Patent · US Expired

Pulse oximeter for diagnosis of dental pulp pathology

US5040539A · kind A · utility

128Cited by
12References
18Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateMay 12, 1989
Grant dateAug 20, 1991
Priority date
Expiry dateMay 12, 2009

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC A)Human Necessities
  • CPC primaryA61B2562/0238
  • WIPO fieldMedical technology
  • WIPO sectorInstruments

Abstract

A non-invasive device which determines the pulp oxygenation level of a tooth and the vitality of a tooth using multiple-wavelength optical plethysmography. A sensor is shaped to be mounted on a tooth and circuitry for processing a signal from the sensor and supplied from a photosenstive diode is used. The photosensitive diode in the sensor detects light scattered from the tooth which was emitted from red, green, and infrared LEDs. An electrocardiogram (ECG) monitor is provided so as to produce improved detection reliability by synchronous averaging using the occurrence of the R-wave of the ECG as a time marker. Using this approach, a threshold-of-detection criterion can be established based on an average computed over a period to achieve a desired signal-to-noise ratio.

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