Vital sign monitoring apparatuses and methods of using same

1. A system for vital sign measuring of a patient, comprising:

a first sensor removably attachable with a first body portion of the patient and configured to measure, when in operable position, a vital sign of the patient, wherein the first sensor comprises a first plethysmograph removably attachable to a first finger of the patient;

at least one additional sensor removably attachable with a second body portion of the patient and configured to measure, when in operable position, a vital sign of the patient, said at least one additional sensor comprising a second plethysmograph removably attachable to a second finger of the patient;

a pressure cuff removably attachable to the first finger between the first plethysmograph and a respective ipsilateral palm of the patient;

an inflation device and a deflation device configured to inflate and deflate the pressure cuff, respectively; and

a processor configured to:

(a) command the inflation and deflation devices to inflate and deflate the pressure cuff in intervals for a plurality of times, to determine diastolic and/or systolic blood pressure, wherein:

the inflating in each of the plurality of times is at least to a slightly higher pressure than the inflating before it;

additional inflating is only performed after the initial deflating is complete;

(b) determine the diastolic blood pressure to be a pressure to which the pressure cuff was inflated when a transition in the plethysmograph reading exceeds a predefined amount;

(c) determine a level of correspondence between a first signal from the first plethysmograph and a second signal from the second plethysmograph; and

(d) determine the systolic blood pressure of the patient based on a change in said level of correspondence, when a correlation drops precipitously to a level below a certain correlation threshold.

2. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one additional sensor additionally comprises at least one of an accelerometer, a thermometer, a sound meter, and a digital pressure sensor.

3. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the processor is located remotely from the patient.

4. The system according to claim 1 , wherein signals in the system are communicated wirelessly.

5. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the system is configured to be wearable by the patient.

6. The system according to claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of the system is configured to be wearable by an attending medical professional.

7. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to determine, from received signals, at least one of: mean arterial pressure, pulse rate, breathing rate, breathing pattern, hemoglobin oxygen saturation level, motor function, temperature, and cognitive ability of the patient.

8. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the level of correspondence is expressed as a correlation.

9. The system according to claim 1 , where the inflation device comprises at least one of a pump and a valve.

10. A method for vital sign measuring, comprising:

removably attaching a first sensor to be in an operable position to a first body portion of the patient for measuring a vital sign of the patient, wherein the first sensor comprises a first plethysmograph removably attachable to a first finger of the patient;

removably attaching at least one additional sensor to be in an operable position to a second body portion of the patient for measuring a vital sign of the patient, wherein the at least one additional sensor comprises a second plethysmograph removably attachable to a second finger of the patient;

inflating a pressure cuff attached to the first finger between the first plethysmograph and a respective ipsilateral palm of the patient;

repeating inflating and deflating the pressure cuff in intervals for a plurality of times to determine diastolic and/or systolic blood pressure, wherein:

the inflating in each of the plurality of times is at least to a slightly higher pressure than the inflating before it;

additional inflating is only performed after the initial deflating is complete;

determining the diastolic blood pressure to be a pressure to which the pressure cuff was inflated when a transition in the plethysmograph reading exceeds a predefined amount;

determining a level of correspondence between a first signal from the first plethysmograph sensor and a second signal from the second plethysmograph sensor; and

determining the systolic blood pressure of the patient based on a change in said level of correspondence when a correlation drops precipitously to a level below a certain correlation threshold.

11. The method according to claim 10 , wherein the at least one additional sensor additionally comprises an accelerometer for detecting motion of the at least a portion of the patient.

12. The method according to claim 10 , wherein the determining of the level of correspondence is also between the first and second signals and a signal of a thermometer that assesses vasodilation in response to warming of the first finger of the patient.

13. The method according to claim 10 , wherein the determining of the level of correspondence is also between the first and second signals and a signal of that measures a sound level of the patient.

14. The method according to claim 10 , further comprising using an oscillometric method for determining the systolic blood pressure, the diastolic blood pressure, or both.