Patent ID: 7706868

Claim:
A method of determining possible atrial fibrillation, said method comprising: detecting, using a pulse beat detection apparatus, a sequence of pulse beats to provide a succession of time intervals corresponding to the sequence of pulse beats; ascertaining, using a processor, a mean of the succession of time intervals; determining, using a processor, lower and upper boundary values of the time intervals each as a respective percent of the mean; recalculating, using a processor, the mean based on only the time intervals that are at or between the upper and lower boundary values and not based on the time intervals that are less than the lower boundary value or higher than the upper boundary value; calculating, using a processor, a standard deviation based on only the time intervals that are at or between the upper and lower boundary values and not based on the time intervals that are less than the lower boundary value or higher than the upper boundary value; calculating, using a processor, a quotient formed by dividing the standard deviation by the recalculated mean; comparing the calculated quotient with a threshold value; and considering the rhythm to be atrial fibrillation when the quotient exceeds the threshold value.