Myocardial infarction and ischemia detection method and apparatus
First Claim
1. A device for detecting adenosine in a patient'"'"'s expired breath indicative of cardiovascular distress, comprising:
- a sample chamber adapted to receive and contain the patient'"'"'s expired breath;
a light source positioned to shine a light into the sample chamber;
a first light detector positioned to detect the light at a first predetermined frequency after it has traversed the sample chamber, the first light detector providing a first signal corresponding to the intensity of the light detected at said first predetermined frequency, where the first predetermined frequency corresponds to a first absorption band of adenosine; and
indicator means, responsive to the first signal, for providing an indication of the value of the first signal.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A device (10) for detecting a substance in a patient'"'"'s expired breath (88) such as adenosine indicative of cardiovascular distress. The device (10) shines an infrared light (68) through a chamber (14) containing the breath (88) to a detector (26). The detector (26) measures the intensity of the light (68) at selected frequency corresponding to absorption bands of the substance. Multiple photodetectors (112, 114, 116, 118) at different absorption band frequencies increase the specificity of detection. A reference chamber (16) containing a reference gas and coupled to an infrared photodetector (118) may be used to provide a baseline reference for a quantitative analysis.
67 Citations
23 Claims
-
1. A device for detecting adenosine in a patient'"'"'s expired breath indicative of cardiovascular distress, comprising:
-
a sample chamber adapted to receive and contain the patient'"'"'s expired breath; a light source positioned to shine a light into the sample chamber; a first light detector positioned to detect the light at a first predetermined frequency after it has traversed the sample chamber, the first light detector providing a first signal corresponding to the intensity of the light detected at said first predetermined frequency, where the first predetermined frequency corresponds to a first absorption band of adenosine; and indicator means, responsive to the first signal, for providing an indication of the value of the first signal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
-
-
10. A method for detecting adenosine in a patient'"'"'s expired breath indicative of cardiovascular distress, the method comprising:
-
containing the breath; shining a light through the breath; detecting the light after it has passed though the breath; providing a first signal corresponding to an intensity of the light detected at a first predetermined frequency, where the first predetermined frequency corresponds to a first absorption band of adenosine; and indicating the value of the signal. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13)
-
-
14. A device for detecting adenosine in a patient'"'"'s expired breath indicative of cardiovascular distress, comprising:
-
a sample chamber to receive and contain the breath; means for analyzing the breath contained within said sample chamber for the existence of the adenosine; and display mean operatively coupled to said analyzing means to provide an output correlative to the existence of the adenosine. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17)
-
-
18. A method for diagnosing cardiovascular distress, the steps including:
-
sampling expired breath; analyzing the breath for adenosine; and displaying results of the analyzing step.
-
-
19. A method for diagnosing cardiovascular distress, the steps including:
-
sampling expired breath; analyzing the breath for a telltale correlative of the distress; and displaying results of the analyzing step, including initializing the diagnostic procedure by comparing the breath with a known reference. - View Dependent Claims (20)
-
-
21. A device for detecting a substance in a patient'"'"'s expired breath indicative of cardiovascular distress, comprising:
-
a sample chamber to receive and contain the breath; means for analyzing the breath contained within said sample chamber for the existence of the substance; display means operatively coupled to said analyzing means to provide an output correlative to the existence of the substance; means to initialize said device including reference means for receiving an exemplar having initializing qualities; said reference means coupled to said analyzing means; comparing means coupled to said analyzing means to receive data therefrom whereby said device will have been initialized; said analyzing means including plural sensors, each said sensor tuned to a different characteristic of the substance to render less likely a false positive reading; and means to sense the initiation of said detector including a flow meter coupled both to said sample chamber and a central processor control unit whereby said device is enabled when breath expired by the patient triggers said flow meter to actuate said central processor control unit.
-
-
22. A device for detecting a substance in a patient'"'"'s expired breath indicative of cardiovascular distress, comprising:
-
a sample chamber to receive and contain the breath; means for analyzing the breath contained within said sample chamber for the existence of the substance; display means operatively coupled to said analyzing means to provide an output correlative to the existence of the substance; means to initialize said detector; and means to sense the initiation of said detector including a flow meter coupled both to said sample chamber and a central processor control unit, whereby said device is enabled when breath expired by the patient triggers said flow meter to actuate said central processor control unit.
-
-
23. A method for determining the concentration of adenosine in a patient'"'"'s expired breath indicative of cardiovascular distress, the steps including:
-
containing a sample of expired breath from the patient; shining a light through the sample of expired breath; detecting and recording the light intensity before it has passed through the sample of expired breath; detecting and recording the light intensity after it has passed through the sample of expired breath; calculating the concentration of adenosine by utilizing the formula;
##EQU3## where C is the concentration of adenosine, IO is the light intensity before the light has passed through the sample of expired breath,IF is the light intensity after the light has passed through the sample of expired breath, a is the absorption constant, and b is the absorption path length.
-
Specification