BREATHING SOUND ANALYSIS FOR DETECTION OF SLEEP APNEA/HYPOPNEA EVENTS

摘要

Apparatus for use detection of apnea includes a microphone mountedin the ear of the patient for detecting breathing sounds and a second externalmicrophone together with an oximetric sensor. A transmitter at the patientcompresses and transmits the signals to a remote location where there isprovided adetector module for receiving and analyzing the signals to extract datarelating to thebreathing. The detector uses the entropy or range of the signal to generate anestimate of air flow while extracting extraneous snoring and heart sounds andtoanalyze the estimate of air flow using Otsu's threshold to detect periods ofapneaand/or hypopnea. A display provides data of the detected apnea/hypopneaepisodes and related information for a clinician.