Metabolic rate analyzer
First Claim
1. A metabolic rate analyzer comprising:
- a flow proportioning valve for producing a proportional sample of the expired gas of a subject being studied;
a means for drawing from said flow proportioning valve a proportional sample of the expired gas of the subject;
a test chamber;
an O2 sensor;
a selectively-permeable membrane disposed in said test chamber, said membrane being provided with a selective permeability for CO2, said membrane being disposed in said test chamber for selectively venting CO2 from said test chamber;
a means for charging said test chamber with the proportional sample of the expired gas of the subject;
a pressure sensor for monitoring the pressure of the sample and determining the rate of pressure decay in said test chamber due to the selective venting of CO2 through said selectively-permeable membrane; and
an analyzing means for determining the CO2 content of the expired gas of the subject from the rate of pressure decay in said test chamber, for conducting a volumetric analysis of the proportional sample to determine the total volume of gas expired from the subject being studied, and correlating O2 content, CO2 content and total volume of expired gas to provide a measure of the metabolic rate of the subject being studied.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The metabolic rate analyzer comprises a flow proportioning valve for producing a proportional sample of the expired gas of the subject being studied. A sample cylinder is provided for drawing a proportional sample of the expired gas of the subject being studied from the flow proportioning valve. A test chamber is provided and an O2 sensor is provided. The test chamber is provided with a selectively-permeable membrane, the selectively-permeable membrane having a selective permeability for CO2, whereby CO2 is selectively vented from the test chamber. The sample cylinder is also used for chrging the test chamber with the proportional sample of the expired gas of the subject. A pressure sensor is provided for monitoring the pressure of the sample and determining the rate of pressure decay in the test chamber due to the selective venting of CO2 through the permeable membrane. An analyzing means is provided fo determining CO2 content in the expired gas from the rate of pressure decay in the test chamber, conducting a volumetric analysis of the proportional sample to determine total volume of expired gas, and then correlating O2 content, CO2 content and total volume of expired gas to provide a measure of the metabolic rate of the subject being studied.
80 Citations
57 Claims
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1. A metabolic rate analyzer comprising:
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a flow proportioning valve for producing a proportional sample of the expired gas of a subject being studied; a means for drawing from said flow proportioning valve a proportional sample of the expired gas of the subject; a test chamber; an O2 sensor; a selectively-permeable membrane disposed in said test chamber, said membrane being provided with a selective permeability for CO2, said membrane being disposed in said test chamber for selectively venting CO2 from said test chamber; a means for charging said test chamber with the proportional sample of the expired gas of the subject; a pressure sensor for monitoring the pressure of the sample and determining the rate of pressure decay in said test chamber due to the selective venting of CO2 through said selectively-permeable membrane; and an analyzing means for determining the CO2 content of the expired gas of the subject from the rate of pressure decay in said test chamber, for conducting a volumetric analysis of the proportional sample to determine the total volume of gas expired from the subject being studied, and correlating O2 content, CO2 content and total volume of expired gas to provide a measure of the metabolic rate of the subject being studied. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49)
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50. A method for determining metabolic rate comprising the steps of:
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producing a proportional sample of the expired gas of a subject being studied; providing an O2 sensor; providing a test chamber with a pressure sensor and a selectively-permeable membrane, the membrane being provided with a selective permeability for CO2, the membrane disposed in the chamber for selectively venting CO2 from the test chamber; charging the test chamber with the proportional sample of the expired gas of the subject being studied; determining the O2 content in the sample of expired gas with the O2 sensor; monitoring the pressure of the sample of the expired gas in the test chamber; determining the rate of pressure decay in the test chamber due to the selective venting of CO2 through the selectively-permeable membrane; determining the CO2 content of the sample of expired gas from the rate of pressure decay in the test chamber; conducting a volumetric analysis of the proportional sample to provide a measure of the total volume of gas expired from the subject being studied; and correlating O2 content, CO2 content and total volume of expired gas to provide a measure of the metabolic rate of the subject being studied. - View Dependent Claims (51, 52, 54, 55, 56, 57)
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53. The method for determining metabolic rate of claim 73 wherein:
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said step of providing an O2 sensor comprises providing an oxygen test chamber with an oxygen pressure sensor and a second membrane having a permeability for O2 ; charging the oxygen test chamber with the proportional sample of the expired gas of the subject being examined; monitoring the pressure of the sample of expired gas in the oxygen test chamber; determining the rate of pressure decay in the oxygen test chamber due to the selective venting of O2 through the oxygen membrane; and determining the O2 content of the sample of expired gas from the rate of pressure decay in the oxygen test chamber.
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Specification