Adjustable medical garment with pressure control
A wearable cardiac monitoring device for providing an improved fit to a body of a patient during long term cardiac monitoring of the patient is provided. The device includes a garment configured to be worn about a torso of the patient and including a flexible material and physiological sensors configured to detect a physiological signal of the patient, the physiological sensors disposed on the flexible material and positioned at one or more anatomical locations of the patient's torso. The device also includes force applicators disposed on the flexible material proximate to the one or more physiological sensors, each of the force applicators configured to be adjustable during the long term cardiac monitoring of the patient to cause a pressure in a range of 0.05 psi to 0.65 psi to be exerted by the physiological sensors onto the one or more anatomical locations of the patient's torso.
1 . A wearable cardiac monitoring device for providing an improved fit to a body of a patient during long-term cardiac monitoring of the patient, the device comprising:
a garment configured to be worn about a torso of the patient and comprising a flexible material;
first and second electrocardiogram (ECG) sensors and associated circuitry configured to detect an ECG signal of the patient, the first ECG sensor disposed on the flexible material and positioned at a first anatomical location of the patient's torso and the second ECG sensor disposed on the flexible material and positioned at a second anatomical location of the patient's torso;
a first force applicator disposed on the flexible material proximate to the first ECG sensor, and a second force applicator disposed on the flexible material proximate to the second ECG sensor, each of the first and second force applicators configured to cause, during the long-term cardiac monitoring of the patient, a pressure to be exerted by the corresponding first and second ECG sensors onto the corresponding first and second anatomical locations of the patient's torso;
a first pressure sensor configured to measure a first pressure exerted by the first ECG sensor onto the first anatomical location of the patient's torso;
a second pressure sensor configured to measure a second pressure exerted by the second ECG sensor onto the second anatomical location of the patient's torso; and
a controller configured to, in response to determining that at least one of the first or second pressures exerted by the corresponding first or second ECG sensors is outside of a pressure range, adjust the corresponding first or second force applicators to bring the first or second pressures exerted by the corresponding first or second ECG sensors back within the pressure range.
2 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the range is between 0.65 psi to 5.0 psi during an event.
3 . The device of claim 2 , wherein the range is between 0.05 psi and 0.65 psi after the event.
4 . The device of claim 2 , wherein the event comprises at least one of delivery of at least one treatment pulse, a radio-frequency (RF) monitoring period, a noise detection period and a monitoring period including a falloff event.
5 . The device of claim 2 , wherein the event spans a predetermined period of time.
6 . The device of claim 5 , wherein the predetermined period of time comprises at least one of 5 seconds, 10 seconds, 15 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 45 seconds, and 60 seconds.
7 . The device of claim 1 , wherein at least one force applicator of the first and second force applicators is configured to be calibrated to cause the pressure range to be exerted based on an external pressure measurement device.
8 . The device of claim 7 , wherein the external pressure measurement device comprises a pressure pad.
9 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to control the first and second force applicators during long term cardiac monitoring of the patient.
10 . The device of claim 1 , further comprising one or more therapy electrodes configured to deliver one or more therapeutic shocks to the patient.
11 . The device of claim 10 , wherein the one or more therapy electrodes are disposed between the first or second force applicators and the first or second anatomical locations such that the first or second force applicators are configured to cause the pressure to be exerted on the one or more therapy electrodes during delivery of the one or more therapeutic shocks to the patient.
12 . The device of claim 1 , further comprising an RF ultra-wide band transceiver circuit comprising one or more RF antennas and are configured to generate one or more RF-based measurements.
13 . The device of claim 12 , wherein the RF ultra-wide band transceiver circuit is configured to generate one or more RF-based measurements by being configured to:
control the one or more RF antennas to direct RF electromagnetic energy into a thoracic cavity of the patient; and
derive RF information responsive to reflected RF electromagnetic energy received through the one or more RF antennas and reflected from within the thoracic cavity of the patient.
14 . The device of claim 1 , further comprising one or more vibrational sensors configured to detect one or more cardio-vibrational signals of the patient.
15 . The device of claim 1 , further comprising one or more sensor attachments disposed on the flexible material to receive and position the first or second ECG sensors at the first or second anatomical locations of the patient's torso.
16 . The device of claim 15 , wherein the one or more sensor attachments comprise one or more of a mechanical fastener, an enclosed receptacle, and an adhesive fastener.
17 . The device of claim 15 , wherein the first or second force applicator is configured to be removably coupled to at least one of the one or more sensor attachments and disposed within at least a portion of the garment corresponding to at least one of the one or more sensor attachments.
18 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the first and second force applicators comprise one or more electro-mechanical force applicators, one or more mechanical force applicators, or one or more fluid reservoir-based force applicators.
19 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the first and second force applicators are integrated into the first and second ECG sensors and associated circuitry.
20 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the first and second force applicators are integrated into the garment.
21 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the first and second pressure sensors are disposed on the flexible material proximate to the corresponding first and second force applicators.
22 . The device of claim 1 , wherein each of the first and second pressure sensors comprises at least one visual indicator configured to provide an indication of the pressure.
23 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the first and second pressure sensors are configured to operatively communicate with a remote computing device.
24 . The device of claim 23 , wherein the first and second pressure sensors are configured to transmit one or more pressure signals to the remote computing device.
25 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the wearable cardiac monitoring device is configured to be worn for a prescribed period of time during which the device provides the long-term cardiac monitoring of the patient, the prescribed period of time comprising at least one of at least three days, between three days and one week, between one week and two weeks, between two weeks and one month, between one month and three months, between three months and six months, and more than six months.
26 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the pressure range is between 0.05 psi and 0.65 psi.
27 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the pressure range is a user-specified pressure range.