Surgery – Diagnostic testing – Respiratory
Reexamination Certificate
1998-10-08
2001-04-10
O'Connor, Cary (Department: 3736)
Surgery
Diagnostic testing
Respiratory
C600S538000, C128S204230
Reexamination Certificate
active
06213955
ABSTRACT:
This invention relates to an apparatus and method for breath monitoring.
Attempts have heretofore been made to monitor breathing with various types of devices. Certain of such devices have used thermocouples which depend on heating of the air as one exhales or cooling of the air as one inhales. These have generally been unsatisfactory because of the very long time constants associated with their reaction to breathing. An indirect method is using a pulse oximeter that measures breathing indirectly by measuring oxygen saturation in the blood. Oxygen saturation is a measure of O
2
binding to hemoglobin and typically is denoted by SaO
2
. SaO
2
is determined by sending an optical signal in two wavelengths. Hemoglobin is a molecule, binding O
2
. Since hemoglobin's light wavelength is a function of its oxygen saturation, oxygen saturation measurements are based upon sending an optical signal and determining the hemoglobin's wavelength according to the reflected signal. Determining breathing disorders by measuring oxygen saturation has several important shortcomings. The pulse oximeter is unable to differentiate the saturating gas. In other words, the pulse oximeter readings are the same for either blood which is saturated with O
2
or CO. The SaO
2
response is delayed. Thus for a person experiencing respiratory disorders like sleep apnea, a relatively long period of time such as two hours is required for the oxygen saturation to decrease. A pulse oximeter also does not work reliably when the patient's body is cold or the patient is just coming out of anaesthesia administered for surgery. In addition all these devices have the shortcomings in that they are incapable of accurately measuring air flow volume. There is therefore a need for a new and improved apparatus and method for breath monitoring and for measuring respiratory air flow.
In general, it is the object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and method for providing real-time breath monitoring and respiratory air flow.
Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus and method of the above character in which the breath is directly monitored.
Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus and method of the above character in which the breath is monitored by picking up the sound of breathing by the use of a microphone.
Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus and method of the above character to monitor breathing by sensing vibrations caused by turbulence in the air flow.
Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus and method of the above character in which the sound and vibration sensor work accurately with relatively low signal strengths.
Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus and method of the above character in which disordered breathing can be readily ascertained.
Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus and method of the above character which is operative even though the patient is being administered oxygen.
Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus and method of the above character which can function in a noisy environment.
Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus and method which can be utilized for monitoring breathing.
Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus and method of the above character in which the information being generated can be transmitted to a remote location.
Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus of the above character which is light in weight and easy to use and easy to apply and remove.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4129125 (1978-12-01), Lester et al.
patent: 4802485 (1989-02-01), Bowers et al.
patent: 4862144 (1989-08-01), Tao
patent: 4956867 (1990-09-01), Zurek et al.
patent: 5046491 (1991-09-01), Derrick
patent: 5385144 (1995-01-01), Yamanishi et al.
patent: 5404885 (1995-04-01), Sheehan et al.
patent: 5522382 (1996-06-01), Sullivan et al.
patent: 5671733 (1997-09-01), Raviv et al.
patent: 5704345 (1998-01-01), Berthon-Jones
patent: 5797852 (1998-08-01), Karakasoglu
patent: 5803066 (1998-09-01), Rapoprt et al.
Hermann George D.
Johnson Karl S.
Karakasoglu Ahmet
Astorino Michael
Flehr Hohbach Test Albritton & Herbert LLP
O'Connor Cary
Sleep Solutions, Inc.
LandOfFree
Apparatus and method for breath monitoring does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Apparatus and method for breath monitoring, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Apparatus and method for breath monitoring will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2496158