SPIROMETER SYSTEM AND METHODS OF DATA ANALYSIS

• US 20130317379A1
• Filed: 05/22/2013
• Published: 11/28/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 05/22/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sparo Inc. (Convexity Scientific, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Sparo Labs
• Inventors: Brimer, Andrew, Cohen, Abigail, Eliason, Braden, Neyman, Olga
• Granted Patent: US 9,706,946 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 600/538
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2505/09 Rehabilitation or training
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2560/0242 adapted to measure environmental factors, e.g. temperature, pollution
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2560/0443 Modular apparatus
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2562/06 Arrangements of multiple sensors of different types
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0022 Monitoring a patient using a global network, e.g. telephone networks, internet
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0205 Simultaneously evaluating both cardiovascular conditions and different types of body conditions, e.g. heart and respiratory condition
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/087 Measuring breath flow
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/097 Devices for facilitating collection of breath or for directing breath into or through measuring devices
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1118 Determining activity level
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6898 Portable consumer electronic devices, e.g. music players, telephones, tablet computers
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7203 for noise prevention, reduction or removal
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7253 characterised by using transforms
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7275 Determining trends in physiological measurement data; Predicting development of a medical condition based on physiological measurements, e.g. determining a risk factor
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7465 Arrangements for interactive communication between patient and care services, e.g. by using a telephone network telemetry of measured physiological signal A61B5/0002
• CPC Class Codes: G01F 1/3227 using fluidic oscillators fluidic oscillators per se F15C1/00
• CPC Class Codes: G01F 1/325 Means for detecting quantities used as proxy variables for swirl
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/30 relating to physical therapies or activities, e.g. physiotherapy, acupressure or exercising

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to an electronic spirometer that empowers users to quantitatively track and proactively manage respiratory diseases via simple integration with mobile devices, tablets, and computers. In one aspect, patients will be able to connect with their doctors to determine medication dosage and efficacy, avoid environmental triggers, and prevent attacks and exacerbations.

Claims

1. A device for measuring a continuous flow rate of an airstream comprising:

a nozzle having at least one channel to vent a portion of the airstream into an environment external to the device and at least one other channel to direct another portion of the airstream into a fluidic oscillator;

the fluidic oscillator having a housing and at least one obstacle, to induce oscillations in the airstream, wherein a frequency of the oscillations correlates to the continuous flow rate of the airstream; and

at least one sensor to measure the oscillations of the airstream, the at least one sensor to generate an electronic signal corresponding to the oscillations measured and transmit the electronic signal to a computing device.

2. The device of claim 1, further comprising a detachable mouthpiece to reduce back pressure within the device.

3. The device of claim 1, wherein the at least one channel and the at least one other channel are configured to divide the portion and the other portion of the airstream in a fixed ratio.

4. The device of claim 3, wherein the portion of the airstream vented to the ambient air is no less than one-half of the airstream.

5. The device of claim 4, wherein the portion of the airstream vented to the environment is at least two-thirds of a total volume of the airstream.

6. The device of claim 1, wherein the at least one channel and the at least one other channel each has a cross-section symmetrical normal to the direction of the airstream.

7. The device of claim 1, wherein the at least one channel and the at least one other channel correlate to at least one of the area of the incoming airstream, an average flow rate of the airstream, a maximum flow rate or a specific flow rate of the incoming air stream.

8. The device of claim 1, wherein the at least one channel and the at least one other channel convert a turbulent flow of the airstream to a laminar flow before entering the fluidic oscillator.

9. The device of claim 1, wherein the fluidic oscillator is unidirectional or bi-directional.

10. The device of claim 1, where the fluidic oscillator is bidirectional and the at least one obstacle is symmetrical, the device further comprising:

an inlet nozzle to direct the other portion of the airstream into an oscillation chamber of the fluidic oscillator;

the symmetrical obstacle within the fluidic oscillator defining a first concave surface and a second concave surface, where the first portion of the airstream contacts the first concave surface in a forward direction to generate forward direction oscillations;

two or more pathways each defined by the housing and the symmetrical obstacle, wherein the two or more side channels direct the airstream around opposing sides of the symmetrical obstacle after contacting the first concave surface, wherein the two or more side channels further direct the other portion of the airstream to contact the second concave surface in a reverse direction to induce reverse direction oscillations.

