Patent · US Expired

Continuous cardiac output by impedance measurements in the heart

US4951682A · kind A · utility

115Cited by
8References
16Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventor

Key dates

Filing dateApr 26, 1989
Grant dateAug 28, 1990
Priority date
Expiry dateApr 26, 2009

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC A)Human Necessities
  • CPC primaryA61B5/0535
  • WIPO fieldMedical technology
  • WIPO sectorInstruments

Abstract

A diagnostic catheter for use in measuring cardiac output in the right ventricular chamber of a heart includes a catheter body having an outer periphery and a distal section terminating in a distal end and a proximal section terminating in a proximal end. A plurality of spaced electrodes are secured to the body outer periphery along the body distal section. A plurality of electrical leads extend in the catheter body from a respective one of the electrodes to the proximal end of the catheter body. An elongated rigid member is provided for stiffening a portion of the catheter body. One end of the rigid member is located adjacent a proximal most one of a plurality of electrodes. The rigid member so locates the plurality of electrodes as to space them away from endocardial tissue. The catheter is used with a cardiac output monitoring system. Signals from the catheter are acquired by a signal conditioning and catheter control unit and, are thereafter fed to a microcomputer. The catheter and the system are used in a method for determining the instantaneous volume of blood in a heart chamber.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.