Disclosed herein are liquid-crystal display (LCD) touch screens that integrate the touch sensing elements with the display circuitry. The integration may take a variety of forms. Touch sensing elements can be completely implemented within the LCD stackup but outside the not between the color filter plate and the array plate. Alternatively, some touch sensing elements can be between the color filter and array plates with other touch sensing elements not between the plates. In another alternative, all touch sensing elements can be between the color filter and array plates. The latter alternative can include both conventional and in-plane-switching (IPS) LCDs. In some forms, one or more display structures can also have a touch sensing function. Techniques for manufacturing and operating such displays, as well as various devices embodying such displays are also disclosed.

Touch screen liquid crystal display

A body fluid sampling system for use on a tissue site includes a single drive force generator. A plurality of penetrating members are operatively coupled to the force generator. The force generator moves each of the members along a path out of a housing with a penetrating member exit, into the tissue site, stops in the tissue site, and withdraws out of the tissue site. A flexible support member couples the penetrating members to define a linear array. The support member is movable and configured to move each of the penetrating members to a launch position associated with the force generator.

Method and Apparatus for Penetrating tissue

Systems and methods for monitoring, diagnosing, and/or treating a patient are provided. One or more individual medical procedures may be utilized to monitor, diagnose and/or treat the patient. Two or more of the individual medical procedures or may be used in combination to provide more comprehensive patient monitoring, diagnosis and/or therapy. One or more functions of two or more individual medical procedures may be used in combination to enhance patient monitoring, diagnosis and/or therapy. The medical procedures may be coordinated. Coordinated medical procedures may involve cooperative operation of two or more of the individual processes. Coordinated medical procedures may also involve cooperative operation of one or more functions of two or more of the individual processes.

Patient monitoring, diagnosis, and/or therapy systems and methods

Apparatus and methods are provided for use with a subject who is undergoing respiration. A motion sensor senses motion of a subject. A breathing pattern analysis unit analyzes components of the sensed motion that result from the subject's respiration. The breathing pattern analysis unit includes double-movement-respiration-cycle-pattern-identification functionality that designates respiration cycles as being double-movement-respiration-cycles (DMRC's) by determining that the cycles define two subcycles. Double-movement-respiration-cycle-event-identification functionality of the breathing pattern analysis unit identifies a DMRC event by detecting that the subject has undergone a plurality of DMRC's. An output is generated that is indicative of the subject having used accessory muscles in breathing, in response to identification of the double-movement-respiration-cycle event. Other embodiments are also described.

Monitoring, predicting and treating clinical episodes

A tissue penetration device and method of using same. The tissue penetration device may optionally include sampling and analyzing functions, which may be integrated. An embodiment provides control of a lancet used for sampling blood. Electric field coils or solenoids may drive the lancet using electromagnetic force. Advancement and retraction of a lancet may be controlled by a feedback loop monitoring the position and velocity of the lancet embodiments of the lancet driver can be configured to follow a predetermined tissue lancing profile. Embodiments of the invention include a lancet and method for using a lancet to maintain the patency of the wound tract once the lancet has cut into the skin.

Tissue penetration device

A pressure distribution measuring system includes a pad of insulating material disposed between two linear arrays of electrodes to form a matrix of capacitive nodes. A capacitance related output signal that is obtained from a node of interest is used as a feedback signal and applied to other capacitors that are connected in common with the node of interest. The feedback signal inhibits the flow of current through these commonly connected capacitors, and thereby isolates the measured signal from any changes in the capacitance of these other capacitors. The pad includes a cental array of linear electrodes sandwiched between two layers of dielectric foam material. Two outer, aligned linear electrode arrays, oriented perpendicular to the central array, are respectively disposed on the outside surfaces of the dielectric layers. In a preferred form, alternating electrodes in each outer array are located on opposite sides of a support substrate. This construction increases the amplitude of the measured signal, isolates the measured signal from the ambient environment, and reduces the susceptibility of the measuring process to errors caused by wrinkling of the pad as a person lies on it, or the like.

