fig1 , 2 , and 3 show a two - part patch sensor 10 according to the invention that features a disposable adhesive patch sensor 5 that attaches to a non - disposable sensor housing 6 to measure optical , electrical , and acoustic waveforms from a patient &# 39 ; s chest . the optical , acoustic and electrical waveforms represent , respectively , capillary blood flow , mitral and aortic valve closures , and electrical activity generated by the patient &# 39 ; s heart . a cable 11 containing a shielded wire for each signal transports the waveforms to a main console ( the components of which are shown in fig8 ) that processes them to measure a patient &# 39 ; s vital signs , particularly blood pressure . one such processing technique , for example , is described in detail in co - pending u . s . patent application ser . no . 11 / 470 , 708 , entitled hand - held vital signs monitor , filed sep . 7 , 2006 , the pertinent contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference . the patch sensor 5 features a sterile backing 9 composed of a polymeric material ( e . g . foam ) that supports electrodes 20 , 21 and makes measurements by adhering to a patient &# 39 ; s skin ; after use it is discarded . the sensor housing 6 encloses a circuit board component 36 that supports solid - state , non - disposable optical 42 and acoustic 41 sensors , described in detail below , and is designed to be used with multiple disposable patch sensors . the patch sensor 5 contains primary 20 and a secondary 21 electrodes , each composed of a cylindrical ‘ male ’ electrical lead 3 , 4 coated with ag / agcl that snaps into a mated female connector 40 , 43 on the sensor board 6 . the electrical leads 3 , 4 contain a bottom portion that extends through the foam backing 9 and contacts a conductive ‘ solid gel ’ 22 , 24 that sticks to the patient during operation . the solid gel 22 , 24 has an electrical impedance ( approximately 100 , 000 ohms * cm ) that approximates the patient &# 39 ; s skin to improve coupling of electrical signals into the electrodes 20 , 21 . the sterile foam backing 9 ( approximate dimensions : l ˜ 9 cm , w ˜ 4 . 5 cm , t ˜ 0 . 1 cm ) includes clear apertures 7 , 8 positioned to match the orientation and geometry of , respectively , the optical 42 and acoustic 41 sensors surface - mounted on the circuit board component 36 . the clear aperture 8 for the acoustic sensor 41 is additionally covered by a non - conductive , water - based solid gel 23 that approximates the acoustic impedance of the patient &# 39 ; s skin to improve coupling of acoustic signals from the patient into the acoustic sensor 41 . the foam &# 39 ; s back surface is coated with a non - allergenic adhesive 25 so that it securely sticks to the patient &# 39 ; s skin during operation . before the patch sensor 5 is used , a thin , plastic adhesive backing ( not shown in the figure ) covers the adhesive 25 and the solid gels 22 , 23 , 24 to prevent them from drying out . during operation a medical professional snaps the male electrical leads 3 , 4 of the patch sensor 5 into the female snap connectors 43 , 40 on the circuit board component 36 . this action secures the sensor housing 6 and circuit board component 36 to the disposable patch sensor 5 and presses the acoustic 41 and optical 42 sensors through , respectively , the clear holes 8 , 7 on the foam backing 9 . the optical sensor 42 presses completely through its clear hole 7 and is exposed so that it directly contacts the patient &# 39 ; s skin , whereas the acoustic sensor 41 presses partially through its clear hole 8 and contacts the non - conductive solid gel 23 . the medical professional then peels off the protective backing and sticks the combined patch sensor 10 , featuring the non - disposable housing 6 , circuit board component 36 , and disposable patch sensor 5 , onto the patient . to make a measurement , the optical sensor 42 and electrodes 20 , 21 each contact the patient directly , while the acoustic sensor 41 contacts the impedance - matched solid gel 23 , which in turn contacts the patient . as shown in fig5 a , the patch sensor 10 preferably attaches to the patient 150 just below their sternal notch , and connects to a console 100 typically located proximal to the patient 150 . the sternal notch , as described above , is an ideal location wherein the patch sensor 10 can effectively measure optical , electrical , and acoustic signals . to improve the quality of the electrical waveform , the two - part patch sensor 10 may connect to a secondary two - part electrode 60 , shown in fig4 a and 4b , which is similar to a conventional ecg electrode . the two - part electrode 60 features a disposable electrode 70 that , like the disposable patch sensor shown in fig1 - 3 , includes