Claims
- 1. A method of evaluating a patient with sleep apnea comprising steps of:
a. monitoring a patient to produce at least one timed waveform of at least one physiologic parameter, b. identifying along said waveform a first waveform variation indicative of an apnea, c. identifying along said waveform a second waveform variation indicative of another apnea, d. determining the interval intermediate at least one portion of said first waveform variation and at least one portion of said second waveform, e. assessing the severity of sleep apnea based on at least said determining.
- 2. The method of claim 1 wherein said interval is a value indicative of the sufficiency of recovery between said apnea and said another apnea.
- 3. The method of claim 1 wherein said one portion of the first waveform variation corresponds to said one portion of the second waveform variation.
- 4. The method of claim 3 wherein said one portion of the first waveform variation is substantially the last portion of said first waveform variation.
- 5. The method of claim 4 wherein said one portion of the second waveform variation is the substantially the first portion of the second waveform variation.
- 6. The method of claim 5 wherein said first waveform variation is adjacent said second waveform variation.
- 7. The method of claim 5 wherein said first waveform variation proceeds said second waveform variation.
- 8. The method of claim 1 wherein said parameter is a respiratory parameter.
- 9. The method of claim 1 wherein said parameter is an oximetry parameter.
- 10. The method of claim 1 wherein said method includes using a microprocessor to perform at least steps b through d.
- 11. The method of claim 1 wherein said method includes using a microprocessor to perform at least steps b through e.
- 12. The method of claim 1 wherein said waveform is a waveform indicative of the flow of gas though at least one of a patients nose and mouth.
- 13. The method of claim S wherein said first waveform variation immediately proceeds said second waveform variation.
- 14. A method of evaluating a patient with sleep apnea comprising steps of
a. monitoring a patient to produce at least one timed waveform of at least one physiologic parameter, b. identifying along said waveform a first waveform variation indicative of an apnea, c. identifying along said waveform at least a second waveform variation indicative of another apnea, d. determining the severity of sleep apnea based at least on the position of said second waveform variation relative to at least said first waveform variation.
- 15. The method of claim 14 further including the step of identifying at least a third waveform variation indicative of another apnea and wherein said determining is based on at least the position of said third waveform variation relative to at least one of said first and second waveform variations.
- 16. The method of claim 14 further including the step of identifying at least one cluster of waveform variations indicative of a corresponding cluster of apneas, and wherein said determining is based on the position of said waveform variations within said cluster relative to other waveform variations within said cluster.
- 17. The method of claim 14 further including the step of identifying at least one cluster of waveform variations indicative of a corresponding cluster of apneas said cluster producing a spatial cluster waveform pattern indicative of a spatial pattern of a corresponding cluster of apneas and further determining the spatial relationships of said waveform variations within said cluster waveform pattern and using at least said determining to determine the severity of sleep apnea.
- 18. A device for determining the severity of sleep apnea comprising a monitor capable of generating a signal indicative of at least one physiologic parameter and a processor capable of processing said signal, said processor operating to generate a timed waveform of said parameter and to identify a plurality of sequential waveform variations indicative of a corresponding plurality of sequential apneas, said sequential waveform variations having temporal and spatial relationships between said waveform variations and along said waveform, said processor further operating to determine at least one of said temporal and said spatial relationships and displaying said determining so that said determining can be used to assess the severity of sleep apnea.
- 19. The device of claim 18 wherein said waveform variations occur in a sequential order with at least one interval intermediate said variations and wherein said determining comprises said processor measuring said at least one interval intermediate said variations.
- 20. The device of claim 19 wherein said plurality of sequential waveform variations is indicative of a number of sequential apneas equal to the number of said sequential waveform variations.
- 21. A method for determining the severity of sleep apnea including steps of:
a. identifying a plurality of sequential apneas, said apneas being separated by sequential intervening intervals, b. determining a magnitude value of at least a portion of said intervening intervals, c. determining the severity of sleep apnea based on the magnitude value of at least a portion of said intervals.
- 22. The method of claim 21 wherein said intervening intervals are time intervals.
- 23. The method of claim 22 wherein said magnitude value is the average intervening time interval.
