DISPOSITIVO PARA UNA MONITORIZACION FACILITADA NO INVASIVA DEL OXIGENO

LA PRESENTE INVENCION SE REFIERE A UN SISTEMA SENSOR CON UN DISPOSITIVO CARACTERISTICO DE MEDICION DE LA SANGRE TAL COMO UN OXIMETRO DE IMPULSOS, SOBRE ZONAS DEL CUERPO QUE TIENEN FLUJO SANGUINEO CUTANEO NORMAL, Y PARA LA MONITORIZACION DE CARACTERISTICAS SANGUINEAS TALES COMO SATURACION DE OXIGENO Y RITMO DE IMPULSOS DE PACIENTES, PREFERENTEMENTE DURANTE UN PERIODO PROLONGADO DE TIEMPO. EL SISTEMA SENSOR INCLUYE (A) UN DISPOSITIVO TRANSDERMICO QUE CONTIENE UN AGENTE DE REFORZAMIENTO DE PERFUSION DE LA SANGRE, QUE SE ADMINISTRA EN CANTIDAD CONTROLADA A LA DERMIS DE UN PACIENTE HUMANO Y (B) UN SENSOR DE LA SUPERFICIE CUTANEA. A method for non-invasive monitoring of a characteristic of the blood of a patient, comprising: (i) providing a transdermal delivery device (10) comprising: (a) a backing member (20) that is substantially impermeable to a vaso-dilating agent; (b) a first adhesive layer (26) adjacent to one surface of the backing member; (c) a reservoir (22) adjacent to another surface of the backing member, the reservoir comprising sufficient vaso-dilating agent to induce local vaso-dilation in the skin of the patient to which the device may be attached; (d) a rate-controlling membrane (24) adjacent to a backing layer distal surface of the reservoir, (ii) attaching one exposed surface of the delivery device to a predetermined site on the patient's skin; (iii) mating an electro-optical sensor (40) to the first adhesive layer (26) of the transdermal delivery device, either before or after step (ii); (iv) thereafter permitting transdermal delivery of the vaso-dilating agent through the skin site at a rate dependent on the composition and thickness of the rate-controlling membrane (24) and on the diffusion co-efficient of the vaso-dilating agent within the rate-controlling membrane (24); and (v) concurrently monitoring a characteristic of the patient's blood with the sensor.