Method and apparatus for displaying lung sounds and performing diagnosis based on lung sound analysis
First Claim
1. A lung sound diagnostic system for use in analyzing lung sounds detected during the inspiration and expiration of a patient by a plurality of transducers placed at various sites around the patient'"'"'s chest, the system comprising:
- means for receiving digital data corresponding to the lung sounds detected by each transducer; and
means, responsive to the digital data, for generating a combinational pulmonary display including a first display element having a time domain plot of the lung sounds detected by each transducer for inspiration and expiration separately as a function of a first time scale,wherein the plot of lung sounds within the first element are simultaneously arranged in a vertical stack configuration.
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Abstract
A lung sound diagnostic system for use in collecting, organizing and analyzing lung sounds associated with the inspiration(s) and expiration(s) of a patient. The system includes a plurality of transducers that may be placed at various sites around the patient'"'"'s chest. The microphones are coupled to signal processing circuitry and A/D converters which digitize the data and preferably provides the digital data to a computer station. A data collection and organization program, executing on the computer station, organizes and formats the data into a combination display for display or printing. The combinational display includes at least two display elements. In a first display element, the data is shown for both inspiration and expiration combined in a first time scale. In a second display element, the data for inspiration and expiration are shown individually in a second time scale that is time-expanded relative to the first time scale. The system may also include application programs for detecting and classifying abnormal sounds. The resulting information may be displayed in a variety of formats to facilitate diagnosis. Additionally, the system may include an analysis program for comparing selected criteria corresponding to the detected abnormal sounds with predefined thresholds in order to provide a likely diagnosis.
115 Citations
44 Claims
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1. A lung sound diagnostic system for use in analyzing lung sounds detected during the inspiration and expiration of a patient by a plurality of transducers placed at various sites around the patient'"'"'s chest, the system comprising:
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means for receiving digital data corresponding to the lung sounds detected by each transducer; and means, responsive to the digital data, for generating a combinational pulmonary display including a first display element having a time domain plot of the lung sounds detected by each transducer for inspiration and expiration separately as a function of a first time scale, wherein the plot of lung sounds within the first element are simultaneously arranged in a vertical stack configuration. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A lung sound diagnostic system comprising:
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a plurality of transducers that may be placed at various sites around a patient'"'"'s chest for generating signals responsive to lung sounds; means, coupled to the plurality of transducers, for determining whether the signals generated by the transducers meet predefined criteria associated with one or more adventitious lung sounds; and means for generating a common display having markers that identify patient chest locations at which the signals met the predefined criteria. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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39. A method for collecting, organizing and displaying lung sound information during the inspiration and expiration of a patient as detected by a plurality of transducers placed at various sites around the patient'"'"'s chest, the method comprising the steps of:
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receiving digital data corresponding to the lung sounds detected by the transducers; and generating, in response to the digital data, a combinational pulmonary display for display on a graphical user interface, the combinational pulmonary display having a first display element in which the detected lung sounds from each transducer are plotted as a function of amplitude versus time for inspiration and expiration separately relative to a first time scale. - View Dependent Claims (40)
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41. A method for collecting, organizing and displaying lung sound information during the inspiration and expiration of a patient as detected by a plurality of transducers placed at various sites around the patient'"'"'s chest, the method comprising the steps of:
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receiving digital data corresponding to the lung sounds detected by the transducers; and generating, in response to the digital data, a combinational pulmonary display for display on a graphical user interface, wherein the detected lung sounds are arranged in a vertical stack configuration having; a first display element in which at least a portion of the detected lung sounds from one or more transducers are plotted as a function of amplitude versus time relative to a first time scale; and a second display element in which at least a portion of the detected lung sounds from one or more transducers are plotted as a function of amplitude versus time relative to a second time scale that is expanded relative to the first time scale. - View Dependent Claims (42, 43, 44)
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Specification