Method and apparatus for evaluation of sleep disorders
First Claim
1. A system for monitoring a patient, comprising:
- vibration sensing means for collecting tracheal vibration information from the patient; and
position sensing means that changes state depending upon its orientation with respect to the earth'"'"'s gravity, at least a portion of which is substantially adjacent to a portion of the vibration sensing means.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and apparatus for the evaluation of sleep disorders is disclosed. Two sensors are used to diagnose and usefully characterize abnormal sleep breathing, a sensor of tracheal vibration, and a sensor of axial body position. The two sensors are attached to the patient in locations substantially adjacent to one another. In a preferred embodiment, these two sensors can be physically combined into a single unit, thereby increasing further the simplicity and reliability of attaching the sensors to the patient. The unit is applied to a patient near a tracheal segment, preferably at a suprasternal notch location. The position sensor has two axes of sensitivity that are at angles to each other so that the sensor may determine which of four positions it is in relative to gravity. When attached to the patient, the sensor is oriented so that it may be determined whether the patient is oriented in a supine, prone, left lateral decubitus, or right lateral decubitus position. Data are recorded from both sensors concurrently, preferably over a period of time of several hours, and stored in a recording device, preferably containing a non-volatile memory, so that the data may be reviewed later for diagnosis and characterization.
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Citations
52 Claims
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1. A system for monitoring a patient, comprising:
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vibration sensing means for collecting tracheal vibration information from the patient; and
position sensing means that changes state depending upon its orientation with respect to the earth'"'"'s gravity, at least a portion of which is substantially adjacent to a portion of the vibration sensing means. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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31. A method for monitoring a patient, comprising:
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collecting tracheal vibration information from the patient at a location on the patient'"'"'s body; and
obtaining information indicative of the orientation of a portion of the patient'"'"'s body with respect to gravity substantially adjacent to the location at which the tracheal vibration information is collected.
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32. A method for monitoring a patient, comprising:
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coupling to the patient a vibration sensing means for collecting tracheal vibration information from a patient; and
coupling to at least a portion of the patient'"'"'s body, substantially adjacent to the vibration sensing means, a position sensing means that changes state depending upon its orientation with respect to gravity, such that the position sensing means provides information that is indicative of the orientation with respect to gravity of the portion of the patient'"'"'s body to which it is coupled. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52)
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Specification