Apparatus and method for monitoring breathing magnetically
First Claim
1. Apparatus for monitoring breathing and for indicating a rate of breathing outside of a predetermined rate limit, including a sensing element adapted to be worn by a wearer so that said sensing element partakes of body motion due to breathing of said wearer and a detector, remote from said sensing element, and being responsive to motion of said sensing element for providing an alarm signal when said motion is outside of said predetermined rate limit, wherein said sensing element contains no internal moving parts or circuitry, contains no battery or other source of electrical power whatsoever, requires no electrical contact with said wearer or with any other object, and requires no constraining or confining clothing, webbing, or the like, whereinsaid sensing element comprises permanent magnet means;
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Abstract
Apparatus for monitoring breathing and for indicating a rate of breathing outside of a predetermined rate limit includes a sensing element adapted to be worn by a wearer so that the sensing element partakes of body motion due to breathing of the wearer and a detector, remote from the sensing element. The detector is responsive to motion of the sensing element for providing an alarm signal when the motion is outside of the predetermined rate limit. The sensing element contains no internal moving parts or circuitry, contains no battery or other source of electrical power whatsoever, requires no electrical contact with the wearer or with any other object, and requires no constraining or confining clothing, webbing, or the like. The sensing element includes a permanent magnet and the detector includes a magnetic detector for monitoring a magnetic field caused by the magnet and for providing the alarm signal when a measured rate of variation of the magnetic field is detected to be outside of the predetermined rate limit. Thus, the alarm signal indicates the rate of breathing to be outside of the predetermined rate limit.
77 Citations
41 Claims
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1. Apparatus for monitoring breathing and for indicating a rate of breathing outside of a predetermined rate limit, including a sensing element adapted to be worn by a wearer so that said sensing element partakes of body motion due to breathing of said wearer and a detector, remote from said sensing element, and being responsive to motion of said sensing element for providing an alarm signal when said motion is outside of said predetermined rate limit, wherein said sensing element contains no internal moving parts or circuitry, contains no battery or other source of electrical power whatsoever, requires no electrical contact with said wearer or with any other object, and requires no constraining or confining clothing, webbing, or the like, wherein
said sensing element comprises permanent magnet means; - and
said detector comprises magnetic detector means for monitoring a magnetic field caused by said magnet and for providing said alarm signal when a measured rate of variation of said magnetic field is detected to be outside of said predetermined rate limit, whereby said alarm signal indicates said rate of breathing to be outside of said predetermined rate limit.
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2. Apparatus for monitoring breathing, including a sensing element adapted to be worn by a wearer so that said sensing element partakes of body motion due to breathing of said wearer and a detector remote from said wearer and from said sensing element, said detector being responsive to motion of said sensing element for monitoring said breathing, wherein said sensing element contains no internal moving parts or circuitry, contains no battery or other source of electrical power whatsoever, requires no electrical contact with said wearer or with any other object, and requires no constraining or confining clothing, webbing, or the like, wherein
said sensing element comprises permanent magnet means; - and
said detector comprises magnetic detector means for monitoring a magnetic field caused by said magnet and for monitoring variation of said magnetic field, whereby said variation of said magnetic field corresponds to said breathing. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. Apparatus for monitoring breathing and for indicating an interruption of breathing exceeding a predetermined time interval, including a sensing element adapted to be worn by a wearer so that said sensing element partakes of body motion due to breathing of the wearer and a detector, remote from said sensing element, and being responsive to motion of said sensing element for providing an alarm signal when said motion is interrupted for longer than said predetermined time interval, wherein said sensing element contains no internal moving parts or circuitry, contains no battery or other source of electrical power whatsoever, utilizes no electrical contact with said wearer or with any other object, and requires no constraining or confining clothing, webbing, or the like, wherein
said sensing element comprises permanent magnet means; - and
said detector comprises magnetic detector means for monitoring a magnetic field caused by said magnet and for providing said alarm signal when no variations of said magnetic field are detected within said time interval, whereby said alarm signal indicates said interruption of breathing exceeding a predetermined time interval.
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8. A breathing monitor for monitoring body movement of a wearer caused by breathing, said monitor comprising:
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a magnet for producing a magnetic field, said magnet being coupled to a wearer'"'"'s body so as to move therewith when said wearer breathes; a detector for monitoring said magnetic field; and an alarm coupled to said detector. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A breathing monitor for monitoring movement of a user'"'"'s body caused by breathing, said monitor comprising:
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a permanent magnet for producing a magnetic field in ambient space, said magnet being coupled to a wearer'"'"'s body so as to move threrewith in accordance with said wearer'"'"'s breathing movements when said wearer breathes and thereby cause variations of said magnetic field; a detector for monitoring said magnetic field; and an alarm coupled to said detector for providing an alarm signal when said detector detects a predetermined change in said variations of magnetic field. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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32. A breathing monitor for monitoring body movement of a wearer caused by breathing, said monitor comprising:
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a magnet for producing a magnetic field, said magnet being coupled to a wearer'"'"'s body so as to move therewith when said wearer breathes; a detector for monitoring said magnetic field; an alarm coupled to said detector; and
wherein said detector monitors variations in said magnetic field representative of said wearer breathing and, when said variations occur at a rate exceeding a predetermined rate, said detector causes said alarm to operate.
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33. A breathing monitor for monitoring body movement of a wearer caused by breathing, said monitor comprising:
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a magnet for producing a magnetic field, said magnet being coupled to a wearer'"'"'s body so as to move therewith when said wearer breathes; a detector for monitoring said magnetic field; and a means for data recording coupled to said detector. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36)
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37. A method for monitoring breathing comprising the steps of:
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affixing a magnet for movement with a wearer'"'"'s body movement due to breathing; monitoring a magnetic field produced by said magnet at a given distance therefrom and from said wearer'"'"'s body; and evaluating variations in said magnetic field representative of said body movement due to breathing.
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38. A method for monitoring breathing comprising the steps of:
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affixing a magnet for movement with a wearer'"'"'s body movement due to breathing; monitoring a magnetic field produced by said magnet at a given distance therefrom and from said wearer'"'"'s body; and recording variations in said magnetic field representative of said body movement due to breathing.
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39. A method for monitoring breathing comprising the steps of:
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affixing a magnet for movement with a wearer'"'"'s body movement due to breathing; monitoring a magnetic field produced by said magnet at a given distance therefrom; evaluating variations in said magnetic field representative of said body movement due to breathing; detecting an absence over a predetermined period of time of said variations in said magnetic field representative of said body movement due to breathing; and
upon the occurrence of such absence, actuating an alarm.
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40. A method for monitoring breathing comprising the steps of:
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affixing a magnet for movement with a wearer'"'"'s body movement due to breathing; monitoring a magnetic field produced by said magnet at a given distance therefrom; evaluating variations in said magnetic field representative of said body movement due to breathing; and upon the occurrence of a rate of variations exceeding a limit rate, actuating an alarm.
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41. A method for monitoring breathing and treating apnea, comprising the steps of:
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affixing a magnet for movement with a wearer'"'"'s body movement due to breathing; monitoring a magnetic field produced by said magnet at a given distance therefrom; evaluating variations in said magnetic field representative of said body movement due to breathing; detecting an absence over a predetermined period of time of said variations in said magnetic field representative of said body movement due to breathing; and upon the occurrence of such absence, actuating a stimulation device for attempting to restore breathing.
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Specification