MEDICAL GATING USING POSITIVE AIRWAY PRESSURE DEVICES

• US 20140066749A1
• Filed: 09/04/2012
• Published: 03/06/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 09/04/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Gregg A. Dickerson
• Original Assignee: Gregg A. Dickerson
• Inventors: DICKERSON, Gregg A.
• Granted Patent: US 10,159,446 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 600/413
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/087 Measuring breath flow
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/4836 Diagnosis combined with treatment in closed-loop systems or methods A61B5/0036 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6803 Head-worn items, e.g. helmets, masks, headphones or goggles
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7285 for synchronising or triggering a physiological measurement or image acquisition with a physiological event or waveform, e.g. an ECG signal A61B6/5205, A61B6/541, A61B8/5207, A61B8/543 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/032 Transmission computed tomography [CT]
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/037 Emission tomography
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/5288 involving retrospective matching to a physiological signal
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/541 involving acquisition triggered by a physiological signal
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 16/024 including calculation means, e.g. using a processor
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2016/0027 pressure meter
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2016/0033 electrical
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/502 User interfaces, e.g. screens or keyboards
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 2005/1052 using positron emission tomography [PET] single photon emission computer tomography [SPECT] imaging
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 2005/1055 using magnetic resonance imaging [MRI]
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 2005/1061 using an x-ray imaging system having a separate imaging source
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 5/1068 Gating the beam as a function of a physiological signal
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 33/5673 Gating or triggering based on a physiological signal other than an MR signal, e.g. ECG gating or motion monitoring using optical systems for monitoring the motion of a fiducial marker

Abstract

A medical apparatus includes: a breathing device comprising an air pressure generator for generating air pressure, a tube for delivering the air pressure to a patient, and a sensor configured to sense a characteristic associated with a breathing of the patient; and a processing unit configured to receive an output from the sensor, and generate a control signal for controlling a medical device based at least in part on the output from the sensor.

Claims

1. A medical apparatus, comprising:

a breathing device comprising an air pressure generator for generating air pressure, a tube for delivering the air pressure to a patient, and a sensor configured to sense a characteristic associated with a breathing of the patient; and

a processing unit configured to receive an output from the sensor, and generate a control signal for controlling a medical device based at least in part on the output from the sensor.

2. The medical apparatus of claim 1, wherein the breathing device comprises a BPAP machine.

3. The medical apparatus of claim 1, wherein the breathing device comprises a CPAP machine.

4. The medical apparatus of claim 1, wherein the sensor comprises a pressure sensor or an airflow sensor.

5. The medical apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing unit comprises a processor.

6. The medical apparatus of claim 1, wherein the medical device comprises a radiation machine, and the processing unit is configured to generate the control signal to control the radiation machine.

7. The medical apparatus of claim 6, wherein the radiation machine is configured to deliver diagnostic radiation for imaging the patient.

8. The medical apparatus of claim 6, wherein the radiation machine is configured to deliver treatment radiation for treating the patient.

9. The medical apparatus of claim 6, wherein the control signal is configured to control the medical device to perform one or more of:

turning on a radiation beam, turning off the radiation beam, rotating a gantry of the radiation machine, operating a collimator, operating a patient support, and adjusting a dose rate.

10. The medical apparatus of claim 1, wherein the device comprises a collimator, and the processing unit is configured to generate the control signal to control the collimator in synchronization with a breathing of the patient.

11. The medical apparatus of claim 1, wherein the device comprises an imaging device, and the processing unit is configured to generate the control signal to activate the imaging device.

12. The medical apparatus of claim 11, wherein the imaging device comprises a CT machine, a PET machine, a PET-CT machine, or a MRI machine.

13. The medical apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing unit is configured to generate the control signal in real time to control the medical device.

14. The medical apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing unit is configured to process the output from the sensor to determine a metric of breathing state.

15. A medical method, comprising:

providing a breathing device, the breathing device comprising an air pressure generator for generating air pressure, a tube for delivering the air pressure to a patient, and a sensor;

sensing a characteristic of a breathing of the patient using the sensor; and

generating a control signal to control a medical device based at least in part on an output from the sensor.

16. The medical method of claim 15, wherein the breathing device comprises a BPAP machine.

17. The medical method of claim 15, wherein the breathing device comprises a CPAP machine.

18. The medical method of claim 15, wherein sensor comprises a pressure sensor or an airflow sensor.

19. The medical method of claim 15, wherein the medical device comprises a radiation machine, and the control signal is generated to control the radiation machine.

20. The medical method of claim 19, wherein the radiation machine is configured to deliver diagnostic radiation for imaging the patient.

