Systems and methods to determine a composite respiratory vibration of a patient are disclosed, including a signal receiver circuit configured to receive physiologic information cyclic with patient respiration and vibration information indicative of patient respiratory vibrations for a plurality of respiratory cycles of a patient, and an assessment circuit configured to identify a first set of respiratory cycles of the plurality of respiratory cycles having a duration within a threshold, align segments of the vibration information corresponding to the first set of respiratory cycles, the segments associated with a desired portion of the respiratory cycle using a feature of the respiratory cycle, and determine the composite respiratory vibration using the aligned segments.

Systems and methods to determine a composite respiratory vibration of a patient are disclosed, including a signal receiver circuit configured to receive physiologic information cyclic with patient respiration and vibration information indicative of patient respiratory vibrations for a plurality of respiratory cycles of a patient, and an assessment circuit configured to identify a first set of respiratory cycles of the plurality of respiratory cycles having a duration within a threshold, align segments of the vibration information corresponding to the first set of respiratory cycles, the segments associated with a desired portion of the respiratory cycle using a feature of the respiratory cycle, and determine the composite respiratory vibration using the aligned segments.

A system and method for determining the respiratory and other physiological status of a patient. Here, an oscillometric device is mounted on a patient's limb, and oscillometric pulse waveforms are obtained as the device's cuff deflates, thus obtaining pulse wave signals and artifact signals over multiple patient breaths. A computer processor analyzes these signals, and removes artifacts according to various algorithms. The resulting signal can be viewed as containing both an amplitude modulated envelope of pulse waves (AM signals) and a frequency modulated sequence of pulses at various time intervals (FM signals). The main harmonics of the AM and FM signals contain respiratory status data, and the system analyzes both signals. Breathing depth and even pain data may also be obtained by this method. Artifacts caused by aberrant breathing can be distinguished using non-contact microphones and suitable algorithms. The final respiratory status data is output or stored in memory.

An acoustic system can track gas emissions by exploiting the nostril-accessible nasal pathways of an animal. Actuators and microphones used in the apparatus can be similar to those currently found in cell phones, which in turn make the acoustic apparatus small and rugged. The nostril geometry can be mapped using sound waves, similar to the mapping done by an acoustic rhinometer. Where acoustic rhinometers assume a constant speed of sound to measure changes in geometry, acoustic approaches as disclosed herein can assume constant geometry to measure changes in the speed of sound. Approaches disclosed here are particularly useful with any gas, such as (for example) methane, hydrogen, helium, etc. that has a speed of sound higher than other typical gaseous components of exhaled air, such as nitrogen, carbon-dioxide, oxygen, etc.

The present disclosure provides an apparatus comprising a housing with a left side panel, right side panel, and top panel, each of which may comprise a slot. The apparatus may comprise a front panel that is insertable into the slots of the left and right-side panels. The front panel may comprise a recessed region configured to receive a portion of a medical instrument. A source of a barrier material may be supported by the left and right-side panels. The apparatus may comprise a lid cover comprising a roller portion that is insertable into a slot of the top panel. The lid cover may pivot relative to the housing when the roller portion is inserted into the slot of the top panel. The lid cover and the front panel may form a gap through which a portion of the barrier material may extend when the barrier material is dispensed.

A system for monitoring medical conditions including pressure ulcers, pressure-induced ischemia and related medical conditions comprises at least one sensor adapted to detect one or more patient characteristic including at least position, orientation, temperature, acceleration, moisture, resistance, stress, heart rate, respiration rate, and blood oxygenation, a host for processing the data received from the sensors together with historical patient data to develop an assessment of patient condition and suggested course of treatment, including either suspending or adjusting turn schedule based on various types of patient movement. The sensor can include one or more of bi-axial or tri-axial accelerometers, magnetometers and altimeters as well as resistive, inductive, capacitive, magnetic and other sensing devices, depending on whether the sensor is located on the patient or the support surface, and for what purpose. In some embodiments, the sensor can be self-contained in that it can detect orientation and suggest repositioning independent of a host.

Decision support technology is provided for use with patients who may experience respiratory deterioration. A mechanism is provided to determine an indicator of a patient's probability of deterioration of respiratory functioning, which may include calculating a probability of a respiratory deterioration event in patients from whom serial digital recordings of respiratory sounds are acquired. A forecast or score representing a likelihood of deterioration may be generated and used for pulmonary disease prognosis, diagnosis, and/or determining or implementing an appropriate response action such as automatically issuing an alert or notification to a caregiver associated with the patient.

Apparatus and methods for applying a barrier to a medical scope are provided. An apparatus may comprise a source of film and a housing. The housing may comprise a chamber configured to support therein the source of film, and an opening provided through a wall of the housing to permit a portion of the film to extend out of the chamber when the film is dispensed. The housing may comprise a recess located such that the extended portion of the film is permitted to hang freely in proximity to the recess. The recess may be sized to receive a distal portion of the medical scope. The recess may be adapted to allow the extended portion of the film to be applied to the distal portion of the medical scope when the distal portion is placed into the recess with the portion of the film located therebetween.

Apparatus and methods for applying a barrier to a medical scope are provided. An apparatus may comprise a source of film and a housing. The housing may comprise a chamber configured to support therein the source of film, and an opening provided through a wall of the housing to permit a portion of the film to extend out of the chamber when the film is dispensed. The housing may comprise a recess located such that the extended portion of the film is permitted to hang freely in proximity to the recess. The recess may be sized to receive a distal portion of the medical scope. The recess may be adapted to allow the extended portion of the film to be applied to the distal portion of the medical scope when the distal portion is placed into the recess with the portion of the film located therebetween.

A system monitors fatigue of a user. The system (100) may include one or more data sources, such as a non-obtrusive sleep sensor, configured to generate objective sleep measures of the user. The system may also include a fatigue monitoring module, which may be configured to generate an assessment, such as in one or more processors, of the fatigue state of the user based on the data from the one or more data sources.