a sterile foam backing 69 that supports an ag / agcl - coated male electrical lead 72 that contacts an impedance - matching solid gel 71 . an adhesive layer 75 coats the foam backing 69 so that it sticks to the patient &# 39 ; s skin . during use , the male electrical lead 72 snaps into a female snap connector 86 housed by a secondary electrode connector 82 . a shielded cable 84 connects the secondary two - part electrode 60 to the primary two - part patch sensor described above . in a preferred embodiment , electrodes 20 , 21 measure , respectively , a positive signal and ground signal , while the two - part electrode 60 measures a negative signal . an electrical amplifier in the main console then processes the positive , negative , and ground signals to generate an electrical waveform , described in detail below , that is similar to a single - lead ecg . fig5 b , for example , shows how the secondary two - part electrode 60 connects to the two - part patch sensor 10 ′ through the cable 84 ; the combined system then attaches to a patient 150 ′ and connects to the console 100 ′ through a cable 11 ′ to measure the patient &# 39 ; s vital signs . fig6 a and 6b show graphs 151 , 152 of the time - dependent electrical waveform 160 , optical waveform 162 , and acoustic waveform 164 measured by the above - described sensors . each waveform 160 , 162 , 164 includes time - dependent features that repeat with each heartbeat . for example , the electrical waveform 160 looks similar to a conventional ecg and features a qrs complex featuring a sharp spike that indicates an initial depolarization of the ventricle . because of its well - defined features , the qrs complex is relatively easy to detect with a computational algorithm , and serves as an effective ‘ marker ’ that indicates each individual heartbeat . the optical waveform 162 is measured from underlying capillaries in the patient &# 39 ; s chest and features a slowly varying pulse that indicates an increase in volume in the capillaries caused by a propagating pressure wave . finally , the acoustic waveform features two ‘ beats ’, each representing a collection of acoustic frequencies , that occur with each heartbeat . the first and second beats represent the sounds made following closure of , respectively , the heart &# 39 ; s mitral and aortic valves ; these are the conventional ‘ lub ’ and ‘ dub ’ heard through a stethoscope . fig6 b graphs a portion of the waveforms highlighted by a box 166 of fig6 a , and indicates how a microprocessor preferably analyzes the various features of the electrical waveform 160 ′, optical waveform 162 ′, and acoustic waveform 164 ′ to determine a variety of systolic time intervals . these systolic time intervals are then further processed to determine a patient &# 39 ; s real - time blood pressure . co - pending u . s . patent application ser . no . 11 / 470 , 708 , entitled hand - held vital signs monitor and filed sep . 7 , 2006 , previously incorporated herein by reference , describes this processing method in detail . as described above , the qrs complex in the electrical waveform 160 ′, which is caused by initial depolarization of the heart muscle , serves as a marker indicating the start of each heart beat . at a later time , the mitral valve opens and blood flows from the heart &# 39 ; s left atrium into the left ventricle . the mitral valve then closes , causing the first beat in the acoustic waveform 164 ′, and the aortic valve opens shortly thereafter . the opening of the aortic valve does not result in a feature in the acoustic waveform 164 ′ ( only closing valves do this ), but is assumed to follow within approximately 10 milliseconds after the closing of the mitral valve . the time difference between the onset of the qrs complex and the opening of the aortic valve is called the ‘ pre - injection period ’, or pep . since the technique described herein does not explicitly measure the opening of the aortic valve , but rather the closure of the mitral valve , it is labeled pep *. once the aortic valve opens , the heart pumps a bolus of blood through the aorta , resulting in a pressure wave that propagates through the patient &# 39 ; s arterial system . the propagation time of the pressure wave is a strong function of the patient &# 39 ; s blood pressure , along with their vascular compliance and resistance . when the pressure wave reaches capillaries in the patient &# 39 ; s chest , the rise in pressure causes the capillaries to increase in volume with blood , which in turn increases the amount of optical radiation from the led of the optical sensor 20 that the flowing blood absorbs . the photodetector in the optical sensor 20 detects this as a time - dependent pulse characterized by a relatively sharp rise