Pressure mapping system with capacitive measuring pad

Thirteen anesthetized canine subjects (17-29 kg) were used to demonstrate that mild cervical left vagal stimulation could control ventricular rate effectively during atrial fibrillation (AF). Two studies are presented. The first study used six subjects to demonstrate the inverse relationship between (manually applied) left vagal stimulation and ventricular excitation (R wave) rate during AF. As left vagal stimulation frequency was increased, ventricular excitation rate decreased. In these studies, a left vagal stimulus frequency of 0-10 per second reduced the ventricular excitation rate from > 200/min to < 50/min. The decreasing ventricular excitation rate with increasing left vagal stimulation frequency was universal, occurring in all 26 trials with the six subjects. This fundamental principle was used to construct an automatic controller for use in the second study, in which seven subjects were used to demonstrate that ventricular rate can be brought to and maintained within a targeted range with the use of an automatic (closed-loop) controller. A 45-minute record of automatic ventricular rate control is presented. Similar records were obtained in all seven subjects.

Electrophysiological Control of Ventricular Rate During Atrial Fibrillation

Auscultation of lung sounds in patient transport vehicles such as an ambulance or aircraft is unachievable because of high ambient noise levels. Aircraft noise levels of 90–100 dB SPL are common, while lung sounds have been measured in the 22–30 dB SPL range in free space and 65–70 dB SPL within a stethoscope coupler. Also, the bandwidth of lung sounds and vehicle noise typically has significant overlap, limiting the utility of traditional band-pass filtering. In this study, a passively shielded stethoscope coupler that contains one microphone to measure the (noise-corrupted) lung sounds and another to measure the ambient noise was constructed. Lung sound measurements were made on a healthy subject in a simulated USAF C-130 aircraft environment within an acoustic chamber at noise levels ranging from 80 to 100 dB SPL. Adaptive filtering schemes using a least-mean-squares (LMS) and a normalized least-mean-squares (NLMS) approach were employed to extract the lung sounds from the noise-corrupted signal. Appro...

An adaptive noise reduction stethoscope for auscultation in high noise environments

Magnetic stimulators, used medically, generate intense rapidly changing magnetic fields, capable of stimulating nerves. Advanced magnetic resonance imaging systems employ stronger and more rapidly changing gradient fields thant those used previously. The risk of provoking cardiac arrhythmias by these new devices is of concern. In the paper, the threshold for cardiac stimulation by an externally-applied magnetic field is determined for 11 anaesthetised dogs. Two coplanar coils provide the pulsed magnetic field. An average energy of approximately 12kJ is required to achieve closed-chest magnetically induced ectopic beats in the 17–26kg dogs. The mean peak induced electric field for threshold stimulation is 213 Vm −1 for a 571 μs damped sine wave pulse. Accounting for waveform efficacy and extrapolating to long-duration pulses, a threshold induced electric field strength of approximately 30 Vm −1 for the rectangular pulse is predicted. It is now possible to establish the margin of safety for devices that use pulsed magnetic fields and to design therapeutic devices employing magnetic fields to stimulate the heart.

Closed-chest cardiac stimulation with a pulsed magnetic field.

An optical noninvasive vital sign monitor comprising a reflectance-type optical sensor within a pressurizable capsule retained by a headband, the capsule having an optically transparent or translucent inner wall adapted for placement against a subject's forehead. The optical sensor is mounted on the inside surface of the pressurizable capsule's inner wall, which contacts the subject's forehead during use, and includes a light source and a photodetector aimed toward the inside surface of the inner capsule wall. One embodiment of the vital sign monitor includes optical oscillometric circuit means responsive to an output signal from the optical sensor for determining systolic pressure, mean pressure and diastolic pressure during a transition in capsule pressure between a pressure greater than normal systolic pressure and a pressure less than normal diastolic pressure.

George P. Graber

Papers

Pressure mapping system with capacitive measuring pad

Electrophysiological Control of Ventricular Rate During Atrial Fibrillation

An adaptive noise reduction stethoscope for auscultation in high noise environments

Closed-chest cardiac stimulation with a pulsed magnetic field.

Optical noninvasive vital sign monitor