A telemedicine system to detect pre-eclampsia

The early detection of the dangerous condition of pre-eclampsia (pregnancy-induced hypertension) is enabled through telemedicine principles involving the use of an electronic sensor sleeve, radio-telemetry and a ringless interface unit connecting to the PSTN. This allows the hospital computer to initiate measurements and to collect data for analysis. The novel sleeve arrangement has two arrays of infra-red LEDs and detectors which detect the pulse 20 cm apart in order to measure blood velocity and pulse rate regularly or on demand. Sudden increases in blood velocity and pulse rate consistent with the early stages of pre-eclampsia can be reliably detected