Granted Patent B2

US 9,364,168 · App. 13/174,665 · Granted Jun 14, 2016

Abstract

Claims (16)

1. A method of diagnosing an air leak in a lung compartment of a patient, the method comprising:

advancing a diagnostic catheter into an airway leading to the lung compartment;

inflating an occluding member on the catheter to form a seal with a wall of the airway and thus isolate the lung compartment;

measuring air pressure within the lung compartment during multiple breaths, using the diagnostic catheter;

measuring air flow out of the lung compartment during the multiple breaths, using the catheter;

displaying the measured air pressure as an air pressure value and displaying the measured air flow as an air flow value on a console coupled with the diagnostic catheter; and

determining whether an air leak is present in the lung compartment based on the displayed air pressure value during the multiple breaths by correlating a negative base-line value to the presence of the air leak and by determining a ratio of inspiratory to expiratory flow; and

correlating said negative base-line value and the ratio with a size of the air leak.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the console displays multiple air pressure values measured during the multiple breaths as a wave-form.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising displaying on the console whether the air leak is present in the compartment.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the lung compartment comprises a lobe of a lung.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the lung compartment comprises a segment of a lung.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

using the diagnostic catheter to assess whether there is collateral ventilation into the lung compartment; and

determining a treatment method based on the determinations of the air leak and collateral ventilation.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising repeating the steps to assess at least one additional lung compartment.

Assignments (9)