Means for Rendering Key Respiratory Measurements Accessible to Mobile Digital Devices

Abstract

An acoustic means for rendering key respiratory measurements accessible to hand-held mobile digital devices with audio input capabilities (such as mobile phones, personal digital assistants, mobile gaming platforms, and tablets). One or more embodiments comprise: a compact and portable whistle ( 101 ) that encodes a user's expiratory airflow rate as audio frequency, and a software process with local or remote access to mobile-device audio that decodes said audio frequency to regain expiratory airflow rate and derive key respiratory measurements, so that these measurements and related information may conveniently be made available to the user ( 100 ) and the user's health network of family members ( 103 ) and physicians ( 104 ). Embodiments enable leveraging the ubiquity and extensive capabilities of hand-held mobile digital devices, while simultaneously simplifying requirements for a dedicated spirometry device.

1 - 20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . A portable whistle having a predetermined correlation between through-flowing airflow per unit time and frequency of acoustic emissions from the whistle, usable for sensing the rate of a user's expiratory airflow as it passes through the whistle, and transmitting the rate through electrically passive means, as said frequency of acoustic emissions from the whistle to a physically independent mobile digital device with audio input and software processing capabilities, the whistle comprising:
 a) a mouthpiece at a first end of an inlet conduit having a central axis,   b) an outlet conduit having a central axis,   c) a central cavity, positioned between the inlet conduit and the outlet conduit, and having a central axis, and   d) an airflow guide, positioned between the mouthpiece and the central cavity, the airflow guide comprising one or more smooth and continuous surfaces that guide said user's expiratory airflow into a vortex within said central cavity to produce an acoustic emission as said expiratory airflow exits said outlet conduit, wherein the whistle has sufficiently low airflow resistance to produce an acoustic emission detectable by said mobile device that substantially corresponds to a peak expiratory airflow rate of said user, and the acoustic emission correlated to airflow rate is produced without using any moving parts,   wherein respiratory parameters determinable based on the frequency of said whistle's acoustic emissions and said correlation may be determined using said mobile device, and communicated by said mobile digital device.   
     
     
         22 . The whistle of  claim 21 , wherein at least one of the respiratory parameters derived using said mobile device is based on a measurement of the peak expiratory airflow rate of said user. 
     
     
         23 . The whistle of  claim 21 , wherein said respiratory parameters comprise at least one of PEFR and FEV 1 . 
     
     
         24 . The whistle of  claim 21 , wherein the central axis of the inlet conduit at the first end of the inlet conduit is substantially parallel or substantially coaxial with the central axis of the outlet conduit. 
     
     
         25 . The whistle of  claim 21 , wherein a portion of the mouthpiece or inlet conduit has a central axis that is substantially coplanar with the central axis of the central cavity. 
     
     
         26 . The whistle of  claim 21 , wherein the airflow guide comprises one or more vanes that radiate outward from the central axis of the central cavity. 
     
     
         27 . The whistle of  claim 21 , wherein the mobile digital device is a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant, a tablet, or a mobile gaming platform. 
     
     
         28 . The whistle of  claim 21 , further comprising a housing that is configured to contain a dispenser with medicine for inhaling. 
     
     
         29 . The whistle of  claim 28 , further comprising a medicine delivery channel that extends between the mouthpiece and the housing to provide a fluid flow pathway for medicine traveling from the dispenser contained in the housing through the mouthpiece and into the respiratory system of a user. 
     
     
         30 . The whistle of  claim 21 , wherein the acoustic emission that is produced by the whistle is audible to humans. 
     
     
         31 . The whistle of  claim 21 , wherein the whistle has an external form that is shaped substantially like a musical instrument. 
     
     
         32 . The whistle of  claim 21 , wherein the inlet conduit has a larger internal cross-sectional area than a cross-sectional area of an entrance to the outlet conduit from the central cavity.