Method and device for monitoring human respiration
First Claim
1. Method for monitoring the respiration of an individual, comprising the steps of exposing the body of said individual at least partially to a luminous flux, forming on a set of photosensitive elements the image of at least one zone of the space exposed to said luminous flux and comprised in the observation field of an optical means associated with said photosensitive elements, said zone including at least one part of the body of the said individual liable to exhibit quasiperiodic movements associated with breathing, measuring and recording the brightnesses of areas of said image sensed by said photosensitive elements subjected to the luminous flux transmitted back by said zone, repeating said measuring and said recording at a predetermined reading frequency for recording the brightnesses of corresponding areas of successive images of said zone, comparing the brightnesses of said corresponding areas of successive images, and detecting a respiratory insufficiency, apnoea or dyspnoea, of said individual in the absence of significant variations or in the presence of abnormal variations in the spatial distribution of the brightnesses of the areas of successive compared images.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method for monitoring respiration by illuminating the body of the subject with a luminous flux, where a lens is used to form on a set of photosensitive elements, an image of at least one region of the space within which a person under surveillance is capable of moving, a light source is used for illuminating the area, fine control and readout circuits are connected to the photosensitive elements, an analog to digital converter is to the control circuit, and a microprocessor is used to compare successive signals from the photosensitive elements and which is used to determine any significant variations in the successive signals which are due to respiration of the person being monitored. An alarm is also included which is triggered in response to an absence of variations on successive signals.
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Citations
18 Claims
- 1. Method for monitoring the respiration of an individual, comprising the steps of exposing the body of said individual at least partially to a luminous flux, forming on a set of photosensitive elements the image of at least one zone of the space exposed to said luminous flux and comprised in the observation field of an optical means associated with said photosensitive elements, said zone including at least one part of the body of the said individual liable to exhibit quasiperiodic movements associated with breathing, measuring and recording the brightnesses of areas of said image sensed by said photosensitive elements subjected to the luminous flux transmitted back by said zone, repeating said measuring and said recording at a predetermined reading frequency for recording the brightnesses of corresponding areas of successive images of said zone, comparing the brightnesses of said corresponding areas of successive images, and detecting a respiratory insufficiency, apnoea or dyspnoea, of said individual in the absence of significant variations or in the presence of abnormal variations in the spatial distribution of the brightnesses of the areas of successive compared images.
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11. Device for monitoring the respiration of an individual whose body is liable to exhibit quasi-periodic movements associated with breathing, said device comprising:
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means for exposing at least partially to a luminous flux a predetermined space within which said body is liable to move, a set of photosensitive elements, a lens means for forming on said set of photosensitive elements an image of at least one zone of said space exposed to said luminous flux, reading means for repeatedly scanning said photodetector elements and for producing signals representative of the brightnesses of consecutive areas of said image sensed by said photodetector elements, recording means for recording said signals representative of the spatial distribution of the brightness of said image over said areas, processing means for; comparing successive recorded signals representative of the spatial distribution of the brightnesses of successive images, and detecting a respiratory insufficiency responsive to one of a significant and abnormal variations in the compared signals representative of the spatial distribution of the brightnesses of successive images, and alarm means triggered by said processing means in response to the detection of one of said significant and abnormal variations. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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Specification