Apparatus and method for monitoring breathing patterns
First Claim
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1. A breath monitoring device, comprising:
- a pressure transducer adapted to be in fluid communication with said patient'"'"'s nose, operative to generate a signal indicative of air pressure therein;
a temperature sensor operative to generate a signal indicative of temperature in said patient'"'"'s nose and adjacent said patient'"'"'s mouth; and
a signal processor for simultaneously evaluating said pressure signal and said temperature signal to facilitate the analysis of said patient'"'"'s breathing patterns for hypopnea and apnea.
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Abstract
A pressure sensor is combined with a temperature sensor to monitor a patient'"'"'s breathing patterns. The combination of sensors enables an analysis of the patient'"'"'s breathing patterns to be made without the use of a face mask even if the patient breathes through the mouth or draws only very weak breaths. The patient'"'"'s sleep is therefore less likely to be disrupted by the presence of the monitoring equipment and a more accurate diagnosis of any sleep disorder can be made.
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Citations
11 Claims
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1. A breath monitoring device, comprising:
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a pressure transducer adapted to be in fluid communication with said patient'"'"'s nose, operative to generate a signal indicative of air pressure therein; a temperature sensor operative to generate a signal indicative of temperature in said patient'"'"'s nose and adjacent said patient'"'"'s mouth; and a signal processor for simultaneously evaluating said pressure signal and said temperature signal to facilitate the analysis of said patient'"'"'s breathing patterns for hypopnea and apnea. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method for analyzing a patient'"'"'s breathing patterns, comprising the steps of:
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sensing pressure within said patient'"'"'s nose; sensing temperature within said patient'"'"'s nose and adjacent said patient'"'"'s mouth; determining whether a sufficiently strong pressure signal is present in order to analyze the patient'"'"'s breathing; and defaulting to an analysis of the temperature signal in the event a weak or no pressure signal is detected. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11)
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Specification