21. The medical method of claim 19, wherein the radiation machine is configured to deliver treatment radiation for treating the patient.

22. The medical method of claim 19, wherein the control signal is configured to control the medical device to perform one or more of:

turning on a radiation beam, turning off the radiation beam, rotating a gantry of the radiation machine, operating a collimator, operating a patient support, and adjusting a dose rate.

23. The medical method of claim 15, wherein the device comprises a collimator, and the control signal is generated to control the collimator in synchronization with a breathing of the patient.

24. The medical method of claim 15, wherein the device comprises an imaging device, and the control signal is generated to activate the imaging device.

25. The medical method of claim 24, wherein the imaging device comprises a CT machine, a PET machine, a PET-CT machine, or a MRI machine.

26. The medical method of claim 15, wherein the control signal is generated in real time to control the medical device.

27. The medical method of claim 15, further comprising processing the output from the sensor to determine a metric of breathing state.

28. A medical apparatus, comprising:

a breathing device configured to provide air pressure, the breathing device comprising an air pressure generator for generating the air pressure, and a tube for delivering the air pressure to a patient;

wherein the breathing device comprises a sensor configured to sense a characteristic associated with a breathing of the patient at multiple time points during a breathing cycle of the patient; and

a non-transitory medium for storing data associated with the sensed characteristic at the multiple time points.

29. The medical apparatus of claim 28, wherein the breathing device comprises a BPAP machine.

30. The medical apparatus of claim 28, wherein the breathing device comprises a CPAP machine.

31. The medical apparatus of claim 28, wherein the sensor comprises a pressure sensor or an airflow sensor.

32. The medical apparatus of claim 28, further comprising a processing unit configured to determine phases of the breathing cycle that correspond with respective values of the sensed characteristic.

33. The medical apparatus of claim 28, wherein the sensor is configured to sense airway pressure or airflow as the characteristic;

and

wherein the data comprises;

airway pressure values or airflow values provided from the sensor, and

time points corresponding to the respective airway pressure values or airflow values.

34. The medical apparatus of claim 28, further comprising a processing unit configured to generate control signals to control a medical device based at least in part on an output provided by the sensor.

35. The medical apparatus of claim 34, wherein the medical device comprises a radiation machine, and the processing unit is configured to generate the control signals to control the radiation machine.

36. The medical apparatus of claim 35, wherein the radiation machine is configured to deliver diagnostic radiation for imaging the patient.

37. The medical apparatus of claim 35, wherein the radiation machine is configured to deliver treatment radiation for treating the patient.

38. The medical apparatus of claim 35, wherein the control signals are configured to control the medical device to perform one or more of:

turning on a radiation beam, turning off the radiation beam, rotating a gantry of the radiation machine, operating a collimator, operating a patient support, and adjusting a dose rate.

39. The medical apparatus of claim 34, wherein the processing unit is configured to generate the control signals in real time to control the medical device.

40. The medical apparatus of claim 28, further comprising a processing unit configured to determine a parameter of a treatment plan using the data associated with the airway pressures.

41. A medical method, comprising:

providing a breathing device, the breathing device comprising an air pressure generator for generating air pressure, a tube for delivering the air pressure to a patient, and a sensor;

sensing a characteristic associated with a breathing of the patient using the sensor at multiple time points during a respiratory cycle of the patient; and

storing data associated with the sensed characteristic in a non-transitory medium.

42. The medical method of claim 41, wherein the breathing device comprises a BPAP machine.

43. The medical method of claim 41, wherein the breathing device comprises a CPAP machine.

44. The medical method of claim 41, wherein the sensor comprises a pressure sensor or an airflow sensor.

45. The medical method of claim 41, wherein the data comprises:

airway pressure values or airflow values provided from the sensor, and

time points corresponding to the respective airway pressure values or airflow values.

46. The medical method of claim 41, further comprising determining a parameter of a treatment plan using the stored data.

47. The medical method of claim 46, wherein the treatment plan comprises a radiation treatment plan.

48. The medical method of claim 41, further comprising controlling a medical device using the data.

49. The medical method of claim 48, wherein the medical device comprises a radiation machine.

50. The medical method of claim 49, wherein the radiation machine comprises a radiation diagnostic machine.

51. The medical method of claim 49, wherein the radiation machine comprises a radiation treatment machine.

52. The medical method of claim 49, wherein the act of controlling the medical device comprises one or more of:

turning on a radiation beam, turning off the radiation beam, rotating a gantry of the radiation machine, operating a collimator, operating a patient support, and adjusting a dose rate.