Provided are concepts for generating an indicator of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in a subject. In particular, data from a plurality of sensors, including a pressure sensor, an airflow sensor, and a CO2 concentration sensor is captured from the breath of the subject received by a mouthpiece. The sensor data is then utilised by a processing unit to generate an indicator of COPD in the subject. By utilising airway pressure, airway flow rate and expiratory CO2 concentration data, an accurate indicator of the presence and/or stage of COPD may be obtained.

A patient support apparatus, such as a bed, cot, stretcher, or the like, includes a frame, a support surface, an emitter, a detector, and a controller. The emitter and detector are coupled to the patient support apparatus at first and second locations, respectively. The emitter is adapted to emit electromagnetic waves in a direction aimed toward the detector. The detector is adapted to detect the electromagnetic waves emitted from the emitter. The controller is adapted to perform a spectral analysis of the detected electromagnetic waves to determine a parameter associated with the gas exhaled by a patient positioned on the patient support apparatus. The parameter may refer to a carbon dioxide level of gas exhaled by the patient, the patient's respiration rate, the patient's metabolic rate, or the like. The emitter, detector, and controller may alternatively be separate from, but attachable to, and in communication with, the patient support apparatus.

The present invention provides a device for displaying respiratory conditions of a subject on a monitor having a first parameter acquisition unit (11) for acquiring a first respiration parameter representing a respiratory condition of the subject; a second parameter acquisition unit (12) for acquiring a second respiration parameter representing a respiratory condition of the subject, said second respiration parameter differing from said first respiration parameter; and a display controlling unit (13) for displaying, on the monitor, a chart representing a relationship between the first respiration parameter acquired by said first parameter acquisition unit and the second respiration parameter acquired by said second parameter acquisition unit; wherein the chart represents the relationship between the first respiration parameter and the second respiration parameter in each respiration cycle, and a plurality of charts for preceding respiration cycles and charts for subsequent respiration cycles are displayed so as to adjoin one another successively in a prescribed direction.

A mobile newborn care bed is configured to be positioned at a delivery location of an infant includes a bassinet containing a mattress for receiving the infant and a frame that supports the bassinet. At least two capacitive sensors are incorporated in the mattress that record cardiac signals, and an on-bed computing system is configured to receive the cardiac signals and determine a heart rate for the infant. A battery supported by the frame powers the on-bed computing system, and a digital display is communicatively connected to the on-bed computing system and displays the heart rate.

An apparatus that monitors information associated with an oral cavity is provided, the apparatus comprising: a three-dimensional oral appliance; a data collection device having at least one sensor and/or hydrogel like material configured to sense the information associated with the oral cavity; an interface device cooperatively coupled to the data collection device, the interface device configured to transfer the information from the sensor device to a receiving device external to the oral cavity or the entire device is analyzed.

The invention relates to a system to detect a first gas, the system comprising: a mattress assembly defining a support surface including: o a first array of gas sensors, each gas sensor of the first array being adapted to measure an amount of a first gas in the surrounding of a portion of the support surface and adapted to output data indicative of the measured amount of the first gas, so that the amount of the first gas in a first array of surface portions of the support surface is sensed over time; and o a transmitter adapted to send a signal to an external device containing data indicative of the measured amount of the first gas. The invention relates also to a method to detect the first gas.

A method and apparatus for estimating the frequency of a dominant periodic component in an input signal by modelling the input signal using auto-regressive models of several different orders to generate candidate frequencies for the periodic component, generating synthetic sinusoidal signals of each of the candidate frequencies, and calculating the cross-correlation of the synthetic signals with the original signal. The frequency of whichever of the synthetic signals has the highest cross-correlation with the original signal is taken as the estimate of the frequency for the dominant periodic component of the input signal. The method may be applied to any noisy signal which has a suspected periodic component, for example physiological signals such as photoplethysmogram signals, and in the estimation of heart rate and breathing rate from such physiological signals.

The invention pertains to the establishment, implementation and management of a personalized information system pertinent to a user's general health, wellness and/or sport performance. Disclosed is a system capable of transcutaneous measurement of a subject including at least one light source, at least one light detector, and at least one component for generating or storing at least one value of VC02 or at least one value of V02 from the detected signal. Further, disclosed is a portable device for analyzing the composition of the respired gasses of a subject including at least one air flow conduit through which the subject can inspire or expire air through the body of the device, at least one sampling portal, an oxygen sensor, and at least one flow sensor. A dual-battery system is also provided by which an uninterrupted power supply can be provided for electronic components.

Some embodiments are directed to determining the composition of breath exhaled by a subject. For example, some embodiments are directed to determining a concentration of a gas species in breath exhaled by a human subject, based at least in part upon a measured concentration of the gas species in a chamber which is adapted to hold both breath exhaled by the human subject and ambient air for inhalation by the human subject.

A fluid dynamic valve passively allows fluid flow out of a moving stream in one flow direction and not in the reverse. This allows the collection of fluid from a single direction of an AC fluid flow. The siphoned portion of the flow has a flow rate proportional to the mainstream flow. This device can collect exhaled breath or selective entrenchment during inhale. In one orientation, it can meter aerosolized particles into an inhale breath stream for pulmonary delivery, without complicated breath timing or drug loss due to drug adsorption to the back of the throat. Alternatively, a user can breathe through the device and a proportional amount, relative to the volumetric flow rate, of each exhale can flow into an auxiliary chamber for analysis. In addition, the device has a low respiratory burden and is comfortable to use.