Accordingly, the invention provides a patient monitor for determining a probability that a patient has acute cardiac ischemia. Therefore, it would be beneficial to have a patient monitor, and particularly a patient transport monitor, capable of determining a probability that a patient has acute cardiac ischemia. Consequently, requiring an electrocardiograph to be temporarily attached to the patient requires use of extra time, space, personnel, and restricts transferability, which may affect the care provided to the patient. In addition, the patient may be periodically moved throughout the emergency room or the hospital. Attaching multiple pieces of equipment to the patient requires time for attachment, space for each piece of equipment, and coordination among the emergency room staff. When the patient enters the emergency room complaining of chest pains, multiple pieces of medical equipment (e.g., a patient monitor and an electrocardiograph) may be attached to the patient at any time. Such patient monitoring devices however have not heretofore included the capability of determining the probability that a patient has acute cardiac ischemia. One such patient monitor is the DASH®2000 brand patient monitor, which is manufactured and sold by GE Medical Systems Information Technologies, Inc. A separate piece of medical equipment (i.e., a patient monitor) is attached to a patient for continuous, constant or ongoing monitoring of patient parameters. Electrocardiographs are not used for continuous, constant or ongoing patient monitoring, i.e., they typically only take a small time sample (e.g., ten to twelve seconds) of a patient's electrocardiograms (ECGs). An example electrocardiograph capable of determining a probability that a patient has acute cardiac ischemia is the MAC™5000, which is manufactured and sold by GE Medical Systems Information Technologies, Inc. Prior medical equipment having the capability of calculating a probability of a patient having acute cardiac ischemia consisted exclusively of electrocardiographs having ACI-TIPI. ![]() Once admitted to the coronary care unit, the patient can undergo more complicated, expensive and time consuming tests to determine whether the patient is experiencing a heart attack. Based on the probability of the patient having acute cardiac ischemia, an experienced doctor or technician can determine whether the patient should be admitted to the coronary care unit. The ACI-TIPI calculates a score representing the probability of a patient having acute cardiac ischemia. 188, both of which are incorporated herein by reference. 610-627 and Selker et al., Erratum: Medical Care, Vol. ACI-TIPI is described in detail in Selker et al., A Tool for Judging Coronary Care Unit Admission Appropriateness, Valid for both Real-Time and Retrospective Use: Medical Care, Vol. One instrument for determining a probability of a patient having acute cardiac ischemia is an Acute Cardiac Ischemia Time-insensitive Predictive Instrument (ACI-TIPI). If the patient has a high probability of acute cardiac ischemia, then the patient should be further tested to determine whether the patient is experiencing a heart attack. ![]() One instrument used to predict whether a patient is likely experiencing a myocardial infarction is an electrocardiograph capable of calculating a probability that the patient has acute cardiac ischemia. However, performing the necessary tests to correctly determine whether a patient is experiencing the myocardial infarction or heartburn are expensive. Statistics show that quickly identifying whether a patient is having a myocardial infarction may minimize the amount of damage to the heart. The chest pain may be a symptom indicating the patient is experiencing a myocardial infarction or, alternatively, the chest pain may be a symptom indicating the patient is experiencing a lesser medical condition (e.g., heartburn or indigestion). Every day, patients arrive at an emergency room of a hospital complaining of chest pain. The invention relates to a patient monitor and, particularly, a patient monitor for continuously monitoring one or more physiological signals of a patient and for determining a probability that a patient has acute cardiac ischemia based at least in part on one of the continuously monitored physiological signals.
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