Patent ID: 8494604

Claim:
A patient monitor comprising: one or more light sources configured to emit a respective plurality of wavelengths of light; a driving circuit configured to simultaneously modulate the one or more light sources at modulation frequencies sufficient to produce resolvable photon density waves in a patient to produce a plurality of single-wavelength input photon density wave signals; a fiber coupler configured to combine the plurality of single-wavelength input photon density wave signals into a multi-wavelength input photon density wave signal; a sensor cable connector configured to provide the multi-wavelength input photon density wave signal to a first optical cable coupled to a medical sensor attached to the patient and configured to receive a multi-wavelength output photon density wave signal from a second optical cable coupled to the medical sensor; a wavelength demultiplexer configured to separate the multi-wavelength output photon density wave signal into a plurality of single-wavelength output photon density wave signals that correspond respectively to the plurality of single-wavelength input photon density wave signals; and data processing circuitry configured to determine a physiological parameter of the patient based at least in part on a comparison of one of the plurality of single-wavelength output photon density wave signals to a corresponding one of the plurality of single-wavelength input photon density wave signals.