Personal Spirometer
First Claim
1. A portable, hand-held personal spirometer, comprising:
- a casework housing having front and rear panels, proximal and distal ends, and opposite side edges;
an opposed pair of handgrips formed by said housing at said opposite side edges;
a pair of finger-receiving throughholes extending through said housing adjacent each of said handgrips permitting each of said handgrips to be gripped by a hand of a user such that the hand of the user is able to fully encircle, extend around, and gird said handgrip;
an air flow tube mounted to said housing and extending underneath said front panel across said housing in a direction from said proximal end to said distal end, said air flow tube being located centrally between said opposed pair of handgrips and being spaced from each of said handgrips; and
a mouthpiece connected to said air flow tube and extending from said proximal end of said housing.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A portable hand-held spirometer is disclosed for use in taking respiratory tests and storing and displaying test results. The configuration of the spirometer includes handgrips that are positioned to ensure that the user is properly positioned to provide maximum breathing required for valid test results to be obtained. The spirometer also includes a progressively illuminated indicator that can be viewed by the user during a test to provide an indication in real-time to the user of the expected/desired duration of the exhalation or inhalation test. The indicator is completely illuminated only when the measured accumulated volume of air passing through the spirometer equals a predicted volume determined based on the age, gender, height, weight and ethnicity of the user stored in the spirometer. The structures and arrangement of a turbine assembly and sensors is also disclosed. Further, a method of receiving, storing and displaying information on the spirometer via a color touch screen display is also disclosed.
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Citations
22 Claims
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1. A portable, hand-held personal spirometer, comprising:
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a casework housing having front and rear panels, proximal and distal ends, and opposite side edges; an opposed pair of handgrips formed by said housing at said opposite side edges; a pair of finger-receiving throughholes extending through said housing adjacent each of said handgrips permitting each of said handgrips to be gripped by a hand of a user such that the hand of the user is able to fully encircle, extend around, and gird said handgrip; an air flow tube mounted to said housing and extending underneath said front panel across said housing in a direction from said proximal end to said distal end, said air flow tube being located centrally between said opposed pair of handgrips and being spaced from each of said handgrips; and a mouthpiece connected to said air flow tube and extending from said proximal end of said housing. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A personal spirometer, comprising:
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a portable, hand-held casework housing having front and rear panels, proximal and distal ends, and opposite side edges, said housing forming an opposed pair of handgrips at said opposite side edges and a pair of finger-receiving throughholes extending through said housing adjacent each of said handgrips permitting each of said handgrips to be gripped by a hand of a user such that the hand of the user is able to fully encircle, extend around, and gird said handgrip; an air flow tube mounted to said housing and extending underneath said front panel across said housing in a direction from said proximal end to said distal end and being located centrally between said opposed pair of handgrips; a mouthpiece connected to said air flow tube and extending from said proximal end of said housing; an electronic touch screen display mounted on said front panel above said air flow tube and between said pair of finger-receiving throughholes; an accumulated volume indicator on said front panel in a position viewable by the user when taking a respiratory test, said indicator progressively becoming illuminated during a respiratory test based on an amount of accumulated volume of air passing through said air flow tube measured in real-time by the spirometer such that said indicator becomes fully illuminated when the accumulated volume of air measured in real-time by the spirometer equals a Predicted Forced Vital Capacity (PFVC) or a Predicted Inspiratory Vital Capacity (PIVC) of the user; and a microprocessor mounted within said housing, said microprocessor automatically determining values for said PFVC or PIVC based on information of the user'"'"'s age, gender, height, weight and ethnicity and automatically controlling illumination of said indicator based on a calculated percentage of said PFVC or PIVC formed by the accumulated volume of air measured in real-time by the spirometer during a respiratory test. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17)
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18. A method of receiving, processing and displaying information on a portable, hand-held personal spirometer, comprising the steps of:
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storing information concerning the age, gender, height, weight and ethnicity of a user on a microcontroller unit contained within the spirometer with data entry via a color touch-screen display of the spirometer; scheduling and storing alarms in the microcontroller unit with data entry via the color touch-screen display with respect to date and time of day when respiratory tests should be taken by the user and when medications should be taken by the user; automatically issuing alarms via the microcontroller unit from the spirometer to remind the user of scheduled respiratory tests and times to take medication; measuring air flow through an air flow tube of the spirometer in real-time during a respiratory test and providing via sensors an electronic digital signal to the microcontroller unit with respect to measured air flow; calculating and storing values within the microcontroller unit of different test parameters provided by the respiratory test results; and displaying information concerning test results and test result trends in numerical data form and graphical form to the user via the color touch screen display, the particular test parameters, test results, test result trends and display format being selectable by the user via use of the touch screen display. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22)
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Specification