11. The device of claim 10 wherein the two or more side channels do not include feedback channels or loops.

12. The device of claim 10, wherein the at least one sensor is proximal to the first concave surface and at least one other sensor proximal to the second concave surface.

13. The device of claim 10, wherein the at least one sensor detects oscillations in both the forward and reverse direction.

14. The device of claim 1, where the fluidic oscillator is bidirectional and the device further comprising:

another fluidic oscillator having at least one second obstacle, to induce oscillations in the airstream in a reverse direction;

wherein the fluidic oscillator and the other fluidic oscillator are arranged in a stacked configuration.

15. The device of claim 11, further comprising another nozzle, the other nozzle having at least one reverse channel to vent a reverse portion of the airstream entering the other fluidic oscillator into the environment external to the device and at least one other reverse channel to direct another reverse portion of the airstream into a fluidic oscillator.

16. The device of claim 1, wherein the at least one sensor is selected from a group consisting of a pressure sensor, a piezoelectric sensor, a microphone, and a thermal sensor.

17. The device of claim 1, wherein the at least one channel vents the portion of the airstream into the environment external to the device after entering the device and bypassing the fluidic oscillator.

18. A device for measuring a continuous flow rate of an air stream comprising:

a nozzle to direct a portion of the airstream into a fluidic oscillator;

a detachable mouthpiece to reduce back pressure within the device, wherein the detachable mouthpiece has a diameter equal to the diameter of the nozzle and wherein the detachable mouthpiece defines a plurality of channels, at least one of the plurality of channels directs the portion of the airstream to the nozzle and at least one other channel vents another portion of the airstream to an environment external to the device;

the fluidic oscillator having a housing and at least one obstacle, to induce oscillations in the airstream, wherein a frequency of the oscillations correlates to the continuous flow rate of the airstream; and

at least one sensor to measure the oscillations of the airstream, the at least one sensor to generate an electronic signal corresponding to the oscillations measured and transmit the electronic signal to a computing device.

19. The device of claim 18, wherein the detachable mouthpiece has a diameter equal to the diameter of the nozzle and is removably engaged to the nozzle.

20. The device of claim 19, wherein the detachable mouthpiece is engaged to the nozzle through at least one of a snap-fit engagement, a friction-fit engagement, a threaded engagement, or a rotated projection engagement.

21. A flow meter system for monitoring lung function of a user, the system comprising:

an oscillation chamber to induce at least one oscillation in an airflow traversing the oscillation chamber, wherein the airflow is generated by the user during a respiratory test;

at least one sensor to measure the rate of oscillation in the oscillation chamber and transmit a data signal to a computing device; and

the computing device, having at least one processor, to receive the data signal and process the data signal to determine at least one of a flow rate, time duration, or a volume of the airflow in the oscillation chamber; and

a display device in communication with the computing device to display an assessment of respiratory health and a risk level to the user.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the data signal is generated continuously and in real time during the at least one oscillation.

23. The system of claim 21, where the computing device is in communication with a data storage device to store and retrieve the results of processing the data signal over two or more respiratory tests.

24. The system of claim 21, wherein the computing device transmits one or more results of the data signal processing to a user'"'"'s healthcare provider.

25. The system of claim 24, wherein the computing device transmits an indication to the user'"'"'s healthcare provider that the user received a poor respiratory health assessment.

26. The system of claim 21, where the at least one sensor communicates with the computing device through at least one of a wireless network, a Bluetooth connection, or a wired connection.

27. The system of claim 26, where the sensor further comprises at least one data transmission cable configured to engage a USB port or an audio jack.

28. The system of claim 21, wherein the computing device is selected from a group consisting of a smartphone, a tablet, a cell phone, a desktop computer, a laptop computer, and a processing system.

29. A system for monitoring lung function of a user, the system comprising:

at least one processor;

at least one data storage device; and

an application executing on the at least one processor to;

determine spirometric characteristics of a data signal received from a spirometer, where the data signal is generated in response to at least one oscillation of an airflow in the spirometer;

generate at least one display to display the spirometric characteristics; and

generate at least one risk level assessment.

