초록

A device for diagnosing sleep apnea by identifying desaturation and resaturation events in oxygen saturation of a patient's blood. The slope of the events is determined and compared against various information to determine sleep apnea.

대표청구항 ▼

[ What is claimed is:] [1.] A method for diagnosing sleep apnea comprising:disposing an oximeter adjacent to a single human body part and recording a continuous measurement of oxygen saturation as a function of time to derive an oxygen saturation waveform;identifying a first event comprising a desat

[ What is claimed is:] [1.] A method for diagnosing sleep apnea comprising:disposing an oximeter adjacent to a single human body part and recording a continuous measurement of oxygen saturation as a function of time to derive an oxygen saturation waveform;identifying a first event comprising a desaturation event in which said oxygen saturation falls away from a baseline level by a predetermined amount and for a predetermined time;identifying a second event comprising a resaturation event in which said oxygen saturation rises immediately following said desaturation, the presence of a consecutive desaturation event and resaturation event defining a couplet event;identifying a third event comprising a second desaturation event occurring within a predetermined time interval after said resaturation and in which said oxygen saturation falls away from near said baseline level by near said predetermined amount, the presence of said first, second and third consecutive events defining a triplet event;determining the number of said couplet events occurring during at least a portion of said measurement; andassessing the probability that a patient has sleep apnea based on said number of couplet events.