Patent ID: 8364223

Claim:
A physiological monitor sensor, comprising: a plurality of emitters and a plurality of detectors, at least a first emitter of said plurality of emitters and at least a first detector of said plurality of detectors being associated with a first tissue site of a plurality of peripheral tissue sites of a patient and at least a second emitter of said plurality of emitters and at least a second detector of said plurality of detectors being associated with a second tissue site of the patient different from said first tissue site, wherein first light transmitted from said first emitter through said first tissue site is received by said first detector, where second light transmitted from said second emitter through said second tissue site is received by said second detector, wherein a first signal indicative of said received first light and a second signal indicative of said received second light are communicated to interface componentry that is in communication with at least one processor, the at least one processor having an output comprising a plurality of parameters corresponding to oxygen status or plethysmograph features of said peripheral tissue sites, the at least one processor configured to compare at least one of the plurality of parameters from the first tissue site with at least one of the plurality of parameters from the second tissue site and determine the presence of an abnormal health condition based at least in part on the comparison; a connector in communication with said interface componentry; and a plurality of signal paths attached to at least one of said plurality of emitters and detectors at a first end and to said connector at a second end, wherein said at least one of the plurality of parameters from the first tissue site comprises a first plethysmograph feature and said at least one of the plurality of parameters from the second tissue site comprises a second plethysmograph feature, and wherein the at least one processor is configured to compare the first and second plethysmograph features by calculating a phase difference between said first and second plethysmograph features, the at least one processor configured to determine the presence of the abnormal health condition based at least in part on the phase difference.