time and a slower decay , as indicated by the optical waveform 162 ′. the time difference between the estimated opening of the aortic valve and the onset of the pulse &# 39 ; s rise time is the ‘ vascular transit time ’ ( vtt *). typically the vtt * decreases with higher blood pressure . the second beat in the acoustic waveform 164 ′ represents the closure of the aortic valve , and the time period separating this from the estimated opening of the aortic valve is called the ‘ left ventricular ejection period ’ ( lvet *). finally , the onset of the qrs complex and the foot of the plethysmograph is the pulse transit time ( ptt *). note that the transit time essentially represents the time from when the heart begins to beat to when the pressure wave appears underneath the optical sensor 20 . to reach this point , the vascular pathway that the pressure wave must travel is somewhat complicated : it extends through the aorta , the subclavian artery , a series of smaller arteries proximal to the patient &# 39 ; s ribs , and finally through relatively small capillaries attached to these arteries . other properties known to correlate to blood pressure can also be measured from the optical waveform 162 , electrical waveform 160 , and acoustic waveform 164 . for example , the rise and fall times of the optical waveform 162 can meet this criterion , and thus these properties can be measured from the optical waveform 162 . in addition , in some cases the optical waveform 162 will include a primary and secondary peak , separated by a feature called the ‘ dicrotic notch ’. the microprocessor can be programmed to take a second derivative of the waveform to determine the ratio of the primary and second peaks , and this property has been shown to correlate to blood pressure . in addition , variability in the patient &# 39 ; s heartbeat , as measured from each of the electrical waveform 160 , optical waveform 162 , and acoustic waveform 164 , can indicate variation in the patient &# 39 ; s blood pressure , and can also be processed by the microprocessor . heart rates from these three waveforms can be calculated and averaged together to yield a very accurate measure of the patient &# 39 ; s real - time heart rate . fig7 shows a preferred configuration of electronic components featured within the console 100 that process the above - described information to measure a patient &# 39 ; s vital signs . a data - processing circuit 111 connects to an optical / electrical / acoustic signal processing circuit 106 that controls the optical sensor 41 , acoustic sensor 42 , and electrodes 20 , 21 , 71 . during operation , signals from these sensors independently pass through a two - stage amplifier system 105 that includes first 101 and second 103 amplifier stages separated by a high - pass filter 102 . a typical circuit board used in this application features a separate two - stage amplifier system 105 for the optical , electrical , and acoustic signals ; a single amplifier is shown in fig7 for simplicity . the first 100 and second 103 amplifiers independently amplify analog input signals , while the high - pass filter 102 removes low - frequency noise and dc component in the signals to further improve their quality . signals that pass through the two - stage amplifier system 105 are then sent to an analog - to - digital converter 107 connected to a microprocessor 108 . the analog - to - digital converter 107 can be integrated within the microprocessor 108 , or can be an independent chipset . in either case , the analog - to - digital converter 107 digitizes the analog optical , electrical , and acoustic waveforms to generate arrays of data points that can be processed by the microprocessor 108 using the algorithms described above to determine blood pressure , heart rate , and pulse oximetry using techniques described herein and known in the art . to communicate with external wireless devices and networks , the data - processing circuit 111 connects to a wireless transceiver 118 that communicates through an antenna 109 to a matched transceiver embedded within an external component . the wireless transceiver 118 can be a short - range wireless transceiver , e . g . a device based on 802 . 11 , bluetooth ™, zigbee ™, or part - 15 wireless protocols . alternatively , the wireless transceiver 118 can be a cellular modem operating on a nation - wide wireless network , e . g . a gsm or cdma wireless network . the data - processing circuit 111 can also display information on a touchable interactive liquid crystal display (‘ lcd ’) 112 , and transmit and receive information through a serial port 110 . a battery 117 powers all the electrical components within the console 100 , and is preferably a metal hydride battery ( generating 3 - 7v , and most preferably about 3 . 