An apparatus and method for employing data from the person and from the environment where the person is situated facilitate the detection and prediction of severity of high altitude-induced Sleep Disordered Breathing (SDB, and specifically Central Sleep Apnea (CSA)). Longitudinal tracking of local barometric pressure and severity of SDB symptoms (objective or subjective or both) allow for prediction of occurrence of SDB (per altitude). Some of all of the data can be obtained from one or more wearable devices that may be worn by the person. Additionally, personalized mapping for dosing of medication (e.g. acetazolamide, low-flow oxygen therapy) to treat high altitude-induced SDB are provided, with recommended dosing provided to the person per altitude.

An apparatus for gating delivery of radiation by a radiation delivery system to a patient is described. The apparatus includes at least one electrode positionable adjacent to but not touching a patient, at least one capacitance sensor electrically connected to the at least one electrode and configured to monitor a capacitance of the at least one electrode and generate an output signal indicative of the capacitance, and at least one processor configured to receive and process the output signal, determine a computed measure of amplitude and/or phase of respiration of the patient, and generate a gating signal for enabling or inhibiting delivery of radiation by the radiation delivery system based on the determined measure of amplitude and/or phase of respiration of the patient.

It is described a system and a method for respiratory activity analysis comprising the use of Respiratory Inductance Plethysmography (RIP). In particular, a wearable system for extracting physiological parameters of a person by measuring at least one plethysmographic signal is disclosed. The system comprises: a wearable garment fitting a body part of the person; at least one wire supported by or embedded into the garment, each wire forming a loop around the body part when the person wears the garment for measuring a plethysmographic signal; and an electronic device supported by or fixed on the garment and including a Colpitts oscillator connected to each wire loop, wherein the Colpitts oscillator has an optimal frequency band from 1 MHz to 15 MHz for extracting the plethysmographic signal measured by each wire, the electronic device converting analog information measured by the Colpitts oscillator into digital analyzable information.

Various embodiments of the present invention provide methods, apparatus, systems, computing devices, computing entities, and/or the like for performing optimized breathing therapy. Certain embodiments of the present invention utilize systems, methods, and computer program products that perform optimized breathing therapy using at least one of interruption score generation machine learning models, observed inspiration-expiration pattern, expected inspiration-expiration patterns, expected musical patterns, and inferred musical patterns.

A plethysmographic respiration processor is responsive to respiratory effects appearing on a blood volume waveform and the corresponding detected intensity waveform measured with an optical sensor at a blood perfused peripheral tissue site so as to provide a measurement of respiration rate. A preprocessor identifies a windowed pleth corresponding to a physiologically acceptable series of plethysmograph waveform pulses. Multiple processors derive different parameters responsive to particular respiratory effects on the windowed pleth. Decision logic determines a respiration rate based upon at least a portion of these parameters.

An apparatus for monitoring a sleep parameter of a user includes an adhesive pad configured to conform to a surface of the user and a flexible element coupled to the adhesive pad. The flexible element includes a conductive fabric, and exhibits a modified electrical property in response to an applied force. The apparatus also includes a power source electrically coupled to the flexible element, and an electrical circuit electrically coupled to the power source and the flexible conductive element. The electrical circuit is configured to detect, during use, a change in an electrical property of the flexible element.

A method and apparatus for the treatment of Sleep Apnea events and Hypopnea episodes wherein one embodiment comprises a wearable, belt like apparatus containing a microphone and a plethysmograph. The microphone and plethysmograph generate signals that are representative of physiological aspects of respiration, and the signals are transferred to an imbedded computer. The embedded computer extracts the sound of breathing and the sound of the heart beat by Digital Signal Processing techniques. The embedded computer has elements for determining when respiration parameters falls out of defined boundaries for said respiration parameters. This exemplary method provides real-time detection of the onset of a Sleep Apnea event or Hypopnea episode and supplies stimulation signals upon the determination of a Sleep Apnea event or Hypopnea episode to initiate an inhalation. In one embodiment, the stimulus is applied to the patient by a cutaneous rumble effects actuator and/or audio effects broadcasting.

A method of determining a patient's respiratory effort and related patient-ventilator asynchrony comprises acquiring first impedance data representative of a first region of the lungs of the patient, the first region comprising at least a dependent region of the lungs, during the applied positive expiratory pressure, optionally acquiring second impedance data representative of a second region of the lungs, and comparing the first impedance data with one or more of the second impedance data, a flow rate within a breathing circuit of the patient, a pressure within the breathing circuit, historical impedance data of the first region, and stored patterns of impedance data of the first region. Related systems for determining a respiratory effort of a patient are also disclosed.

A swallowing medical device includes: an attachment unit configured to be attached to a target portion of a human body for a medical operation; a control unit configured to control the medical operation; and a storage configured to store use information regarding a use state over time of the attachment unit. The control unit executes a control for restricting use of the attachment unit on the basis of a fact that the use information does not satisfy a set condition for ensuring a characteristic of the attachment unit.

The present invention provides a method of conducting a sleep analysis by collecting physiologic and kinetic data from a subject, preferably via a wireless in-home data acquisition system, while the subject attempts to sleep at home. The sleep analysis, including clinical and research sleep studies and cardiorespiratory studies, can be used in the diagnosis of sleeping disorders and other diseases or conditions with sleep signatures, such as Parkinson's, epilepsy, chronic heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder, or other neurological, cardiac, pulmonary, or muscular disorders. The method of the present invention can also be used to determine if environmental factors at the subject's home are preventing restorative sleep.