Patent ID: 8818476

Claim:
A system comprising: a sensor comprising: a sensor body adapted to be applied to a patient's tissue; a first detector and a second detector disposed on the sensor body; an emitter disposed on the sensor body, wherein the emitter and the first detector are configured to operate in transmission mode and the emitter and the second detector are configured to operate in reflectance mode, and wherein the sensor is configured to alternate between transmission mode and reflectance mode such that the first detector is active when the second detector is inactive and such that the second detector is active when the first detector is inactive; and a monitor comprising a processor configured to: receive a signal from the sensor; determine a signal quality of the signal, wherein determining the signal quality comprises detecting a signal artifact in the signal and determining a characteristic of the signal artifact, and wherein determining the characteristic of the signal artifact comprises determining if the signal artifact comprises one or more of an η-artifact, α-artifact, ΔP tiss -artifact, heterogeneity artifact, or boundary condition artifact; and control the activation of the first detector and the second detector based on the signal quality and the characteristic of the signal artifact.