Determining quality of electrode contact with skin surface

Abstract

A patient monitoring system within an Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) device includes a patient monitoring channel including a first electrode and a second electrode, with each electrode coupled to a respective lead. The monitoring system also includes an Alternating Current source structured to inject a test current to the first electrode lead or the second electrode lead and a differential amplifier structured to measure differences between signals received from the first electrode lead and the second electrode lead. Related methods include evaluating a quality of an electrode contact with a skin surface by injecting a lead of the electrode and one input of a differential amplifier with a known electrical current, comparing a difference between an electrical signal received from the lead of the injected electrode as well as from a lead of a passive signal electrode, and evaluating the compared difference.

1 . A patient monitoring system within an Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) device, the patient monitoring system comprising:
 a patient monitoring channel including a first electrode and a second electrode, each electrode coupled to a respective lead;   an Alternating Current source structured to inject a test current to the first electrode lead or the second electrode lead;   a differential amplifier structured to measure differences between signals received from the first electrode lead and the second electrode lead; and   a processing device configured to evaluate the difference sensed by the differential amplifier and configured to generate an output representing a quality of the first electrode lead contact with skin of a patient, or to generate an output representing a quality of the first electrode lead contact with skin of a patient.