Sleep disorder breathing event counter
First Claim
1. A sleep disorder breathing event counter for counting the number of sleep disordered breathing events experienced by a subject within a specified time period, said counter comprising:
- an oxygen saturation level sensor for location at a prescribed site on said subject, said sensor providing output data that quantifies the temporal variation in the subject'"'"'s oxygen saturation level at said prescribed site, an oximetry conditioning and control module connected to said sensor that controls the operation of said sensor and converts said sensor output data to oxygen saturation level data, a miniature monitoring unit connected to said module, said unit having a microprocessor, a memory device, a timer for use in time-stamping data, a display means and a recall switch, and firmware for said unit that directs;
(i) the sampling of said oxygen saturation level data at a prescribed frequency and temporarily stores said data in said memory device, (ii) said unit to analyze using a specified method said temporarily stored data to identify and count the occurrence of said subject experiencing disordered breathing events, and to store in said memory device the time of occurrence of each of said events, and (iii) said display means to display specified information pertaining to said counts in response to the actuation of said recall switch.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention provides a method and a device for counting the number of sleep disordered breathing events experienced by a subject within a specified time period. Such a counter comprises: (1) an oxygen saturation level sensor for location at a prescribed site on said subject, (2) an oximetry conditioning and control module that controls the operation of the sensor and converts its output data to oxygen saturation level data, (3) a miniature monitoring unit having a microprocessor, a memory device, a timer for use in time-stamping data, a display means and a recall switch, and (4) firmware for the unit that directs: (i) the sampling and temporary storage of the oxygen saturation level data, (ii) the unit to analyze using a specified method the temporarily stored data to identify and count the occurrence of the subject'"'"'s disordered breathing events, and to store the time of occurrence of each of these events, and (iii) the display means to display specified information pertaining to the counts in response to the actuation of the recall switch.
220 Citations
19 Claims
-
1. A sleep disorder breathing event counter for counting the number of sleep disordered breathing events experienced by a subject within a specified time period, said counter comprising:
-
an oxygen saturation level sensor for location at a prescribed site on said subject, said sensor providing output data that quantifies the temporal variation in the subject'"'"'s oxygen saturation level at said prescribed site, an oximetry conditioning and control module connected to said sensor that controls the operation of said sensor and converts said sensor output data to oxygen saturation level data, a miniature monitoring unit connected to said module, said unit having a microprocessor, a memory device, a timer for use in time-stamping data, a display means and a recall switch, and firmware for said unit that directs;
(i) the sampling of said oxygen saturation level data at a prescribed frequency and temporarily stores said data in said memory device, (ii) said unit to analyze using a specified method said temporarily stored data to identify and count the occurrence of said subject experiencing disordered breathing events, and to store in said memory device the time of occurrence of each of said events, and (iii) said display means to display specified information pertaining to said counts in response to the actuation of said recall switch. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19)
-
-
12. A method for counting the number of sleep disordered breathing events experienced by a subject within a specified time period, said method comprising the steps of:
-
locating an oxygen saturation level sensor at a prescribed site on said subject, said sensor providing output data that quantifies the temporal variation in the subject'"'"'s oxygen saturation level at said prescribed site, said sensor being connected to an oximetry conditioning and control module that controls the operation of said sensor and converts said sensor output data to oxygen saturation level data, said module being connected to a miniature monitoring unit having a microprocessor, a memory device, a timer for use in time-stamping data, a display means, a recall switch, and specified firmware for controlling the operation of said unit, sampling said oxygen saturation level data at a prescribed frequency, temporarily storing said sampled data in said memory device, analyzing in a specified manner said temporarily stored data to identify and count the occurrence of said subject experiencing disordered breathing events, storing in said memory device the time of occurrence of each of said disordered breathing events, and displaying specified information pertaining to said counts in response to the actuation of said recall switch.
-
-
16. A sleep disorder breathing event counter for counting the number of sleep disordered breathing events experienced by a subject within a specified time period, said counter comprising:
-
a means for measuring the oxygen saturation level at a prescribed site on said subject, said means providing output data that quantifies the temporal variation in the subject'"'"'s oxygen saturation level at said prescribed site, a means for sampling said oxygen saturation level data at a prescribed frequency, a means for temporarily storing said sampled data, a means for analyzing using a specified method said temporarily stored data to identify and count the occurrence of said subject'"'"'s disordered breathing events, a means for storing and counting the time of occurrence of each of said disordered breathing events, and a means for displaying specified information pertaining to said counts of disordered breathing events.
-
Specification