Method and apparatus for diagnosing respiratory disorders and determining the degree of exacerbations
First Claim
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1. A method of monitoring respiration in a patient, said method comprising:
- securing a pulse oximeter probe to a central source site of said patient wherein said probe is configured to generate a plethysmography signal stream from said central source site;
processing said signal stream received from said probe to obtain a separate arterial component signal and venous impedance component signal; and
evaluating said arterial component signal, or venous impedance component signal, or both, to determine respiratory rate, occurrence of an inspiratory event, expiratory event, air restriction or air obstruction, or a combination thereof.
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Abstract
Disclosed herein are apparatuses and methods to monitor respiration and abnormal respiration events utilizing plethysmography. The apparatuses and methods provide an alternative to conventional respiration monitoring methods while enabling accurate yet minimally interruptive and invasive monitoring of respiration. The methods and apparatuses may be employed in the context of sleep studies to determine respiratory related sleep disorders.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method of monitoring respiration in a patient, said method comprising:
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securing a pulse oximeter probe to a central source site of said patient wherein said probe is configured to generate a plethysmography signal stream from said central source site;
processing said signal stream received from said probe to obtain a separate arterial component signal and venous impedance component signal; and
evaluating said arterial component signal, or venous impedance component signal, or both, to determine respiratory rate, occurrence of an inspiratory event, expiratory event, air restriction or air obstruction, or a combination thereof. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A method of monitoring respiration in a patient, said method comprising:
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securing a pulse oximeter probe to a central source site of said patient wherein said probe is configured to generate a plethysmography signal stream;
processing said signal stream received from said probe to obtain a venous impedance component signal; and
observing changes in venous impedance component signal correlating with respiratory rate, inspiratory or expiratory events, or combination thereof, of said patient.
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7. A system for monitoring respiration of a patient comprising
at least one pulse oximeter probe configured for securing to a central source site of said patient and effective to generate a plethysmography signal stream; - and
a computer communicatingly connected to said at least one pulse oximeter probe, said computer comprising at least one processing module, a first computer-readable program code module for causing said computer to process signals of said at least one pulse oximeter probe to obtain an arterial component signal or a venous impedance component signal, or both, and a second computer-readable program code module for causing said computer to analyze said arterial component signal or venous impedance component signal, or both to determine an inspiratory event, expiratory event, an air restriction event or an air obstruction event, or a combination thereof. - View Dependent Claims (8)
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9. A computer program product for use with a computer comprising at least one processing module, said product comprising:
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a computer-usable medium comprising computer readable program code modules embodied in said computer-usable medium;
computer readable first program code module for causing said computer to process plethysmography signals obtained from a pulse oximeter probe by separating out an arterial component signal stream and a venous impedance component signal stream; and
computer-readable second program code module for causing said computer to analyze said arterial component signal stream or said venous impedance signal stream, or both, to determine an occurrence of an abnormal respiration event.
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10. A device useful for diagnosing a respiratory condition, said device comprising a computer configured to communicate with at least one pulse oximeter probe,
said computer comprising at least one processing module; - a first computer-readable program code module for causing said computer to process signals of said at least one pulse oximeter probe to obtain an arterial component signal or a venous impedance component signal, or both, and a second computer-readable program code module for causing said computer to analyze said arterial component signal or venous impedance component signal, or both a respiratory condition.
- View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A method of diagnosing a respiratory condition comprising:
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collecting a first dataset of plethysmography signal information from a patient generated during respiration at one or more predetermined resistances;
collecting a second dataset of plethysmography signal information from said patient during a period where said patient is suspected of experiencing air restriction or air obstruction;
comparing said second dataset to said first dataset; and
diagnosing a respiratory condition based on said comparison. - View Dependent Claims (19)
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20. A method of diagnosing a respiration-related sleep disorder in a patient, said method comprising:
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securing a pulse oximeter probe to a central source site of said patient wherein said probe is configured to generate a plethysmography signal stream from said central source site;
processing said signal stream received from said probe to obtain a separate arterial component signal and venous impedance component signal, wherein processing said signal stream information comprises processing plethysmography signal information generated while said patient is asleep; and
evaluating said arterial component signal, or venous impedance component signal, or both, to determine occurrence of an inspiratory event, expiratory event, air restriction or air obstruction, or a combination thereof.
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Specification