A patient monitoring system is for a patient, and may include a base and a frame extending upwardly. The patient monitoring system may include a weight sensor carried by the base, a pair of handrails carried by the frame to be grasped by the patient, and a pair of impedance sensors to be attached to the patient while the patient is on the weight sensor. The patient monitoring system may have a controller coupled to the pair of impedance sensors and the weight sensor and configured to sense a lung impedance of the patient, sense a weight of the patient, and determine whether the patient is experiencing CHF based upon the lung impedance and the weight of the patient.

A patient monitoring system is for a patient, and may include a base and a frame extending upwardly. The patient monitoring system may include a weight sensor carried by the base, a pair of handrails carried by the frame to be grasped by the patient, and a pair of impedance sensors to be attached to the patient while the patient is on the weight sensor. The patient monitoring system may have a controller coupled to the pair of impedance sensors and the weight sensor and configured to sense a lung impedance of the patient, sense a weight of the patient, and determine whether the patient is experiencing CHF based upon the lung impedance and the weight of the patient.

Disclosed are an image monitoring apparatus and method for displaying a lung ventilation impedance image and a lung perfusion impedance image based on impedance data measured at a thorax of a subject, and a reference image based on a biometric signal, in which impedance data based on voltage measured at the thorax of the subject is separated into lung ventilation impedance data and lung perfusion impedance data, and dynamic bloodstream change data in a heart and blood vessels by electrical impedance tomography (EIT); and a lung ventilation impedance image, a lung perfusion impedance image, and a heart and blood vessel impedance image, which are obtained by the separation, and a reference image based on a biometric signal sensed at a part of the subject targeted to be examined are displayed according to a pathological condition of the subject.

Disclosed are an image monitoring apparatus and method for displaying a lung ventilation impedance image and a lung perfusion impedance image based on impedance data measured at a thorax of a subject, and a reference image based on a biometric signal, in which impedance data based on voltage measured at the thorax of the subject is separated into lung ventilation impedance data and lung perfusion impedance data, and dynamic bloodstream change data in a heart and blood vessels by electrical impedance tomography (EIT); and a lung ventilation impedance image, a lung perfusion impedance image, and a heart and blood vessel impedance image, which are obtained by the separation, and a reference image based on a biometric signal sensed at a part of the subject targeted to be examined are displayed according to a pathological condition of the subject.

Methods and systems for accessing and diagnosing diseased lung compartments are disclosed. Methods may comprise introducing a diagnostic catheter with an occluding member at its distal end into a lung segment; inflating the occluding member to isolate the lung compartment; and performing a diagnostic procedure with the catheter. The proximal end of the diagnostic catheter is configured to be attached to a console. Methods may also include allowing air to enter the lung compartment through the passage in the catheter while the patient is inhaling and blocking air from being expelled from the lung compartment through the catheter passage while the patient is exhaling by using a one-way flow element adapted to be disposed within or in-line with the passage of the catheter so that flow in a proximal-to-distal direction is allowed and flow in a distal-to-proximal direction is inhibited or prevented.

Methods and systems for accessing and diagnosing diseased lung compartments are disclosed. Methods may comprise introducing a diagnostic catheter with an occluding member at its distal end into a lung segment; inflating the occluding member to isolate the lung compartment; and performing a diagnostic procedure with the catheter. The proximal end of the diagnostic catheter is configured to be attached to a console. Methods may also include allowing air to enter the lung compartment through the passage in the catheter while the patient is inhaling and blocking air from being expelled from the lung compartment through the catheter passage while the patient is exhaling by using a one-way flow element adapted to be disposed within or in-line with the passage of the catheter so that flow in a proximal-to-distal direction is allowed and flow in a distal-to-proximal direction is inhibited or prevented.

Active auscultation may be used to determine organ (e.g., lung or heart) characteristics of users. An acoustic or piezo-electric signal (e.g., a pulse, a tone, and/or a broadband pulse) may be projected into an animal (typically human) body or thorax. The signal interacts with the body, or lungs, and in some cases may induce resonance within the body/lungs. A resultant signal may be emitted from the body which may be analyzed to determine, for example, a lung's resonant frequency or frequencies and/or how the sound is otherwise absorbed, reflected, or modified by the body. This information may be indicative of lung characteristics such as lung capacity, a volume of air trapped in the lungs, and/or the presence of COPD.

A method for computing lung compliance imaging, the method comprising obtaining one or more images of lungs, determining a spatial transformation of each voxel within the lungs between the lungs at an inhale position and the lungs at an exhale position to provide displacement vector estimates for each voxel within the lungs, performing volume change inference operations to determine a volume change between the lungs at the inhale position and the lungs at the exhale position based on an inhale region of interest, an exhale region of interest, and the displacement vector estimates for each voxel within the lungs, computing a lung compliance based on the volume change inference operations.

A method for computing lung compliance imaging, the method comprising obtaining one or more images of lungs, determining a spatial transformation of each voxel within the lungs between the lungs at an inhale position and the lungs at an exhale position to provide displacement vector estimates for each voxel within the lungs, performing volume change inference operations to determine a volume change between the lungs at the inhale position and the lungs at the exhale position based on an inhale region of interest, an exhale region of interest, and the displacement vector estimates for each voxel within the lungs, computing a lung compliance based on the volume change inference operations.

A system and method for monitoring respiration of a user, comprising: a respiration sensing module including a sensor configured to detect a set of respiration signals of the user based upon movement resulting from the user's respiration; a supplementary sensing module comprising an accelerometer and configured to detect a set of supplemental signals from the user; an electronics subsystem comprising a power module configured to power the system and a signal processing module configured to condition the set of respiration signals and the set of supplemental signals; a housing configured to facilitate coupling of the respiration sensing module and the supplementary sensing module to the user; and a data link coupled to the electronics subsystem through the housing and configured to transmit data generated from the set of respiration signals and the set of supplemental signals, thereby facilitating monitoring of the user's respiration.