Monitoring a condition of a subject
View Patent ↗Apparatus and methods are described, including a method for monitoring an onset of a respiratory episode in a subject. A plurality of respirations of the subject are sensed without contacting the subject, and a plurality of respiration signals corresponding to the plurality of respirations are generated. The plurality of respiration signals are combined to provide a characteristic respiration parameter of the subject. The onset of the respiratory episode is predicted from the characteristic respiration parameter. Other applications are also described.
1. A method for monitoring an onset of a respiratory episode in a subject, the method comprising:
sensing a plurality of respirations of the subject without contacting the subject and generating a plurality of respiration signals corresponding to the plurality of respirations;
combining the plurality of respiration signals to provide a characteristic respiration parameter of the subject; and
predicting the onset of the respiratory episode from the characteristic respiration parameter.
2. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the combining comprises synchronized averaging.
3. The method as recited in claim 2 , wherein the synchronized averaging comprises aligning the plurality of respiration signals.
4. The method as recited in claim 3 , wherein the aligning comprises aligning a respiration signal attribute.
5. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the combining the plurality of respiration signals to provide a characteristic respiration parameter comprises calculating a respiration score from the plurality of respiration signals.
6. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the method is practiced without contacting or viewing clothes the subject is wearing.
7. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the method is practiced without requiring compliance of the subject.