Physiological detector and monitor
First Claim
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1. A device for sensing respiration in a living body, said device comprisingmeans adapted to be positioned relative to the respiratory airway of said living body so as to define an air passageway for providing airflow in a first direction responsively to inhalation by said body and a second direction responsively to exhalation by said body;
- acoustic signal generating means disposed relative to said passageway for generating a distinctive acoustic signal responsively to airflow from said body in only a selected one of said first and second directions, said acoustic signal having a fundamental frequency higher than the dominant acoustic frequencies normally present in the natural acoustic signals generated by said body during respiration; and
means disposed relative to said acoustic signal generating means for detecting said acoustic signal and for generating an electrical signal representative of said acoustic signal.
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Abstract
An improved detector and monitor for use with the detector are disclosed for detecting and monitoring a physiological rhythmic signal. When detecting respiration the detector or the monitor is adapted to distinguish between airflow response to inhalation and airflow responsive to exhalation.
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Citations
61 Claims
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1. A device for sensing respiration in a living body, said device comprising
means adapted to be positioned relative to the respiratory airway of said living body so as to define an air passageway for providing airflow in a first direction responsively to inhalation by said body and a second direction responsively to exhalation by said body; -
acoustic signal generating means disposed relative to said passageway for generating a distinctive acoustic signal responsively to airflow from said body in only a selected one of said first and second directions, said acoustic signal having a fundamental frequency higher than the dominant acoustic frequencies normally present in the natural acoustic signals generated by said body during respiration; and means disposed relative to said acoustic signal generating means for detecting said acoustic signal and for generating an electrical signal representative of said acoustic signal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. In a system for sensing the respiration function of a subject, said system comprising, in combination:
- (a) detection means for detecting select acoustic energy generated in response to the respiration function of said subject;
(b) signal generating means for generating an electrical signal within a predetermined range of frequencies and representative of said acoustic energy generated in response to the respiration function of said subject and detected by said detection means within said range; and
(c) demodulation means for demodulating said electrical signal so as to produce a demodulated electrical signal and so as to detect a periodic amplitude modulation frequency of the electrical signal;
wherein said system further comprises;means adapted to be positioned relative to the respiratory airway of said subject so as to define an air passageway for providing airflow in a first direction responsively to inhalation by said subject and a second direction responsively to exhalation by said subject; and acoustic signal generating means disposed relative to said passageway for generating a distinctive acoustic signal including said select acoustic energy responsively to airflow from said body in only a selected one of said first and second directions, said acoustic signal having a fundamental frequency higher than the dominant acoustic frequencies normally present in the natural acoustic signals generated by said body during respiration; wherein said detection means is disposed relative to said acoustic signal generating means for detecting said acoustic signal and for generating said electrical signal representative of said acoustic signal. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
- (a) detection means for detecting select acoustic energy generated in response to the respiration function of said subject;
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31. A system for monitoring a physiological repetitive function of a subject, said system comprising, in combination:
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detection means for detecting acoustic energy generated in response to the physiological repetitive function of said subject; signal generating means responsive to the acoustic energy detected by said detection means for generating a first electrical signal containing signal information within at least two bands of frequencies of said detected acoustic energy; and - View Dependent Claims (33, 35, 37, 39, 41, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 50, 52, 54, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61)
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32. means responsive to the signal information in one of said hands for generating a second electrical signal as a function of only preselected portions of said signal information in the other of said bands;
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means for processing said second electrical signal so as to produce a third signal representative of said physiological repetitive function. - View Dependent Claims (34)
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36. A device for sensing respiration in a living body, said device comprising:
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means adapted to be positioned relative to the respiratory airway of said living body so as to define an air passageway for providing airflow in a first direction responsively to inhalation by said body and a second direction responsively to exhalation by said body; acoustic signal generating means disposed relative to said passageway for generating a distinctive acoustic signal responsively to airflow from said body in only a selected one of said first and second directions; and means disposed relative to said acoustic signal generating means for detecting said acoustic signal and for generating an electrical signal representative of said acoustic signal. - View Dependent Claims (38, 40, 42)
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49. In a system for sensing the respiration function of a subject, said system comprising, in combination:
- (a) detection means for detecting select acoustic energy generated in response to the respiration function of said subject;
(b) signal generating means for generating an electrical signal within a predetermined range of frequencies and representative of said acoustic energy generated in response to the respiration function of said subject and detected by said detection means within said range; and
(c) demodulation means for demodulating said electrical signal so as to produce a demodulated electrical signal and so as to detect a periodic amplitude modulation frequency of the electrical signal;
wherein said system further comprises;means adapted to be positioned relative to the respiratory airway of said subject so as to define an air passageway for providing airflow in a first direction responsively to inhalation by said subject and a second direction responsively to exhalation by said subject; and acoustic signal generating means disposed relative to said passageway for generating a distinctive acoustic signal including said select acoustic energy responsively to airflow from said body in only a selected one of said first and second directions; wherein said detection means is disposed relative to said acoustic signal generating means for detecting said acoustic signal and for generating said electrical signal representative of said acoustic signal. - View Dependent Claims (51, 53, 55)
- (a) detection means for detecting select acoustic energy generated in response to the respiration function of said subject;
Specification