Portable Sleep Apnea Monitor
First Claim
1. A portable sleep apnea monitoring system comprising:
- a belt comprising a substantially non-elastic, flexible material and having a distal end and a proximal end, the belt configured for secure placement generally encircling the abdomen and respiratory areas of a patient;
a buckle assembly having a buckle and a first slot configured to receive said proximal end of said belt and a second slot configured to receive said distal end of said belt, the buckle assembly configured to expand and contract in response to respiration of the patient;
a sensor assembly, disposed within said buckle and configured to detect repeatedly a plurality of expansions and contractions of said buckle assembly;
an evaluator, disposed within said buckle, configured to receive a plurality of expansions and contractions signals from said sensor assembly, and configured to make calculations based upon a plurality of time intervals collected from the plurality of expansions and contractions of said buckle assembly, and thereby detect each sleep apnea event, and store the time of each sleep apnea event detected for later upload to an external device;
a vibrator motor, disposed within said buckle and configured to be actuated by said evaluator when said evaluator determines that a sleep apnea event has occurred and thereby to inform the patient by vibration;
an alarm, disposed within said buckle and configured to be actuated by said evaluator when said evaluator determines that the patient is unresponsive to said vibrator motor actuations; and
a rechargeable battery, disposed within said buckle and configured to provide rechargeable power to the portable sleep apnea monitor.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A belt made of a substantially non-elastic, flexible material with a buckle assembly having a sensor to sense breathing by means of the movement of the abdomen, an evaluator to use the information from the sensor to determine the occurrence of an apnea event, a vibrator motor to stimulate the wearer when an apnea event occurs, an alarm unit to alert people around the wearer should the wearer not respond to the stimuli from the vibrator motor, a rechargeable battery to power the electrical/electronics units and a data transfer port to transfer data from the evaluator to a display console. The display console is a stand-alone unit that receives data from the evaluator and displays the time of each apnea event that occurred.
22 Citations
21 Claims
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1. A portable sleep apnea monitoring system comprising:
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a belt comprising a substantially non-elastic, flexible material and having a distal end and a proximal end, the belt configured for secure placement generally encircling the abdomen and respiratory areas of a patient; a buckle assembly having a buckle and a first slot configured to receive said proximal end of said belt and a second slot configured to receive said distal end of said belt, the buckle assembly configured to expand and contract in response to respiration of the patient; a sensor assembly, disposed within said buckle and configured to detect repeatedly a plurality of expansions and contractions of said buckle assembly; an evaluator, disposed within said buckle, configured to receive a plurality of expansions and contractions signals from said sensor assembly, and configured to make calculations based upon a plurality of time intervals collected from the plurality of expansions and contractions of said buckle assembly, and thereby detect each sleep apnea event, and store the time of each sleep apnea event detected for later upload to an external device; a vibrator motor, disposed within said buckle and configured to be actuated by said evaluator when said evaluator determines that a sleep apnea event has occurred and thereby to inform the patient by vibration; an alarm, disposed within said buckle and configured to be actuated by said evaluator when said evaluator determines that the patient is unresponsive to said vibrator motor actuations; and a rechargeable battery, disposed within said buckle and configured to provide rechargeable power to the portable sleep apnea monitor. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A portable sleep apnea monitoring system comprising:
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a belt comprising a substantially non-elastic, flexible material and having a distal end and a proximal end, the belt configured for secure placement generally encircling the abdomen and respiratory areas of a patient; a buckle assembly having a buckle and a first slot configured to receive said proximal end of said belt and a second slot configured to receive said distal end of said belt, the buckle assembly configured to expand and contract in response to respiration of the patient; a sensor assembly, disposed within said buckle and configured to detect repeatedly a plurality of expansions and contractions of said buckle assembly; a first transmitter/receiver disposed within said buckle and configured to transmit a plurality of data concerning the plurality of expansions and contractions of said buckle assembly to an external device; and a vibrator motor, disposed within said buckle and configured to be actuated by an external device when said external device determines that a sleep apnea event has occurred and thereby to inform the patient by vibration. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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Specification