U.S. patent number 3,581,736 [Application Number 04/785,481] was granted by the patent office on 1971-06-01 for electrocardiograph electrode.
Invention is credited to Ilias Zenkich.
United States Patent |
3,581,736 |
Zenkich |
June 1, 1971 |
ELECTROCARDIOGRAPH ELECTRODE
Abstract
An electrode for an electrocardiograph comprising a reinforced
base sheet having the underside thereof coated with a pressure
sensitive adhesive and protected by a thin layer of removable
paper. A snap fastener comprising a male and female portion extends
through the center of the base sheet with the male portion of the
snap fastener being firmly attached to the base sheet. The
contacting surfaces of the male and female portion of the snap
fastener are provided with a plurality of alternating grooves and
ridges to increase the contact area and to prevent relative
rotation of the respective male and female portions. A screen or
sponge is attached to the underside of the male portion of the
fastener and may be the fastener and may be impregnated with an
electrically conductive jelly. The female portion of the fastener
is mounted into a housing designed for easy gripping with the
fingers.
Inventors: |
Zenkich; Ilias (Norridge,
IL) |
Family
ID: |
25135643 |
Appl.
No.: |
04/785,481 |
Filed: |
December 20, 1968 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
600/391;
600/394 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A61B
5/25 (20210101) |
Current International
Class: |
A61B
5/0408 (20060101); A61b 005/04 (); A61n
001/04 () |
Field of
Search: |
;128/2.06,416--418,404,(Digest) ;24/213,214,216 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Gaudet; Richard A.
Assistant Examiner: Howell; Kyle L.
Claims
I claim:
1. An electrode for an electrocardiograph comprising in
combination;
a base sheet having the underside thereof coated with a pressure
sensitive adhesive,
a snap fastener comprising an electrically conductive male portion
and an electrically conductive female portion, said male portion
and said female portion having opposed contacting surfaces pressed
into engagement with each other to provide an electrical connection
therebetween,
said male portion of said snap fastener being firmly attached to
and having a shank portion and a portion thereof extending through
the underside of said base sheet,
conductive means secured to said male portion extending through the
underside of said base sheet and adapted to be placed in contact
with an object to be tested by said electrocardiograph,
a housing partially surrounding and secured to said female portion
of said snap fastener and adapted for easy manual gripping, said
housing being oriented to permit said female portion to receive
said male portion of said snap fastener, and
said opposed contacting surfaces of said male and female portions
of said snap fastener being provided with a plurality of closely
spaced alternating grooves and ridges, said grooves and ridges on
the shank portion of said male portion extending in a generally
spiral direction.
2. The structure of claim 1 in which said grooves and ridges extend
spirally radially along said contacting surfaces.
Description
This invention relates in general to the art of electrocardiography
and in particular to a new and improved electrode to be attached to
the human body in order to pick up and convey electrical impulses
to the recording instrument generally referred to as an
electrocardiograph.
The electrocardiograph is an instrument designed to record the
electromotive force generated by the heart muscle preliminary by
the physical contraction of the muscle.
In recording the graph the differences in electrical potential of
two points on the surface of the body are measured. This is
accomplished by electrodes which may be placed on the extremities
of the body and on the chest. The electrode on the right leg
usually acts as a ground while other electrodes are utilized in a
definite sequence to record the various sections of the completed
tracing. Normally, the highest potential difference or the peak of
the highest wave recorded by the electrocardiograph is in the order
of from 0.70 to 1.80 millivolts.
It will thus be appreciated that the electrodes employed to pick up
and convey the small potential differences, as above indicated,
must be extremely accurate and ensure good contact with the human
body as well as provide for good electrical conduction within the
electrode.
It is accordingly an important object of the present invention to
provide for an electrocardiograph electrode which ensures positive
contact with the human body.
Another object of the instant invention is to provide for an
electrode of the above type which has substantially improved
electrical conductivity between its constituent parts.
A more specific object of the instant invention is to provide an
electrode wherein the leads can be quickly and effectively
disconnected from the portion of the electrodes attached to the
body by means of a snap fastener.
Yet another object of the instant invention is to provide an
electrode including a quick disconnect snap fastener and in which
the connecting conductive surfaces of the snap fastener are
provided with a plurality of alternating minute grooves and ridges
to ensure complete electrical conductivity between the male and
female parts of the snap fastener and to prevent relative rotation
therebetween.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an
electrode for an electrocardiograph including a snap fastener and
in which the female part of the fastener is mounted into relatively
heavy housing to accommodate easy gripping by the fingers of an
operator.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide an
electrode for an electrocardiograph including a snap fastener in
which the electrical current is transmitted from the human body to
the snap fastener by means of a screen member of electrically
conductive material or combined with or replaced by a sponge
impregnated with an electrically conductive jelly.
These and other objects of the present invention will appear from
time to time particularly when reference is made to the
accompanying drawings and specification.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of the electrode of the present
invention;
FIG. 2 is a plan view of the structure indicated in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a plan view taken substantially along lines A-A of FIG.
1;
FIG. 4 is a plan view taken substantially along the lines B-B of
FIG. 1; and
FIG. 5 is a bottom plan view taken in the direction of the arrow C
as shown in FIG. 1.
