency hopping signal  16  to a second transceiver  25  of the receiver  20  with the same serial number. Therefore, the transmitter  10  and the receiver  20  can simultaneously change their frequency channels to another backup frequency channel  60 .  
         [0024]     In other words, the present invention comprises at least a first transceiver and a second transceiver in a wireless electronic medical apparatus, and the first transceiver  15  on the transmitter  10  notices the second transceiver  25  on the receiver  20  having the same serial number to change to a backup frequency channel according to a method comprising the steps of:  
         [0025]     (A) detecting a signal of the same frequency channel by the first transceiver  15  or the second transceiver  25 ; and  
         [0026]     (B) sending out a concurrent frequency hopping signal  16  by the first transceiver  15  or the second transceiver  25  to notice the second transceiver  25  having the same serial number or the first transceiver  15  to switch to another backup frequency channel  60  simultaneously, so as to prevent transceivers of different serial numbers from receiving unintended signals from each other.  
         [0027]     Further, a frequency channel switching module  25  installed on the receiver  20  and a frequency channel switching module  15  installed on the transmitter  10  according to the present invention can receive a press button signal transmitted from a remote control  500 . The receiving frequency channel or the transmitting frequency channel is switched according to the press button signal to prevent any unintended transmission of human organ information between the physiological measuring device and the wireless receiver of different serial numbers.  
         [0028]     Referring to  FIG. 2 , a schematic view of a wireless electronic stethoscope applied in the present invention is shown. In  FIG. 2 , a stethoscope device  100  (which could be a chest piece of an electronic stethoscope) comprises a contact type microphone  110 ; a transmission control unit  120  having a power amplifier and a wireless transmit circuit; a first transceiver  125  and a first hidden antenna  126  for producing a filtered human organ information  140 ; a first frequency channel switching module  150  for automatically or using a select button  160  installed at the stethoscope device  100  to change the transmitting frequency channel; a wireless receiver  200  (which could be an earpiece of an electronic stethoscope or a computer); a receiving control unit  210  having a wireless receive circuit; a second transceiver  225  and a second hidden antenna  226  for receiving or displaying the human organ information  140 ; and a second frequency channel module  250  for automatically or using a select button  260  installed on the wireless receiver  200  to change the transmitting frequency channel. The foregoing frequency channel switching modules can transmit signals to the wireless receiver through a remote control  500  to change the frequency channel.  
         [0029]     In an application, a user may use a contact type microphone  110  installed in the stethoscope device  100  to contact a patient&#39;s body, so that the sounds such as heart sounds, lung sounds, pulses, internal organ sounds produced in the patient&#39;s body are amplified to produce a human organ information  140 , and such information  140  is sent out by the transmission control unit  120 . The human organ information  140  is received by the wireless receiver  200  through the transmission control unit  120 .  
         [0030]     Referring to  FIG. 3 , a schematic view of a wireless electronic sphygmomanometer applied in the present invention is shown. The sphygmomanometer comprises a wireless electronic sphygmomanometer unit  300  having a pressure detector  310  and a transmission control unit  320 , and the transmission control unit  320  has a wireless transmit circuit; a first transceiver  325  and a first hidden antenna  326  for producing a filtered human organ information  340  (such as a diastolic pressure, a systolic pressure, or a heartbeat); a first frequency channel switching module  350  for automatically or using a select button  360  installed at the sphygmomanometer unit  300  to change the transmitting frequency channel; a wireless receiver  400 ; a receiving control unit  410  having a wireless receive circuit; a first transceiver  425  and a first hidden antenna  426  for receiving or displaying an amplified human body information  340 ; and a display unit  430  for displaying the human body information  340 .  
         [0031]     In an application, a user may use a wireless electronic sphygmomanometer device  300  to contact a patient&#39;s body, so that the measured signals such as pulses or blood pressures are amplified and processed to produce a human body information  340 , and such information  340  is sent out by the transmission control unit  320 . The human body information  340  is received by the receiving control unit  410  of the wireless receiver  400  and the physiological signals are displayed on the display unit  430  (or the computer). A second frequency channel switching module  450  for automatically or using a select button  460  installed at the receiver  400  to change the transmitting frequency channel; a wireless receiver  400 , and the foregoing frequency channel switching modules can send out signals to the receiver  400  through a remote control  500  to change its frequency channel.  
         [0032]     Referring to  FIG. 4 , a schematic view of a wireless stethoscope applied in a preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown. In the wireless stethoscope of this embodiment, the contact type microphone  110  of the stethoscope device  100  is in contact with a patient&#39;s body to receive sound signals such as heart sounds, lung sounds, internal organ sounds, and these signals are amplified and filtered to produce a human organ information  140  to be displayed on the display unit  170 . Such information  140  is sent out by the transmission control unit  120 . The human organ information  140  is received by the wireless receiver  200  (the electronic earpiece or computer) through the receiving control unit  210 .  
         [0033]     A first frequency channel switching module  150  installed on the stethoscope device  100  for automatically or using a select button  160  installed at the stethoscope device  100  to change the transmitting frequency channel, and the receiving control unit  210  also has a second frequency channel switching module  250  for automatically or using a select button  160  installed at the receiver  200  to change its transmitting frequency channel, or the foregoing first frequency channel switching module  150  and the second frequency channel switching module  250  can send out press key signals to the receiver through a remote control  500  to change its frequency channel.  
         [0034]     The description and its accompanied drawings are used for describing preferred embodiments of the present invention, and it is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto. To the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements and procedures, and the scope of the appended claims therefore should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements and procedures.  
         [0000]     First transceiver  15  of transmitter  10   
         [0000]     Is the detected frequency channel occupied? Yes/No  
         [0000]     Issue a concurrent frequency hopping signal  16 .  
         [0000]     Both transmitter  10  and receiver  20  switch to another same backup frequency channel  60  at the same time.  
         [0000]     Send human organ information  14  to second transceiver  25  of receiver  20   
         [0000]    
       FIG. 1 
     
         [0000]    
       
           150  first frequency switching module  
           125  first transceiver  
           110  contact type microphone  
           160  control select button  
           126  first hidden antenna  
           120  transmission control unit  
           250  second frequency switching module  
           225  second transceiver  
           260  control select button  
           226  second hidden antenna  
           210  receiving control unit 
   FIG. 2   
           350  first frequency switching module  
           325  first transceiver  
           310  pressure detector  
           360  control select button  
           326  first hidden antenna  
           320  transmission control unit  
           450  second frequency switching module  
           425  second transceiver  
           430  display unit  
           460  control select button  
           426  second hidden antenna  
           410  receiving control unit 
   FIG. 3