7v ) that can be recharged through a battery - recharge interface 114 . in addition to those methods described above , a number of additional methods can be used to calculate blood pressure from the optical , electrical , and acoustic waveforms . these are described in the following co - pending patent applications , the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference : 1 ) cuffless blood - pressure monitor and accompanying wireless , internet - based system ( u . s . ser . no . 10 / 709 , 015 ; filed apr . 7 , 2004 ); 2 ) cuffless system for measuring blood pressure ( u . s . ser . no . 10 / 709 , 014 ; filed apr . 7 , 2004 ); 3 ) cuffless blood pressure monitor and accompanying web services interface ( u . s . ser . no . 10 / 810 , 237 ; filed mar . 26 , 2004 ); 4 ) vital sign monitor for athletic applications ( u . s . ser . no . filed sep . 13 , 2004 ); 5 ) cuffless blood pressure monitor and accompanying wireless mobile device ( u . s . ser . no . 10 / 967 , 511 ; filed oct . 18 , 2004 ); and 6 ) blood pressure monitoring device featuring a calibration - based analysis ( u . s . ser . no . 10 / 967 , 610 ; filed oct . 18 , 2004 ); 7 ) personal computer - based vital sign monitor ( u . s . ser . no . 10 / 906 , 342 ; filed feb . 15 , 2005 ); 8 ) patch sensor for measuring blood pressure without a cuff ( u . s . ser . no . 10 / 906 , 315 ; filed feb . 14 , 2005 ); 9 ) patch sensor for measuring vital signs ( u . s . ser . no . 11 / 160 , 957 ; filed jul . 18 , 2005 ); 10 ) wireless , internet - based system for measuring vital signs from a plurality of patients in a hospital or medical clinic ( u . s . ser . no . 11 / 162 , 719 ; filed sep . 9 , 2005 ); 11 ) hand - held monitor for measuring vital signs ( u . s . ser . no . 11 / 162 , 742 ; filed sep . 21 , 2005 ); 12 ) chest strap for measuring vital signs ( u . s . ser . no . 11 / 306 , 243 ; filed dec . 20 , 2005 ); 13 ) system for measuring vital signs using an optical module featuring a green light source ( u . s . ser . no . 11 / 307 , 375 ; filed feb . 3 , 2006 ); 14 ) bilateral device , system and method for monitoring vital signs ( u . s . ser . no . 11 / 420 , 281 ; filed may 25 , 2006 ); 15 ) system for measuring vital signs using bilateral pulse transit time ( u . s . ser . no . 11 / 420 , 652 ; filed may 26 , 2006 ); 16 ) hand - held vital signs monitor , ( u . s . ser . no . 11 / 470 , 708 , filed sep . 7 , 2006 ); and , 17 ) blood pressure monitor , ( u . s . ser . no . 11 / 530 , 076 filed sep . 8 , 2006 ). other embodiments are within the scope of the invention . for example , fig8 a shows an embodiment where a non - disposable sensor component 196 is separated into first 200 and second 205 pieces , both of which connect to a disposable patch component 199 similar to that shown in fig1 and 2 . the disposable patch component 199 includes an adhesive backing that adheres to a patient during a measurement . in this embodiment , the first piece 200 of the non - disposable sensor component includes a soft rubber overmold that covers a female snap connector ( not shown in the figure ). the female snap connector connects to a matched male electrical lead and electrode ( not shown in the figure ) that are similar , respectively , to the electrical lead 3 and electrode 20 shown in fig1 and 2 . the second piece 205 includes a similar rubber overmold that covers a female snap connector , optical sensor , and acoustic sensor ( also not shown in the figure ) similar to the connector 43 , optical sensor 42 , and acoustic sensor 41 shown in fig3 . the second piece 205 connects to a portion of the disposable patch component 199 that includes apertures for the optical and acoustic sensors . when separated into multiple components , the non - disposable sensor component 196 is less rigid than that shown in fig3 , and thus better conforms to contours in the patient &# 39 ; s chest . this allows the optical , acoustic , and electrical sensors to be closely coupled to the patient &# 39 ; s body when attached to the disposable patch component 199 , thereby improving the quality of the waveforms collected during a measurement . the female snap connector holds the optical and acoustic sensors in place for the measurement , during which the corresponding waveforms are collected and passed through a bifurcated cable 197 that attaches to a processing device ( not shown in the figure ) similar to the processing device 100 shown in fig5 a . a secondary two - part electrode , similar to the electrode 60 shown in fig5 b , connects to the processing device through a separate cable to improve the signal - to - noise ratio of the electrical waveform . the processing device processes the waveforms as described above to determine