- 24. The method of claim 21 wherein said sequential apneas are separated by recovery intervals said intervening intervals comprising said recovery intervals.
- 25. The method of claim 21 wherein each said apnea has an associated duration and further including the step of measuring at least a portion of said associated duration to determine a duration result and further using at least said duration result to determine the severity of sleep apnea.
- 26. The method of claim 25 wherein said apnea induces a decrease in oxygen saturation and wherein said associated duration is the duration of decreased oxygen saturation associated with said apnea.
- 27. The method of claim 26 wherein said duration result is the average duration of decreased oxygen saturation.
- 28. The method of claim 25 wherein said duration result is the average apnea duration.
- 29. The method of claim 24 wherein said recovery interval is associated with a value of arterial oxygen saturation during said recovery interval, and further including the step of determining said value of said oxygen saturation during said recovery interval and using said value to determine the severity of sleep apnea.
- 30. The method of claim 26 wherein said decrease in oxygen saturation defines a value of slope of decrease and further including the step of determining said value of slope and using said value of slope to determine the severity of apnea.
- 31. The method of claim 30 wherein the value of slope is the average slope.
- 32. The method of claim 30 wherein said slope includes an initial portion and a terminal portion, and further including the step of determining a value of the initial portion and using said value of said initial portion to determine the severity of sleep apnea.
- 33. The method of claim 32 wherein the value of the initial portion slope is the average slope of the initial portion.
- 34. A method of determining the severity of sleep apnea comprising steps of:
a. identifying a plurality of sequential apneas having a spatial relationship to each other, b. determining said spatial relationship, c. defining the severity of sleep apnea based on at least said determining.
- 35. A method of determining the severity of sleep apnea comprising steps of:
a. identifying a plurality of sequential apneas having a temporal relationship to each other, b. determining said temporal relationship, c. defining the severity of sleep apnea based on at least said determining.
- 36. The method of claim 34 wherein said plurality of sequential apneas comprises a cluster of closely spaced apneas.
- 37. The method of claim 35 wherein said plurality of sequential apneas comprises a cluster of closely spaced apneas.
- 38. A method of defining the severity of sleep apnea comprising:
a. identifying a plurality of sequential apneas, b. determining a value indicative of the sufficiency of the recovery between said apneas, c. defining the severity of sleep apnea based at least on said determining.
- 39. The method of claim 38 wherein said value is the time interval between said apneas.
- 40. The method of claim 38 wherein said value is the number of breaths between said apneas.
- 41. The method of claim 38 wherein said value is the quotient of said time interval and an indicator of the duration of at least one apnea adjacent said time interval.
- 42. The method of claim 41 wherein said indicator of the duration is the lowest oxygen saturation associated with said at least one apnea.
- 43. The method of claim 41 wherein said indicator of the duration is a measure of the time duration of said at least one apnea.
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/052,438, filed Jul. 14, 1997, the contents of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference and the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/052,439, filed Jul. 14, 1997, the contents of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference.
[0002] This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/789,460, filed Jan. 27, 1997, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/391,811, filed Feb. 21, 1995, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,605,151, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/151,901 filed Nov. 15, 1993, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,398,682, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/931,976, filed Aug. 19, 1992, now abandoned. The contents of application Ser. Nos. 08/789,460, 08/391,811, 08/151,901, 08/931,976, and PCT/US 93/97726, and of U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,605,151 and 5,398,682 are all hereby incorporated herein by reference, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Provisional Applications (2)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60052438 |
Jul 1997 |
US |
|
60052439 |
Jul 1997 |
US |
Continuations (4)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09115226 |
Jul 1998 |
US |
Child |
09776771 |
Feb 2001 |
US |
Parent |
08789460 |
Jan 1997 |
US |
Child |
09776771 |
Feb 2001 |
US |
Parent |
08391811 |
Feb 1995 |
US |
Child |
08789460 |
Jan 1997 |
US |
Parent |
08151901 |
Nov 1993 |
US |
Child |
08391811 |
Feb 1995 |
US |
Continuation in Parts (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
08931976 |
Sep 1997 |
US |
Child |
08151901 |
Nov 1993 |
US |