Method and system for monitoring oxygenation levels of a compartment for detecting conditions of a compartment syndrome

Abstract

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.

1 - 20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . A method for automatically detecting ischemia in a human body with a computing device, comprising:
 automatically monitoring oxygenation levels of damaged tissue of the human body in a continuous manner with the computing device coupled to a non-invasive compartment sensor;   automatically monitoring oxygenation levels of healthy tissue of the human body with the computing device coupled to a non-invasive healthy tissue sensor in a continuous manner, the non-invasive healthy tissue sensor detecting systemic perfusion of the human body from the healthy tissue; and   activating an alarm module with the computing device when oxygenation levels of the non-invasive damaged tissue sensor start decreasing in value compared to the oxygenation levels of the non-invasive healthy tissue sensor for the healthy tissue.   
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the damaged tissue comprises a compartment of the human body. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising: automatically monitoring blood pressure of the human body in a continuous manner with the computing device coupled to a non-invasive blood pressure device, the blood pressure comprising diastolic and systolic blood pressure values. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 23 , further comprising activating the alarm module when both the blood pressure of the human body comprising the diastolic and systolic blood pressure values decreases and when oxygenation levels of the non-invasive damaged tissue sensor start decreasing in value compared to the oxygenation levels of the non-invasive healthy tissue sensor for the healthy tissue. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising displaying oxygenation levels of the damaged tissue on a display device; displaying one or more visuals on the display device comprising anatomical locations in which to position the non-invasive damaged tissue sensor to monitor the damaged tissue; and receiving confirmation with the computing device that the non-invasive damaged tissue sensor is ready. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 24 , further comprising displaying diastolic and systolic blood pressure values simultaneously with the oxygenation levels of the compartment on a display device. 
     
     
         27 . The method of claim  1 , further comprising detecting lower serial hemoglobins (Hgb) or hematocrits (Hct) in blood of the human body with the computing device based on monitored oxygenation levels. 
     
     
         28 . An electronic system for automatically detecting ischemia in a human body, the electronic system comprising:
 a non-invasive damaged tissue sensor configured for automatically detecting oxygenation levels of damaged tissue of the human body in a continuous manner;   a non-invasive healthy tissue sensor configured for automatically detecting oxygenation levels of healthy tissue of the human body in a continuous manner; and   a computing device coupled to the non-invasive damaged tissue sensor and the non-invasive healthy tissue sensor, wherein the computing device is configured for:
 monitoring oxygenation levels of the damaged tissue with the damaged tissue sensor; 
 monitoring oxygenation levels of the healthy tissue with the non-invasive healthy tissue sensor that is configured for automatically detecting oxygenation levels of the healthy tissue; and 
 activating an alarm device when the oxygenation levels of the non-invasive damaged tissue sensor start decreasing in value compared to the oxygenation levels of the non-invasive healthy tissue sensor. 
   
     
     
         29 . The system of  claim 28 , further comprising: a non-invasive blood pressure device configured for automatically sensing blood pressure of the human body in a continuous manner, the blood pressure comprising diastolic and systolic blood pressure values. 
     
     
         30 . The system of  claim 29 , wherein the computing device is configured for monitoring the blood pressure of the human body with the non-invasive blood pressure device. 
     
     
         31 . The system of  claim 30 , wherein the computing device determines if the blood pressure of the human body comprising the diastolic and systolic blood pressure values decreases when the oxygenation levels of the non-invasive damaged tissue sensor start decreasing in value. 
     
     
         32 . The system of  claim 28 , further comprising a display device configured for displaying the oxygenation levels. 
     
     
         33 . The system of  claim 29 , further comprising a display device configured for displaying the diastolic and systolic blood pressure values of the human body. 
     
     
         34 . The system of  claim 28 , wherein the display device is further configured for displaying one or more visuals comprising anatomical locations in which to position the non-invasive damaged tissue sensor. 
     
     
         35 . The system of  claim 34 , wherein the anatomical locations correspond to locations on one of a leg and arm of the human body. 
     
     
         36 . The system of  claim 28 , further comprising an array of non-invasive damaged tissue sensors coupled to the computing device, wherein each non-invasive damaged tissue sensor has a different optical wavelength relative to a neighboring non-invasive damaged tissue sensor in order to provide scans of different portions of the human body. 
     
     
         37 . The system of  claim 28 , further comprising at least one of: a respiration sensor, a pH level sensor, a temperature sensor, a medicine delivery system, a pulse/oxygenation sensor, a heart rate sensor, a ventilation sensor, an ultrasound sensor, an altitude sensor, a tissue firmness sensor, and an intramuscular pressure sensor. 
     
     
         38 . The system of  claim 32 , wherein the display device comprises a computer monitor. 
     
     
         39 . The system of  claim 28 , wherein the computing device is further configured for receiving a pigment value for skin of the human body and calculating an offset value for monitoring the oxygenation levels based on the pigment value. 
     
     
         40 . The system of  claim 28 , wherein the non-invasive damaged tissue sensor comprises a near infrared sensing element.