Patient monitor and method of using same
First Claim
1. A patient monitoring apparatus, comprising:
- a user interface having an interior portion adapted to communicate with an airway of a user such that substantially all gas inhaled and exhaled by such a user enters said interior portion of said user interface;
at least one vent element associated with said user interface and communicating said interior portion of said user interface with an ambient atmosphere outside said user interface, said at least one vent element and said user interface defining a flow element across which a pressure differential is created during inhalation and exhalation, said pressure differential being a pressure difference between a first pressure within said interior portion of said user interface and a pressure of said ambient atmosphere outside said user interface;
a sensor communicating with said interior portion of said user interface, said sensor measuring a fluid characteristic resulting from said pressure differential and outputting a first signal indicative of said fluid characteristic; and
a processing unit receiving said first signal and determining a quantitative value for a physiological characteristic of a user based on said first signal.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A patient monitoring apparatus for monitoring and/or measuring a physiological characteristic of said patient. A user interface having an interior portion communicates with an airway of a user such that substantially all gas inhaled and exhaled by the user enters the interior portion of the user interface. At least one vent element is associated with the user interface and communicates the interior portion of the user interface with an ambient atmosphere outside the user interface. The vent element and user interface define a flow element across which a pressure differential is created during inhalation and exhalation. The pressure differential is the pressure difference between the pressure within the interior portion of the user interface and the pressure of the ambient atmosphere outside the user interface. A sensor communicates with the interior portion of the user interface and measures a fluid characteristic resulting from this pressure differential and outputs a first signal indicative of the measured fluid characteristic. The output from the sensor is used alone or in combination with the output from other sensors that detect other physiological characteristics to provide a variety of information about the patient.
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Citations
42 Claims
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1. A patient monitoring apparatus, comprising:
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a user interface having an interior portion adapted to communicate with an airway of a user such that substantially all gas inhaled and exhaled by such a user enters said interior portion of said user interface; at least one vent element associated with said user interface and communicating said interior portion of said user interface with an ambient atmosphere outside said user interface, said at least one vent element and said user interface defining a flow element across which a pressure differential is created during inhalation and exhalation, said pressure differential being a pressure difference between a first pressure within said interior portion of said user interface and a pressure of said ambient atmosphere outside said user interface; a sensor communicating with said interior portion of said user interface, said sensor measuring a fluid characteristic resulting from said pressure differential and outputting a first signal indicative of said fluid characteristic; and a processing unit receiving said first signal and determining a quantitative value for a physiological characteristic of a user based on said first signal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A patient monitoring apparatus, comprising:
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a user interface having an interior portion adapted to communicate with an airway of a user such that substantially all gas inhaled and exhaled by such a user enters said interior portion of said user interface; at least one vent element associated with said user interface and communicating said interior portion of said user interface with an ambient atmosphere outside said user interface, said at least one vent element and said user interface defining a flow element across which a pressure differential is created during inhalation and exhalation, said pressure differential being a pressure difference between a first pressure within said interior portion of said user interface and a pressure of said ambient atmosphere outside said user interface; a sensor communicating with said interior portion of said user interface, said sensor measuring a fluid characteristic resulting from said pressure differential and outputting a first signal indicative of said fluid characteristic; a breathing gas supply communicating with said interior portion of said user interface to provide breathing gas to said interior portion of said user interface; and means for accounting for an offset in said first signal output by said sensor, said offset being caused by said supply of gas to said interior portion by said gas supply.
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21. A patient monitoring apparatus, comprising:
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a user interface having an interior portion adapted to communicate with an airway of a user such that substantially all gas inhaled and exhaled by such a user enters said interior portion of said user interface; first venting means, associated with said user interface, for communicating said interior portion of said user interface with an ambient atmosphere outside said user interface, said first venting means and said user interface defining a flow element across which a pressure differential is created during inhalation and exhalation, said pressure differential being a pressure difference between a first pressure within said interior portion of said user interface and a pressure of said ambient atmosphere outside said user interface; sensing means for measuring a fluid characteristic resulting from said pressure differential and outputting a first signal indicative of said fluid characteristic; and processing means, receiving said first signal, for determining a quantitative value for a physiological characteristic of said patient based on said first signal. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A patient monitoring method, comprising the steps of:
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providing a user interface having an interior portion adapted to communicate with an airway of a user such that substantially all gas inhaled and exhaled by such a user enters said interior portion of said user interface, said user interface having at least one vent element associated therewith for communicating said interior portion of said user interface with an ambient atmosphere outside said user interface, said at least one vent element and said user interface defining a flow element across which a pressure differential is created during inhalation and exhalation, said pressure differential being a pressure difference between a first pressure within said interior portion of said user interface and a pressure of said ambient atmosphere outside said user interface; passing a gas through said flow element during at least one of said inhalation and said exhalation; measuring a fluid characteristic resulting from said pressure differential; outputting a first signal that corresponds to said fluid characteristic; and using said first signal to determine a quantitative value for a physiological characteristic of said patient. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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37. A patient monitoring method, comprising the steps of:
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providing a user interface having an interior portion adapted to communicate with an airway of a user such that substantially all gas inhaled and exhaled by such a user enters said interior portion of said user interface, said user interface having at least one vent element associated therewith for communicating said interior portion of said user interface with an ambient atmosphere outside said user interface, said at least one vent element and said user interface defining a flow element across which a pressure differential is created during inhalation and exhalation, said pressure differential being a pressure difference between a first pressure within said interior portion of said user interface and a pressure of said ambient atmosphere outside said user interface; passing a gas through said flow element during at least one of said inhalation and said exhalation; measuring a fluid characteristic resulting from said pressure differential; outputting a first signal that corresponds to said fluid characteristic; supplying a breathing gas to said interior portion of said user interface; and accounting for an offset in said first signal output, said offset being caused by supplying said breathing gas to said interior portion by said gas supply. - View Dependent Claims (38)
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39. A patient monitoring apparatus, comprising:
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a user interface having an interior portion adapted to communicate with an airway of a user; means for measuring at least one of a gas flow between such a user and said user interface and a pressure within said user interface during said gas flow and for outputting a signal indicative thereof; and means for processing said signal to determine a quantitative volume for an amount of gas displaced during at least a portion of a time interval in which one of a sound and a vibration is generated in a user'"'"'s airway. - View Dependent Claims (40)
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41. A patient monitoring method, comprising:
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providing a user interface having an interior portion adapted to communicate with an airway of a user; measuring gas flow between said user and said user interface; and processing said gas flow to determine a quantitative volume for an amount of gas displaced during at least a portion of a time interval in which at portion of a user'"'"'s airway generates one of a sound and a vibration. - View Dependent Claims (42)
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Specification