Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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This invention relates to an electrocardiographic
electrode for deriving a weak voltage from a person and,
more particularly, to an electrocardiographic electrode
having a structure, in which a water-proof suction member
for covering the electrocardiographic electrode held in
close contact with the person's skin is strongly bonded to
the electrocardiographic electrode so that it will not be
detached therefrom.
As is well known in the art, electricity generated
in a person is induced by the activity of the heart,
brain, muscles, etc.
Particularly, electricity induced in the heart is
derived and recorded as a weak voltage induced on the
person's skin using an external electrocardiograph. When
the electrocardiograph is used, its input section is
electrically coupled -to the person. To this end,
electrocardiographic electrodes have to be held in close
contact with the person's skin.
An object of the invention is to provide an
electrocardiographic electrode, which can solve or
substantially reduce the above problems and permit an
accurate electrocardiogram to be reliably obtained.
According to the invention, there is provided an
electrocardiographic electrode to be held in close contact
with a person's skin for deriviny a weak voltage from an
inner part of the person comprising a viscous base member
to be held in close contact with the person's skin and
having a central opening, a reinforcement member bonded to
the front surface of said viscous base member to close
said opening, and an electrode member provided in said
reinforcement member, said viscous base member with said
opening being viscous both on the rear side to be held in
close contact with the skin and on the front side coupled
to a lead connector.
BrieE_Description of the Drawinqs
Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing the front side
of an embodiment of an electrocardiographic electrode
according to the invention;
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Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing the rear or
back side of the electrocardiographic electrode;
Fig. 3 is a view for explaining the use of the
electrocardiographic electrode; and
Figs. 4 to 6 are views for explaining a prior art
electrocardiographic electrode.
A prior art electrocardiographic electrode which is
held in contact with a person~s skin in use will now be
described with reference to Figs. 4 to 6. Fig. 4 is a
perspective view of electrocardiographic electrode 1. The
electrocardiographic electrode has a substantially
circular, viscous base member ~. The viscous base member
2 is an annular woven cloth member having a central
aperture or opening 3. Its rear side, which is held in
close contact with the person's skin M as shown in Fig. 6,
is viscous, i.e. sticky. The opening 3 of the viscous
base member 2 is closed by an electrode support 4, which
is made of a hard synthetic resin and is formed on the top
or front side of the viscous base member 2. A magnetic
lead coupler 5 projects from the~ front surface of the
electrode support 4. An electrode member 6 is secured to
the lower or rear surface of the lead coupler 5. The
electrode member 6 is held in direct contact with the
person's s~in ~ to derive a weak voltage from the person's
heart.
Fig. 5 shows the rear side of the lead coupler 7.
A lead 10 is coupled to the lead coupler 7 for feeding the
heart's weak voltage derived by the electrode member 6
through the lead 10 to the electrocardiograph ~not
shown). The lead coupler 7 has substantially the same
size as the electrocardiographic electrode and is made of
a hard resin. It has a recess 8 formed on the rear side.
A magnetic electrode coupler 9 is accommodated in the
recess 8 and s~cured to the bottom thereof. One end of
the lead 10 is connected to the electrode coupler 9, and
its other end is connected to the electrocardiograph (not
shown).
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To obtain an electrocardiogram using the
electrocardiographic electrode 1 having the above
construction, the viscous base member 2 of the electrode 1
is bonded to a person's skin M, as shown in Fig. 6. Then,
the lead coupler 7 is coupled to the electrocardiographic
electrode 1 with its magnetic electrode coupler 9
magnetically attracted to the lead coupler 5 of the
electrocardiographic electrode 1. In this state, a
heart's weak voltage derived by the electrode member 6 is
coupled through the lead 10 to an electrocardiograph (not
shown) for recording~
While the electrocardiographic electrode 1 is held
in close con~act with the patient's skin for obtaining a
patient's electrocardiogram, the lead coupler 7 coupled to
the electrode 1 is liable to be detached from the
electrode due to an unconscious movement, e.g., due to the
patient tossing-about in sleep. In such a case, noise is
produced so that an accurate electrocardiogram can no
longer be obtained.
Further, the patient sometimes unconsciously pulls
out the lead 10 extending from th~e lead connector 7. If
the lead 10 is pulled extremely strongly, again detachment
of the lead coupler 7 from the electrocardiographic
ele~trode 1 results, so that an accurate electrocardiogram
can no longer be obtained.
Further, the patient may take a bath with
electrocardiographic electrodes held in close contact with
the skin. Also, an electrocardiogram is sometimes
produced while the patient is taking part in physical
exercise, e.g., swimming. In such a case, a water-proof
suction member is used to cover the electrocardiographic
electrode together with the lead connector. However, the
water-proof suction member is liable to ~e detached by the
action of water so that an accurate electrocardiogram can
no longer be obtained.