the patient &# 39 ; s blood pressure . an additional foam adhesive patch covering top portions of the first 200 and second 205 pieces may be used in this embodiment to further secure these pieces of the non - disposable sensor component to the patient . fig8 b shows a related embodiment of a non - disposable sensor 195 separated into three separate pieces 200 ′, 206 , 207 that attaches to a disposable patch sensor component 199 ′ that adheres to a patient during a measurement . segmenting the sensor 195 in this way further improves its flexibility and the manner in which it couples to contours in a patient &# 39 ; s chest during a measurement . in this embodiment the first 200 ′ and third 207 pieces of the non - disposable sensor 195 include a soft rubber overmold that covers a female snap connector ( not shown in the figure ) that connect to a matched male electrical lead and electrode ( not shown in the figure ) similar to that described above . a trifurcated cable 198 connects the non - disposable sensor 195 to a processing device ( not shown in the figure ) similar to the processing device 100 shown in fig5 a . during a measurement , the first 200 ′ and third 207 pieces snap into their mated connectors and are held firmly in place . the second piece 206 includes a similar rubber overmold that covers optical and acoustic sensors described above . this piece 206 loosely attaches to a portion the disposable sensor 199 ′ that includes apertures for the optical and acoustic sensors , and is further secured using an additional foam adhesive patch . a secondary electrode similar to that described above also connects to the processing device . once secured to the patient , optical , acoustic , and electrical sensors measure waveforms that pass through the cable 198 to the processing device , which then processes them as described above to determine the patient &# 39 ; s blood pressure . in still other embodiments , each piece of the three - part non - disposable sensor described above connects to a separate disposable sensor . in this embodiment , for example , the first 200 ′ and third 207 pieces of the non - disposable sensor 195 ( i . e ., the pieces that include a female snap connector ) connect to a standard , disposable ecg electrode that includes an adhesive foam backing , ag / agcl - coated snap connector , and solid gel . the second piece 206 ( i . e . the piece that includes the optical and acoustic sensor ) connects to a disposable foam substrate with an adhesive backing that includes apertures for the optical and acoustic sensors . in still other embodiments , the second piece 205 of the above - mentioned sensor described with reference to fig8 a , or the second piece 206 of the above - described sensor described with reference to fig8 b , includes only the optical sensor or the acoustic sensor , but not both sensors . in still other embodiments , the disposable portion of the sensor includes the electrodes , and is a separate component that simply adheres with an adhesive to the non - disposable portion that includes the optical and acoustic sensors and a cable that connects to the console . in this case the disposable and non - disposable portions include matched electrical contacts that touch each other when the two portions are adhered . this way electrical signals measured by the electrodes can be passed to the non - disposable portion and through the cable to the console , where they are processed to determine the electrical waveform .
a two - component monitoring device and system for monitoring blood pressure from a patient is disclosed herein . the two - component monitoring device includes a disposable component and a main component . the disposable component features : i ) a backing structure having a first aperture ; and ii ) first and second electrodes , each electrode connected to the backing structure and including an electrical lead and a conductive electrode material , and configured to generate an electrical signal that passes through the electrical lead when the conductive electrode material contacts the patient . the main component includes : i ) first and second connectors configured to connect to the first and second electrical leads to receive the first and second electrical signals ; and ii ) an optical component comprising a light source that generates optical radiation and a photodetector that detects the optical radiation . the optical component inserts into the first aperture of the disposable component . the main component optionally includes an acoustic sensor . the system utilizes a processing device , connected to the monitoring device by a cable which receives and processes a plurality of signals to determine real - time blood - pressure values for the patient .