Garment for Holding an Electrocardiographic Monitoring Unit and Cables

The present invention relates to a garment for use in current registration of electrocardiographic measurements on a person wherein at least one front portion includes devices for holding a monitoring unit and associated cables.

Garments for holding a monitor for current registration of electrocardiographic measurements or the arterial pressure of the wearer are known. The garments can be divided into two groups, one comprising tight-fitting jackets which in addition to holding the monitor also fixate the electrodes to the skin of the bearer. Generally, these jackets are considered uncomfortable, but the fixed connection between the electrodes and the jacket entails the advantage that the path of the cables between the electrodes and the monitor can be predetermined, as no movement will take place between the jacket and the electrodes.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,698,848 discloses a loose-fitting garment in form of a blouse with an internal pocket, in which the equipment for the current registration can be placed. The electrodes are attached to the skin in a conventional way and connected with cables transmitting the signals to the monitoring equipment. To give the bearer an adequate freedom of movement the cables are to have a certain excess length. This excess of length are often attached to the skin of the bearer by means of a self-adhesive band-aid. This is, however, a solution which is both fairly uncomfortable and which makes the placing of the electrodes and the establishing of the connection between the electrodes and the monitoring unit complicated, when the bearer is to put the garment on.

The object of the invention is to provide a garment for use in current registration of electrocardiographic measurements and by means of which the above drawbacks have been considerably reduced.

This object is achieved by providing a garment in the form of a loosely fitting jacket comprising two front portions with at least one outside pocket for insertion of a monitoring unit, at least a plurality of devices for fixing cables and slits for enabling cables to pass from outside to inside.

It is conventional to use 4-5 electrodes in a current registration, which means that a corresponding number of cables are to be connected to the electrodes and the monitoring unit. In the garment according to the invention the cables are taken the shortest way from the electrode through one of the slits to each of the fixation means, to which the excess of cable length is fastened, and from there the cables are taken to the monitoring unit. As the cables do not need fastening to the bearer in other places than at the terminal of the electrode it is possible, and in many cases practical, to lay out the cables while the garment is placed on a so-called dummy, which means that the bearer is not inconvenienced during the fitting, but solely has to put on the assembled garment and therefore only has to put up with cable the connection of the electrodes already attached to the skin of the bearer.

According to the invention it is preferred that the pocket or the pockets is/are placed on the outer side of the garment. Thereby, the major part of the laying out of the cables will take place on the outer side of the garment, where there is no contact with the skin of the bearer.

It is advantageous according to the invention that a flap is mounted along the fixation means by use of a flap the coiled cables can be covered after the mounting, and by means of which they are protected against being inadvertently torn out of the fixation means.

The fixation means can according to the invention advantageously be designed as a ribbon connected at one end to the front portion and Velcro tape. Such a design gives good adaptation possibilities and is comfortable to handle. Furthermore, the garment is washable, the hygienic requirements for re-use being thus met. The flap can in closed condition be fixed with Velcro tape.

The laying out of the cables is simplified, if the flap, where it is fastened, is provided with a slit, through which the cables may be taken from the fixation means to the monitoring unit.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention both front pieces are provided with fixation means and possibly with a flap, a pocket being also provided at each side for a monitoring unit. Thus, it becomes possible to perform two registrations simultaneously, for instance an electrocardiographic registration and a-registration of the arterial pressure.

FIG. 1 shows a garment according to the invention worn by a person, the cardiac function of which is to monitored,

FIG. 2 shows the garment from another angle and with a flap for covering a row of fixation means, shown in its open position, and

FIG. 3 shows the garment seen from the same angle as in FIG. 2 with the flap in its closed condition.

The garment 1 shown in FIGS. 1-3 is designed as a jacket without sleeves and having two front portions 2 and 3 to be connected by means of a closure 4. The closure 4 may be designed as lobes fastened to one front piece 3, and to be connected to the second one 2 by hook and loop fastening means, such as Velcro. Velcro tapes are generally preferred to buttons, as it makes it easier to adjust the jacket to different wearers. Moreover, the jacket comprises two pockets 5 and 6 placed approximately under the two arm holes. The pockets are sufficiently deep and wide for holding a monitoring unit 7,8 of the type used in current registration of the cardiac function of a human being for instance through 24 hours, or of the type, which in a similar way registers the arterial pressure over a longer period. For use in the current registration a number of electrodes 9 are attached to the chest of the person, the cardial function of whom is to be cardiographically monitored. These electrodes are secured to the skin by gluing in a conventional way. By means of cables 10 the electrodes are connected with the monitoring unit 7.

The cables 10 have out of regard for the freedom of movement of the person to be monitored a certain excess length. This excess of length is in practice a problem, which has up till now been solved by coiling the excess cable and attaching it to the skin of the wearer by means of a band-aid. This method did not influence the monitoring, but was inconvenient for the person to be monitored. According to the invention these problems are eliminated. On the front side of the jacket 1, as shown in FIG. 2, a number of fixation means 11 is mounted, by means of which the excess of Cable can be placed and fastened in a place, where it is not inconvenient. The fixation means are placed in a row in an area 12 running lengthwise to the front pieces 2 and 3. The number of fixation means are at least to correspond to the number of electrodes to be connected, i.e. normally four or five for a cardiographic registration. Along the edge of the area 12 slits 13 may for instance be provided opposite each of the fixation means 11, through which slits the cables may be pulled from the inner side of the jacket to the outer side thereof. However, it may be advantageous provide with more slits than fixation means, whereby more alternatives in respect of the laying out of the cables are attained in order to secure an adequate direct run which can assure the required freedom of movement and minimize the risk of the cables loosening at the terminals fastened to the electrodes. The fixation means may for instance be short ribbons, which are free at one end and provided with a Velcro tape, by means of which they may be fastened to the surface of the area 12, which is covered by a textile cooperating with the Velcro tape. The fixation means may also be designed in other ways and may for instance comprise a pair of ribbons which can be bound by means of an adequate releasable knot. When the cables are positioned, the area 12 may be covered by a flap 14 fastened to the front piece 3 along the edge of the area 12. The flap is provided with a Velcro tape 15, by means of which it is secured against the area 12 in closed condition as shown in FIG. 3. In order to allow for passage of the cables, the flap may at the fastening edge be provided with a slit 16.

When the jacket 1 is used in practice, it is placed on a dummy, while the cables are laid out and the monitoring equipment is placed in the pocket 6. The cables 10 with the terminals are pulled into the inner side of the jacket with a suitable free length. The person, whose cardiac function is to be examined, has in the meantime been equipped with the electrodes, and when this has happened, the assembled jacket 1 is put on the person, so that only the cable terminals need to be connected to the electrodes. The other portion of the jacket a similar arrangement may be provided, in which the fixation means are covered by a flap 17. The arrangement of the fixation means in a line is so universal that it may also be used when attaching and adapting other monitoring equipment, for instance for current registration of arterial pressure. The equipment for performing the cardiographic registrations may thus be held in one side of the jacket, while the equipment for registration of the arterial pressure may be held in the other side thereof.

The jacket 1 excells in being able to be subjected to the usual washing and maintenance routines for re-usable hospital equipment. It makes it comparatively easy to carry the required registration equipment used during the monitoring, and it minimizes time consumption and the inconvenience in securing the electrodes. Moreover, the coiled cables are protected by the flaps 14, 17, the risk of their falling off during the period of registration being minimized.