The invention provides a body-worn monitor that measures a patient's vital signs (e.g. blood pressure, SpO2, heart rate, respiratory rate, and temperature) while simultaneously characterizing their activity state (e.g. resting, walking, convulsing, falling). The body-worn monitor processes this information to minimize corruption of the vital signs by motion-related artifacts. A software framework generates alarms/alerts based on threshold values that are either preset or determined in real time. The framework additionally includes a series of heuristic rules that take the patient's activity state and motion into account, and process the vital signs accordingly. These rules, for example, indicate that a walking patient is likely breathing and has a regular heart rate, even if their motion-corrupted vital signs suggest otherwise.

The invention provides a body-worn monitor that measures a patient's vital signs (e.g. blood pressure, SpO2, heart rate, respiratory rate, and temperature) while simultaneously characterizing their activity state (e.g. resting, walking, convulsing, falling). The body-worn monitor processes this information to minimize corruption of the vital signs by motion-related artifacts. A software framework generates alarms/alerts based on threshold values that are either preset or determined in real time. The framework additionally includes a series of heuristic rules that take the patient's activity state and motion into account, and process the vital signs accordingly. These rules, for example, indicate that a walking patient is likely breathing and has a regular heart rate, even if their motion-corrupted vital signs suggest otherwise.

An electrocardiogram detector including a pad, an electrical connection unit, a plurality of retaining members, and a plurality of electrode pieces is disclosed. The pad has a first face, a second face, and a plurality of through-holes. The electrical connection unit has an electrical connection port and a plurality of conducting lines electrically connected to the electrical connection port. The plurality of conducting lines is arranged on the first face of the pad. The plurality of retaining members is fixed to the first face of the pad and electrically connected to the plurality of conducting lines. The plurality of electrode pieces is electrically connected to the plurality of retaining members. The plurality of electrode pieces is fixed by the plurality of retaining members. In this arrangement, convenient operation of the electrocardiogram detector is improved.