System and Method for Managing Sleep Disorders

Abstract

The present invention provides a method for managing a patient having a sleep disorder, e.g. sleep apnea, snoring, sleep bruxism, upper airway resistance syndrome, etc. The method comprises monitoring physiological information from the patient, converting the physiological information to digital data, storing the digital data in a digital memory, identifying and characterizing epochs based on the digital data, and storing the identifying and characterizing information of the epochs in a digital memory. The method further comprises organizing the epochs according to an organization function that considers at least characterization information of the epochs, selecting an epoch based on the organizing of the epochs, and generating sound derived from the stored digital data associated with the selected epoch such that the patient hears the sound. In a specific embodiment, the physiological information monitored may include sound, e.g. respiratory sound emanating from the trachea, and/or tooth-grinding sounds.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system for communicating information about a patient's sleep, the system comprising:
 a memory for storing in digital format sound information spontaneously emitted from a patient during a period of time associated with a sleep period of the patient;   means for dividing a portion of the period of time associated with the sleep period into a plurality of epochs, each of the plurality of epochs having an attribute, the attribute being the same for each of the plurality of epochs;   means for determining a value of the attribute for each of the plurality of epochs;   means for selecting an epoch in which the value of the attribute satisfies a specified criterion;   means for retrieving from the memory the sound information associated with the selected epoch;   means for converting the retrieved sound information into an analog form,   means for outputting the analog form of the retrieved sound information to a listener.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the means for selecting an epoch includes a user interface. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 2  wherein the user interface displays references to epochs of the period of time associated with the sleep period. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 3  wherein the user interface further displays information about a value of an attribute of a plurality of epochs having references displayed. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 4  wherein the display of references to epochs is organized based on the value of an attribute of the epochs.