Method for detecting and differentiating central and obstructive apneas in newborns
US4648407A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Jun 13, 1986 |
| Grant date | Mar 10, 1987 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jun 13, 2006 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC A)Human Necessities
- CPC primaryA61B5/6814
- WIPO fieldMedical technology
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
The presence and origin of apnea in a newborn subject is detected by separately and concurrently monitoring relative movement of the cranial bones and nasal ventilation. The cranial bones have been found to move with respiration as a function of intrapleural pressure, and monitoring of their movement is accordingly used to generate a signal representative of intrapleural pressure. A nasal cannula, thermistor, thermocouple or CO.sub.2 sensors are employed to concurrently generate a signal representative of tidal volume. Absence of changes in both cranial bone movement and respiratory air flow at the nose is indicative of the presence of central apnea, while absence of nasal air flow accompanied by continuing cranial bone movements is indicative of obstructive apnea. The preferred device for detecting cranial bone movement is a surface inductive plethysmographic transducer, although other suitably sensitive motion detecting devices may be employed.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.