Apnea detecting system
First Claim
1. An apnea detecting system for monitoring a cyclic respiratory movement of a subject'"'"'s body and for triggering an alarm signal in response to a cessation in that respiratory movement, the apnea detecting system comprising an article of clothing for retaining an apnea detector that has a projection from an apnea detector body for sensing a respiratory movement of a subject, the article of clothing comprising:
- a body covering element for covering a portion of a subject'"'"'s body;
an aperture in the body covering element for aligning with the projection from the body of an apnea detector; and
a means for retaining an apnea detector relative to the article of clothing with the projection from the body of the apnea detector aligned with the aperture in the body covering element of the article of clothing;
whereby the article of clothing is capable of retaining an apnea detector for consistently effective function of the apnea detector with the projection from the apnea detector projecting into the aperture in the article of clothing.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An apnea detecting system for monitoring a cyclic respiratory movement of a subject'"'"'s body and for triggering an alarm signal in response to an abnormality in that respiratory movement. The apnea detecting system includes a specially designed article of clothing, which may comprise a diaper, for retaining an apnea detector adjacent to a subject'"'"'s body. A projection from a body of the apnea detector cooperates with a plunger actuator and a piezoelectric member to sense a respiratory movement of a subject. The article of clothing has a body-covering element with an aperture therein for aligning with the projection on the apnea detector. The apnea detector is retained relative to the article of clothing with the projection aligned with the aperture by a pocket. First and second legs may project from the apnea detector body to be received through a slit in an outside wall of the pocket for securing the apnea detector within the pocket. A speaker disposed on the first leg may provide an alarm signal in the event of a detected abnormality in the subject'"'"'s respiratory movement.
44 Citations
33 Claims
-
1. An apnea detecting system for monitoring a cyclic respiratory movement of a subject'"'"'s body and for triggering an alarm signal in response to a cessation in that respiratory movement, the apnea detecting system comprising an article of clothing for retaining an apnea detector that has a projection from an apnea detector body for sensing a respiratory movement of a subject, the article of clothing comprising:
-
a body covering element for covering a portion of a subject'"'"'s body;
an aperture in the body covering element for aligning with the projection from the body of an apnea detector; and
a means for retaining an apnea detector relative to the article of clothing with the projection from the body of the apnea detector aligned with the aperture in the body covering element of the article of clothing;
whereby the article of clothing is capable of retaining an apnea detector for consistently effective function of the apnea detector with the projection from the apnea detector projecting into the aperture in the article of clothing. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
-
-
15. An apnea detecting system for monitoring a cyclic respiratory movement of a subject'"'"'s body and for triggering an alarm signal in response to an abnormality in that respiratory movement, the apnea detecting system comprising an apnea detector that comprises:
-
an apnea detector body for being retained adjacent to a subject'"'"'s body;
a means operably associated with the apnea detector body for sensing a respiratory movement of a subject;
a means operably associated with the apnea detector body for triggering an alarm signal in response to an abnormality in the respiratory movement of a subject;
a means operably associated with the apnea detector body for providing an alarm signal in response to an activation by the alarm triggering means;
at least a first leg that projects from the apnea detector for securing the apnea detector in place relative to an article of clothing wherein the first leg comprises a clip for clipping the apnea detector to an article of clothing. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
-
-
23. An apnea detecting system for monitoring a cyclic respiratory movement of a subject'"'"'s body and for triggering an alarm signal in response to an abnormality in that respiratory movement, the apnea detecting system comprising an apnea detector and an article of clothing wherein the apnea detector comprises:
-
an apnea detector body for being retained adjacent to a subject'"'"'s body;
a resilient projection disposed on a first side of the body of the apnea detector for mechanically moving cyclically in response to a cyclic respiratory movement of a subject;
a means for converting a mechanical movement of the resilient projection into an electric signal;
a means operably associated with the apnea detector body for triggering an alarm signal in response to an abnormality in the respiratory movement of a subject; and
a means operably associated with the apnea detector body for providing an alarm signal in response to an activation by the alarm triggering means;
wherein the article of clothing comprises; a body covering element for covering a portion of a subject'"'"'s body;
an aperture in the body covering element for aligning with the resilient projection from the apnea detector body; and
a means for retaining an apnea detector relative to the article of clothing with the projection from the body of the apnea detector aligned with the aperture in the body covering element of the article of clothing;
whereby the article of clothing is capable of retaining the apnea detector for consistently effective function of the apnea detector with the projection from the apnea detector projecting into the aperture in the article of clothing. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
-
-
29. An apnea detecting system for monitoring a cyclic respiratory movement of a subject'"'"'s body and for triggering an alarm signal in response to an abnormality in that respiratory movement, the apnea detecting system comprising an apnea detector that comprises:
-
an apnea detector body for being retained adjacent to a subject'"'"'s body wherein the apnea detector body comprises a first section and a second section wherein the first section is coupled to the second section by a hinge member;
a means operably associated with the apnea detector body for sensing a respiratory movement of a subject wherein the means for sensing a respiratory movement of a subject comprises a means for converting a mechanical movement of the first section relative to the second section into an electrical signal;
a means operably associated with the apnea detector body for triggering an alarm signal in response to an abnormality in the respiratory movement of a subject; and
a means operably associated with the apnea detector body for providing an alarm signal in response to an activation by the alarm triggering means. - View Dependent Claims (30)
-
-
31. An apnea detecting system for monitoring a cyclic respiratory movement of a subject'"'"'s body and for triggering an alarm signal in response to an abnormality in that respiratory movement, the apnea detecting system comprising an apnea detector that comprises:
-
an apnea detector body for being retained adjacent to a subject'"'"'s body;
a means operably associated with the apnea detector body for sensing a respiratory movement of a subject;
a means operably associated with the apnea detector body for triggering an alarm signal in response to an abnormality in the respiratory movement of a subject;
a means operably associated with the apnea detector body for providing an alarm signal in response to an activation by the alarm triggering means; and
a means for monitoring a subject'"'"'s temperature.
-
-
32. An apnea detecting system for monitoring a cyclic respiratory movement of a subject'"'"'s body and for triggering an alarm signal in response to an abnormality in that respiratory movement, the apnea detecting system comprising an apnea detector that comprises:
-
an apnea detector body for being retained adjacent to a subject'"'"'s body;
a means operably associated with the apnea detector body for sensing a respiratory movement of a subject;
a means operably associated with the apnea detector body for triggering an alarm signal in response to an abnormality in the respiratory movement of a subject;
a means operably associated with the apnea detector body for providing an alarm signal in response to an activation by the alarm triggering means; and
a means for monitoring a subject'"'"'s heart beat.
-
-
33. An apnea detecting system for monitoring a cyclic respiratory movement of a subject'"'"'s body and for triggering an alarm signal in response to an abnormality in that respiratory movement, the apnea detecting system comprising an apnea detector that comprises:
-
an apnea detector body for being retained adjacent to a subject'"'"'s body;
a means operably associated with the apnea detector body for sensing a respiratory movement of a subject;
a means operably associated with the apnea detector body for triggering an alarm signal in response to an abnormality in the respiratory movement of a subject;
a means operably associated with the apnea detector body for providing an alarm signal in response to an activation by the alarm triggering means; and
a means for selectively adjusting a time constant beyond which an alarm signal will be triggered by the means operably associated with the apnea detector body for triggering an alarm signal in response to an abnormality in the respiratory movement of a subject.
-
Specification