Method and apparatus for detecting and treating heart failure

Abstract

Devices and systems provide methods of detecting a heart failure condition of a patient that may be based on one or more respiratory parameters of a patient. In an example embodiment, a monitoring device determines one or more heart failure condition indicators based on a measure of the patient respiratory airflow and/or a measure of treatment pressure. Respiratory parameters such as respiration rate, hypopneas, apneas, Cheyne-Stokes breathing patterns or apnea-hypopnea counts may be compared to thresholds that are selected to represent a change in the condition of a heart failure patient such as an onset of a decompensation event. Results of the comparisons may trigger a pressure treatment change and/or one or more warnings or messages to notify a patient or physician of a pending change to the patient's heart failure condition so that the patient may more immediately seek medical attention to treat the heart failure condition.

1 - 66 . (canceled) 
     
     
         67 . A method for evaluating a heart failure condition of a patient comprising:
 receiving data representing patient conditions from a non-contact sensor; and   determining with a processor a heart failure condition change indicator based on the non-contact sensor data, the indicator representing information about a change in a heart failure condition of the patient.   
     
     
         68 . The method of  claim 67  wherein the non-contact sensor data is used to determine a respiratory parameter. 
     
     
         69 . The method of  claim 68  wherein the determining of the heart failure condition change indicator comprises:
 comparing the respiratory parameter with a threshold. 
 
     
     
         70 . The method of  claim 69  wherein the threshold is representative of a change to the respiratory parameter that is indicative of onset of acute decompensation. 
     
     
         71 . The method of  claim 68  wherein the determining of the heart failure condition change indicator comprises:
 comparing a change in a pattern of the respiratory parameter over a number of evaluation sessions. 
 
     
     
         72 . The method of  claim 68  wherein the respiratory parameter is an apnea-hypopnea index. 
     
     
         73 . The method of  claim 68  wherein the respiratory parameter is a Cheyne-Stokes breathing pattern index. 
     
     
         74 . The method of  claim 68  wherein the respiratory parameter is a respiratory rate. 
     
     
         75 . The method of  claim 67  further comprising generating a warning based on the heart failure condition change indicator. 
     
     
         76 . The method of  claim 75  wherein the warning comprises an activated light. 
     
     
         77 . The method of  claim 75  wherein the warning comprises a message. 
     
     
         78 . The method of  claim 67  further comprising transmitting an electronic message including data representing the heart failure condition change indicator. 
     
     
         79 . The method of  claim 67  further comprising generating a flow of breathable gas at a pressure above atmospheric to the patient during the receiving of the non-contact sensor data. 
     
     
         80 . The method of  claim 79 , wherein the determining the heart failure condition change indicator is further based on a measure of pressure associated with the flow of breathable gas. 
     
     
         81 . The method of  claim 80 , wherein the measure of pressure is one of: a peak inspiratory pressure; an end expiratory pressure; a median pressure; a 95th percentile pressure; and a level of pressure support. 
     
     
         82 . The method of  claim 67  wherein the determining of the heart failure condition change indicator comprises:
 determining a plurality of respiratory parameters from the non-contact sensor data; and 
 comparing the respiratory parameters with respective thresholds. 
 
     
     
         83 . The method of  claim 82  wherein the respiratory parameters comprise data representative of one or more apneas and hypopneas experienced by the patient and data representative of one or more Cheyne-Stokes epochs experienced by the patient. 
     
     
         84 . The method of  claim 67  wherein the non-contact sensor is an ultrasonic sensing device. 
     
     
         85 . The method of  claim 67  wherein the non-contact sensor is a biomotion sensor. 
     
     
         86 . The method of  claim 85  wherein the non-contact sensor detects biomotion via low power pulses of radio frequency energy. 
     
     
         87 . The method of  claim 67  wherein the determining the heart failure condition change indicator is further based on one of a group consisting of:
 a determined heart-rate variability metric; 
 a measure of sympathovagal balance; 
 a measure of gas of the patient's blood; 
 an oximetry measure; and 
 a measure derived from a photoploethysmogram. 
 
     
     
         88 . A device for monitoring a patient to evaluate a heart failure condition of a patient comprising:
 a non-contact sensor configured to monitor the patient and to generate data representing patient conditions; and   a processor, coupled with the sensor, the processor configured to control a determination of a heart failure condition change indicator based on the non-contact sensor data, the indicator representing information about a change in a heart failure condition of the patient.   
     
     
         89 . The device of  claim 88  wherein the processor is configured to:
 determine a respiratory parameter from the non-contact sensor data; and 
 compare the respiratory parameter with a threshold to determine the heart failure condition change indicator. 
 
     
     
         90 . The device of  claim 89  wherein the threshold is representative of a change to the respiratory parameter that is indicative of onset of acute decompensation. 
     
     
         91 . The device of  claim 89  wherein the respiratory parameter is an apnea-hypopnea index. 
     
     
         92 . The device of  claim 89  wherein the respiratory parameter is a Cheyne-Stokes breathing pattern index. 
     
     
         93 . The device of  claim 88  wherein the processor generates a warning based on the heart failure condition change indicator. 
     
     
         94 . The device of  claim 93  wherein the warning comprises a light signal. 
     
     
         95 . The device of  claim 93  wherein the warning comprises an electronic message to be transmitted. 
     
     
         96 . The device of  claim 88 , further comprising a transmitter coupled with the processor, wherein the processor is further configured to control transmitting of a message including data representing the heart failure condition change indicator. 
     
     
         97 . The device of  claim 88 , further comprising:
 a patient interface; and   a flow generator coupled to the processor and the patient interface, wherein the processor is configured to control the generation by the flow generator of a flow of breathable gas at a pressure above atmospheric to the patient interface.   
     
     
         98 . The device of  claim 97 , wherein the determination of the heart failure condition change indicator is further based on a measure of pressure associated with the flow of breathable gas. 
     
     
         99 . The device of  claim 98 , wherein the measure of pressure is one of: a peak inspiratory pressure; an end expiratory pressure; a median pressure; a 95th percentile pressure; and a level of pressure support. 
     
     
         100 . The device of  claim 88  wherein the processor is configured to:
 determine a plurality of respiratory parameters from the non-contact sensor data; and 
 compare the respiratory parameters with respective thresholds. 
 
     
     
         101 . The device of  claim 100  wherein the respiratory parameters comprise data representative of one or more apneas and hypopneas experienced by the patient and data representative of one or more Cheyne-Stokes epochs experienced by the patient. 
     
     
         102 . The device of  claim 88  wherein the non-contact sensor is an ultrasonic sensing device. 
     
     
         103 . The device of  claim 88  wherein the non-contact sensor is a biomotion sensor. 
     
     
         104 . The device of  claim 103  wherein the non-contact sensor detects biomotion via low power pulses of radio frequency energy. 
     
     
         105 . The device of  claim 88  wherein the processor is further configured to determine the heart failure condition change indicator based on one of the group consisting of:
 a determined heart-rate variability metric; 
 a measure of sympathovagal balance; 
 a measure of gas of the patient's blood; 
 an oximetry measure; and 
 a measure derived from a photoploethysmogram.