As shown in FIG. 1, the device of the instant invention comprises a
circular sheet of paper 10 having a predetermined relatively large
diameter 11. Concentrically attached to the sheet of paper 10, on
the upper side thereof, is a sheet of reinforcing paper 12 having
an outer diameter 13. Both sheets of paper 10 and 12 have a central
common circular opening of equal diameter as indicated by the
numeral 14.
The two sheets of paper 10 and 12 are clamped between the metal
portions 15 and 16 which form the male portion of the snap fastener
17 which is of generally circular configuration. The portion 15 of
the male portion of the snap fastener protrudes through the central
opening 14 and through the sheets of paper 10 and 12 and is firmly
clamped to the portion 16 of the male portion of the snap fastener
17. In this manner, both sheets of paper 10 and 12 are firmly
secured at their center to the male portion 15--16 of the snap
fastener 17. The snap fastener 17 also comprises a female portion
18 which may be snapped over the male portion 15--16 of the
fastener 17 in a manner well known to those skilled in the art.
Fixedly attached to the female portion 18 of the snap fastener 17
is a relatively heavy metal housing 19 which is of sufficiently
large size to enable easy gripping with the fingers. This
relatively heavy housing 19 is preferably made of brass to ensure
good electrical conductivity. Attached to the gripping portion 19
is an electrical connector means 20 to which electrical cables may
be suitably connected for conveying electrical currents to the
electrocardiograph recording device.
As shown in FIG. 2, the sheets of paper 10 and 12 are preferably of
circular configuration but it should be understood that any
desirable configuration may be employed. Also, the gripping piece
19 is preferably made of circular configuration but square or
hexagonal configurations may also be employed.
As further shown in FIG. 1, the underside of the circular sheet of
paper 10 has attached thereto, an annular sheet of paper 21 which
has an outer diameter equal to the diameter 11 of the sheet of
paper 10 and an inner diameter 22 having a diameter of
approximately one-half of the outer diameter 11.
The underside of the sheet of paper 10 is coated with a pressure
sensitive adhesive and the annular sheet of paper 21 merely
performs the function of protecting the pressure sensitive adhesive
coated to the underside of the sheet of paper 10. As shown in FIG.
5, the annular sheet of paper 21 is cut along the line 23 so that
it may be easily stripped from the underside of the sheet of paper
10 whereupon the sheet of paper 10 may be firmly adhered to the
human body.
As further shown in FIG. 1, a screen 24 is mounted to the underside
of the sheet of paper 10. Screen 24 has an outer diameter
approximating the inner diameter 22 of the annular sheet of paper
21 and is firmly attached to the underside of the paper sheet 10 by
means of the pressure sensitive adhesive previously discussed in
connection with paper sheet 10.
The screen 24 serves the important function of conducting the
electrical current from the human body through the snap fastener 17
and the gripping portion 19 to the electrocardiograph instrument.
The screen 24 is urged into firm contact with the human body by
means of the sheet of paper 10 the underside of which is coated
with a pressure sensitive adhesive as previously described. In
order to increase the conductivity of the screen 24 the screen may
be impregnated or coated with an electrically conductive jelly or
may be made of metal with or without the electrically conductive
jelly.
Other devices may be substituted for the screen 24 such as, for
example, a sponge pad impregnated with an electrically conductive
jelly. Additionally, such a sponge pad may be used in connection
with the screen 24 to increase the electrical conductivity of the
entire device.
It will thus be seen that with the use of the screen 24 or its
corresponding substitute in the form of a sponge proper electrical
conductivity is obtained between the human body and the male
portion of the snap fastener 17. It will, of course, be appreciated
the connection between the male portion 15--16 of the snap fastener
17 and the female portion 18 thereof, must be equally effective in
order to ensure proper recording of the electrical impulses
generated by the human body. It is therefore extremely important
that the connection between the male and female portions of the
fasteners 17 are made in such a manner to ensure the greatest
possible amount of electrical conductivity obtainable.
Accordingly, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the contacting surfaces of
the male and female portions of the snap fastener 17 are provided
with a plurality of alternating grooves and ridges, the grooves
being indicated by the numeral 25 and the ridges being indicated by
the numeral 26. The grooves and ridges perform a dual function in
that they provide for additional surface area between the male and
the female contacting portions of the snap fastener 17 and more
importantly they prevent the male and the female portions from
rotating with respect to one another. The increased contact area
provided by the grooves and ridges 25 and 26, respectively,
increases the amount of electrical conductivity between the male
and female portions of the snap fastener 17, while their function
of preventing the respective male and female portions from rotating
with respect to one another ensures electrical conductivity of the
same degree at all times.
As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, it is important
to be able to remove one electrode from the human body and attach
it to another part of the human body. For example, it may be
desirable to shift the electrode attached to the left leg over to
the right leg. In that instance, one would merely disconnect the
snap fastener on the right leg and left leg respectively, and
interchange the female portion to which the electrical leads
leading to the recording instrument are connected. The heavy metal
housing 19 provides for easy gripping as a result of which a change
of electrodes may be easily accomplished.
While reference has herein been made to circular sheets of paper it
will, of course, be understood that other materials such as
plastics or textiles can also be used and that suitable
substitutions may be made depending upon the particular type of
application.
It is also to be understood that while the device of the present
invention may be used with a "human body" as used herein, the
device may also be used with other animals and other objects.
It will be understood that variations and modifications may be
effected without departing from the spirit and scope of the novel
concepts of this invention.
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