Patent ID: 8200321

Claim:
A method for monitoring vital signs and posture of a patient, the method comprising the following steps: (a) detecting a first time-dependent physiological waveform indicative of one or more contractile properties of the patient's heart with a first sensor comprising a first detector configured to be worn on the patient's body; (b) detecting a second time-dependent physiological waveform indicative of one or more contractile properties of the patient's heart with a second sensor comprising a second detector configured to be worn on the patient's body; (c) detecting a set of time-dependent motion waveforms with at least one motion-detecting sensor positioned on the patient's torso, wherein the one motion-detecting sensor detects a set of motion waveforms indicative of motion of the patient's torso; (d) processing the first and second time-dependent physiological waveforms to determine at least one vital sign from the patient; (e) analyzing at least a portion of the set of time-dependent motion waveforms, or a mathematical derivative thereof, to determine a vector corresponding to motion of the patient's torso; (f) comparing the vector to a coordinate space representative of how the motion-detecting sensor is oriented on the patient to determine a posture parameter; and (g) comparing the posture parameter to a threshold value to estimate the patient's posture.