Mouthpiece and Airway Congestion Monitoring System
A congestion monitoring system includes a generally cylindrical, hollow form to channel a patient's breath, a flow restriction within the hollow form, and a pair of air ports. One of the air ports is located on the hollow form at a first side of the flow restriction, and the other air port is located on the hollow form at a second side of the flow restriction. The system also includes a coupling for connecting the pair of air ports to a pair of air lines, a sensor in communication with the air ports via the pair of air lines, and a monitor device. The monitor device converts a pressure signal from the air ports into a signal representative of a flow rate of the patient's breath through the hollow form.
1 . A congestion monitoring system comprising:
a generally cylindrical, hollow form to channel a patient's breath;
a flow restriction within the hollow form;
a pair of air ports, wherein the first air port of the pair of air ports is located on the hollow form at a first side of the flow restriction, and the second air port of the pair of air ports is located on the hollow form at a second side of the flow restriction; and
a coupling for connecting the pair of air ports to a pair of air lines;
a sensor in communication with the air ports via the pair of air lines; and
a monitor device converting a pressure signal from said air ports into a signal representative of a flow rate of said patient's breath through said hollow form, and said monitor providing a comparison over time of air flow of said patient to establish whether a lung function of said patient is stable.
2 . The congestion monitoring system of claim 1 wherein the flow restriction is a ring form.
3 . The congestion monitoring system of claim 2 wherein the ring is positioned generally midway between a pair of ends of the hollow form.
4 . A congestion monitoring system comprising:
a mouthpiece comprising a generally cylindrical, hollow form to channel a patient's breath, said mouthpiece including a flow restriction within the hollow form and a pair of air ports, wherein the first air port of the pair of air ports is located on the hollow form at a first side of the flow restriction, and the second air port of the pair of air ports is located on the hollow form at a second side of the flow restriction;
a pair of air lines coupled to the pair of air ports;
a sensor in communication with the pair of air lines; and
a monitor device, wherein the sensor is adapted to convert a pressure signal from the pair of air lines into an electrical signal which is provided to the monitor device.
5 . The congestion monitoring system of claim 4 wherein the sensor is a differential pressure sensor.
6 . The congestion monitoring system of claim 4 wherein the sensor is located within the monitor device
7 . The congestion monitoring system of claim 4 wherein the monitor device is adapted to calculate an airflow rate based on said pressure signal.
8 . The congestion monitoring system of claim 7 wherein the monitor device determines a trend analysis of airflow rates of said patient.
9 . The congestion monitoring system of claim 8 wherein the monitor device provides the trend analysis as a visual display of airflow rates of said patient over time, said visual display indicating whether the a lung function of said patient is decreasing or increasing.
10 . A method of providing information relating to pulmonary function comprising:
providing a mouthpiece to a patient, said mouthpiece comprising a generally cylindrical, hollow form to channel a breath of the patient, said mouthpiece including a flow restriction within the hollow form and a pair of air ports, wherein the first air port of the pair of air ports is located on the hollow form at a first side of the flow restriction, and the second air port of the pair of air ports is located on the hollow form at a second side of the flow restriction;
coupling the pair of air ports to a pair of air lines;
receiving a pressure signal from the air lines at a sensor for a predetermined period of time;
converting the pressure signal into an electrical signal representative of a flow rate of said patient; and
transmitting the electrical signal to a monitor device.
11 . The method of claim 10 wherein the wherein the predetermined period of time is less than approximately 3 seconds.
12 . The method of claim 10 wherein the predetermined period of time is approximately 1 second.
13 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising calculating an airflow rate based on the electrical signal.
14 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising calculating a volume of airflow based on the electrical signal.
15 . The method of claim 14 , further comprising performing a trend analysis based at least in part on said volume of airflow or said airflow rate.
16 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising displaying the volume of airflow or said airflow rate on the monitor device.