30. The system of claim 29, where the application determines the spirometric characteristics of the data signal by performing signal analysis at one or more signal processing modules executing on the processor.

31. The system of claim 30, wherein the one or more signal processing modules comprises:

a segmentation module to divide the data signal into characteristic segments;

a sampling module to evaluate noise in each of the characteristic segments and cancel the noise in each of the characteristic segments;

a Fourier transform module to perform a Fourier transform on each of the characteristic segments; and

an optimization module to optimize a first fit for a frequency spectrum of each of the characteristic segments.

32. The system of claim 31, wherein the segmentation module recombines the characteristic segments after the noise is cancelled to form a processed signal having greater accuracy.

33. The system of claim 29, wherein one or more sensors are used to measure multiple harmonics of the oscillations in the airflow and compare or combine the signals to form a processed signal having greater accuracy.

34. The system of claim 29, wherein the spirometric characteristics comprise a flow rate for the air flow, a time duration for the air flow, and a total volume for the airflow.

35. The system of claim 29, where the at least one display includes a graphical display of at least one of a first plot of a flow rate for the airflow vs. a time duration of the air flow, a second plot of a flow rate vs. a volume of the air flow, and a third plot of a volume vs. a time duration of the airflow.

36. The system of claim 35, further comprising a health assessment module to compare one or more values from at least one of the first, second, or third plots to a predicted value for the user.

37. The system of claim 36, further comprising a risk assessment module to generate the at least one risk level assessment, where the risk assessment level is determined by the comparison of the one or more values from at least one of the first, second, or third plots to the predicted value for the user.

38. The system of claim 35, further comprising a risk assessment module to generate at least one risk level assessment, where the risk level assessment is determined by assigning weighted values to past and current spirometric values, predicted values for the user, medication usage, symptom tracking, location, and environmental data and calculating the risk level assessment.

39. The system of claim 29, further comprising a data output module to transmit the at least one risk level assessment to a healthcare provider of the user.

40. A method for monitoring lung function with a system comprising a processor and at least one data storage device, the method comprising:

at the processor;

determining spirometric characteristics of a data signal received from a spirometer, where the data signal is generated in response to at least one oscillation of an airflow in the spirometer;

generating at least one display on a display device to display spirometric characteristics; and

generating at least one risk level assessment.

41. The method of claim 40, where determining the spirometric characteristics of the data signal comprises performing signal processing on the data signal at the processor.

42. The method of claim 41, wherein performing signal processing further comprises:

dividing the data signal into characteristic segments;

evaluating noise in each of the characteristic segments and cancelling the noise in each of the characteristic segments;

performing a Fourier transform on each of the characteristic segments; and

optimizing a first fit for a frequency spectrum of each of the characteristic segments.

43. The method of claim 42, further comprising recombining the characteristic segments after cancelling the noise to form a processed signal.

44. The method of claim 40, wherein the spirometer includes one or more sensors, the method further comprising:

measuring multiple harmonics of the oscillations in the airflow; and

combining the signals to form a processed signal having greater accuracy.

45. The method of claim 40, wherein the spirometric characteristics comprise a flow rate for the air flow, a time duration for the air flow, and a total volume for the airflow.

46. The method of claim 40, where the at least one generated display includes a graphical display of at least one of a first plot a flow rate for the airflow vs. a time duration of the air flow, a second plot a flow rate vs. a total volume of the air flow, and a third plot of a volume vs. a time duration of the airflow.

47. The method claim 46, further comprising comparing one or more values from at least one of the first, second, or third plots to a predicted value.

48. The method of claim 47, wherein generating the at least one risk level assessment, is in response to the comparison of the one or more values from at least one of the first, second, or third plots to the predicted value.

49. The method of claim 40, further comprising:

at the processor, generating at least one risk level assessment, where the risk level assessment is determined by;

assigning weighted values to past and current spirometric values, predicted values for the user, medication usage, symptom tracking, location, and environmental data; and

calculating the risk level assessment.

50. The method of claim 40, further comprising transmitting the at least one risk level assessment to a healthcare provider of the user.