A catastrophe-theoretic approach is provided for predicting an occurrence of an acute inflammatory condition or event (e.g., SIRS or sepsis) for a human patient based on a time series of monitored vital signs values measured from a patient, and in some instances, for providing advanced notice to clinicians or caregivers when such an acute inflammatory event is forecasted or modifying treatment for the patient, according to the predicted likelihood. In particular, an acute inflammatory condition management system is provided for determining a likelihood of near-term future significant acute inflammation in human patients. Embodiments of the disclosure described herein may provide a forecasted risk for future significant acute inflammation within a time horizon comprising a future time interval. In one embodiment, the future time interval is from 30 min to approximately 8 hours into the future, and may be dependent on the frequency of vital signs measurements.

An integrated system for assessing wound exudates from the wound of a patient is described. The system may contain functionality to detect, process and report various wound parameters. The system also may make treatment determinations based on these findings. The system may detect one or more physiological values of the wound exudates from the wound of the patient. The system may means for comparing the one or more detected physiological values to predetermined physiological values in order to obtain a comparison result in real time. The system may include a processor 15 which provides an electronic signal based on a comparison result in which the electronic signal may correspond to guidelines for treating the wound 13. The system may be integrated with other wound treatment devices, such as negative pressure wound therapy devices (NPWT) 9.

A system for generating an alert for a systemic infection of a patient comprises an implantable medical device configured to measure a measurement parameter indicative of the heart rate at rest of the patient, and a remote monitoring system configured to receive information from the implantable medical device. A module is configured to analyze information relating to said measurement parameter indicative of the heart rate at rest of the patient to generate an alert signal for a systemic infection of the patient based on a state of the heart rate at rest.

A system for monitoring sepsis comprises one or more sensors that noninvasively monitor a patient to produce sensor data and processing circuitry to: derive, from the sensor data, one or more physiological parameters of the patient that are indicative of a sepsis state of the patient; apply a set of rules to the one or more physiological parameters; determine a sepsis state for the patient based on the set of rules applied to the one or more physiological parameters; and output at least one signal indicative of the sepsis state of the patient. The system includes an output device that outputs a notification based on the at least one signal.

A method to apply a nerve inhibiting cloud surrounding a blood vessel includes creating a treatment plan, wherein the treatment plan prescribes application of the nerve inhibiting cloud towards at least a majority portion of a circumference of a blood vessel wall, and applying the nerve inhibiting cloud towards the majority portion of the circumference of the blood vessel wall for a time sufficient to inhibit a function of a nerve that surrounds the blood vessel wall.

A wireless near-infrared spectrometry sensor includes a light source for emitting near-infrared energy into tissue and a light receiver for receiving the near-infrared energy after it exits the tissue. The sensor may include a portable energy source for supplying energy to the light source. A processing module may control the light source and process readings in connection with the light source. A wireless transceiver may be coupled to the processing module for at least one of transmitting and receiving information, wherein the light source emits near-infrared energy at predetermined intervals in order to conserve energy in the portable energy source. The portable energy source may include at least one of a battery, a capacitor, a thermoelectric generator, a kinetic energy transducer, electricity derived from RF energy, and any combination thereof. The sensor may further include a substrate for support and which may be part of a sterile bandage.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, apparatus and method can be provided for determining information regarding a tissue or an object at or within the tissue. For example, with at least one first arrangement which is situated inside a particular organ of the body, it is possible to generate at least one electromagnetic radiation in the tissue, wherein the tissue is different from and outside of the particular organ. The particular signals that are responsive to the at least one electromagnetic radiation can be detected (e.g., possibly with at least one second arrangement), at least one characteristic of the tissue and/or information regarding the object at or in the tissue can be determined (e.g., with the second arrangement(s)). Alternatively or in addition, the tissue can be different from and outside of the particular organ, and the first arrangement(s) can be situated inside a particular organ of the body. To that end, the can include (i) the heart, (ii) major vessels attached to the heart, (iii) coronary artery, and/or (iv) blood therein.

A method and system for continually monitoring oxygenation levels in real-time in compartments of an animal limb, such as in a human leg or a human thigh or a forearm, can be used to assist in the diagnosis of a compartment syndrome. The method and system can include one or more near infrared compartment sensors in which each sensor can be provided with a compartment alignment mechanism and a central scan depth marker so that each sensor may be precisely positioned over a compartment of a living organism. The method and system may comprise hardware or software (or both) may adjust one or more algorithms based on whether tissue being monitored was traumatized or is healthy. The method and system can also monitor the relationship between blood pressure and oxygenation levels and activate alarms based on predetermined conditions relating to the oxygenation levels or blood pressure or both.

A patient monitor capable of measuring microcirculation at a tissue site includes a light source, a beam splitter, a photodetector and a patient monitor. Light emitted from the light source is split into a reference arm and a sample arm. The light in the sample arm is directed at a tissue site, such as an eyelid. The reflected light from the tissue site is interfered with the light from the reference arm. The photodetector measures the interference of the light from both the sample arm and the reference arm. The patient monitor uses the measurements from the photodetector to calculate the oxygen saturation at the tissue site and monitor the microcirculation at the tissue site.

The present invention relates to a method for identification of tissue hypoxia from measurements of acid-base and oxygenation status from venous and/or arterial blood.