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Detailed ~escription of the Pre~erred Embodiment
An embodiment of the invention will now be
described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Fig. 1 is a perspec-tive view showing the front side of an
embodiment oE an electrocardiographic electrode according
to the invention, and Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing
the rear side of the electrocardiographic electrode of
Fig. 1. The electrocardiographic electrode is designated
as 11.
The electrocardiographic electrode 11 has a viscous
base member 12. The viscous base member 12 is an annular
member having a central aperture or opening 13. The
detailed structure of the viscous base member 12 will be
described later.
The central opening 13 of the viscous base member
12 is closed by a disk-like reinforcement member 14 which
is bonded to the top or front surface of the viscous base
member 12. As shown in Fig. 1, the reinforcement member
14 has a smaller diameter than the viscous base member 12
and is made of vinyl chloride. The reinforcement member
14 has a ring-like projection 14a formed on the front
side~ A magnetic lead coupler 15 is received in the
ring-like projection 14a~
An electrode member 16 is bonded to the underside
of the lead coupler 15, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3.
An electrode member cover 17 is bonded to the
electrode member 16. The cover 17 consists of a
water-containing gel layer prepared from glutine, agar,
polyacrylamide, etc. It has considerable viscosity and
also has electric conductivity. The electrode member
cover 17 is held in close contact with the skin to feed a
weak voltage induced on the skin to the electrode member
16.
Without the electrode member cover 17, i.e., if the
electrode member 16 is held in direct close contact with
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the skin, the weak voltage cannot be accurately measured
due to the contact resistance ofered by the skin
surface. Heretofore, it has been the practice to apply
cream or the like to the skin beforehand so as to reduce
the contact resistance. The electrode member 16 is then
held in contact with the cream for the measurement of the
weak voltage. To apply cream whenever the measurement of
the weak voltage is done, however, is cumbersome and
inefficient. The water-containing gel layer noted above,
bonded to the electrode member 16, serves the role of
cream and eliminates the inconvenience of applying cream
for each time of measurement. The water-containing gel
layer as the electrode member cover 17 may be replaced
with a polyurethane foam layer impregnated with jelly.
The viscous base member 12, as shown in Figs. 1 and
2, is disk-like and obtained using foamed polyethylene, an
independently foamed butadiene rubber sheet non-woven
cloth and a woven cloth. As shown in Fig. 2, the rear
surface 12b of the viscous base member 12 is made viscous
in order to obtain close contact of the
electrocardiographic electrode 11 with the person's skin M
as shown in Fig. 3. Further, the viscous base member 12
is viscous not only on the rear side 12b but also on the
front side 12a, as shown in Fig. 1, so that a lead
connector 18, as shown in Fig. 3, can ~e bonded to it.
As shown in Fig. 3, the lead connector 18 has a
water-proof suction member 19. A magnetic electrode
coupler 20 is secured to a substantially central portion
of the inner surface l9a of the water-proof suction member
19. The electrode couplex 20 is attracted to the lead
coupler 15 of the electrocardiographic electrode 11. A
lead securement member 21 is provided on the top surEace
of the water-proof suction member 19. One end of a lsad
22 is connected to the lead securement member 21. The
other end of the lead 22 is connected to an
electrocardiograph (not shown).
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The electrocardiographic electrode 11 having the
above construction is used as follows. First, the rear
surface 12b of the viscous base member 12 of the
electrocardiographic electrode 11 is held in close contact
with the person's skin M, as shown in Fig. 3. Then, the
lead connector 18 i~ coupled to the electrocardiographic
electrode 11 with the electrode coupler 20 attracted to
the lead coupler 15 of the electrocardiographic electrode
11 in close contact with the person's skin M. At this
time, the inner surface l9a of the water-proof suction
member 19 is held in close contact with the front surface
12a of the viscous base member 12. Since the ront
surface 12a of the viscous base member 12 is viscous, the
inner surface l9a of the water-proof suction member 19 is
bonded to the surface 12a. Thus, the lead connector 18 is
firmly bonded to and never detached from the
electrocardiographic electrode 11.
As has been described in the for~going, the ~iscous
base member is made viscous on both the front and rear
sides, so that the lead connector can be held firmly
bonded to and never detached from the electrocardiographic
electrode. It is thus possible to obtain an
electrocardiograph of a patient while the patient is
taking a bath or exercising.
Further, the lead connector can b~ prevented from
detaching from the electrocardiographic electrode very
simply and inexpensively by merely making both the front
and rear surfaces of the viscous base member viscous.
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