Systems and methods for non-contact multiparameter vital signs monitoring, apnea therapy, apnea diagnosis, and snore therapy

Abstract

Aspects of the of the disclosure relate to a non-contact physiological motion sensor and a monitor device that can incorporate use of the Doppler effect. A continuous wave of electromagnetic radiation can be transmitted toward one or more subjects and the Doppler-shifted received signals can be digitized and/or processed subsequently to extract information related to the cardiopulmonary motion in the one or more subjects. The extracted information can be used, for example, to determine apneic events and/or snoring events and/or to provide apnea or snoring therapy to subjects when used in conjunction with an apnea or snoring therapy device. In addition, methods of use are disclosed for sway cancellation, realization of cessation of breath, integration with multi-parameter patient monitoring systems, providing positive providing patient identification, or any combination thereof.

1 . A system for detecting and treating sleep apnea, said system comprising:
 one or more non-contact physiological motion sensors configured to generate a signal;   a sensor processing unit comprising a processor and coupled with the one or more non-contact physiological motion sensors, the sensor processing unit configured to process the signal of the one or more non-contact physiological motion sensors and to extract information related to an apneic or snoring state of a subject to obtain a signal relating to an apnea event;   the sensor processing unit including a communications module; and   the system further comprising a therapeutic device configured to communicate with the communications module and comprising a bio-feedback mechanism configured to stimulate an anatomical region of the subject when an apnea event is detected,   wherein the therapeutic device is configured to stimulate a nerve or muscle in the region of a neck that is associated with breathing.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the therapeutic device is configured to noninvasively stimulate the nerve or muscle. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 2  wherein the therapeutic device is configured to stimulate a hypoglossal nerve region. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the therapeutic device comprises a vibratory stimulation element. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the therapeutic device comprises a vibratory stimulus of progressively increasing pulse width and pulse repetition rate. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the therapeutic device comprises a neck patch constructed from biocompatible materials. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein at least one non-contact physiological motion sensor of the one or more non-contact physiological motion sensors is radar-based and configured to measure physiological motion and derive respiratory motion from the measured physiological motion. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein at least one non-contact physiological motion sensor of the one or more non-contact physiological motion sensors is radar based and further configured to detect non-respiratory motion. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the one more non-contact physiological motion sensors includes a sensor configured to:
 generate electromagnetic radiation from a source of radiation, wherein the frequency of the electromagnetic radiation is in the radio frequency range,   transmit the electromagnetic radiation towards a subject using one or more transmitters,   receive a radiation scattered at least by the subject using one or more receivers,   extract a Doppler shifted signal from the scattered radiation, and   transform the Doppler shifted signal to a digitized motion signal.   
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the digitized motion signal comprises one or more frames, wherein the one or more frames include time sampled quadrature values of the digitized motion signal,
 and wherein the at least one non-contact physiological motion sensor and the sensor processing unit are configured to:   demodulate the one or more frames using a demodulation algorithm executed by one or more processors to isolate a signal corresponding to a physiological movement of the subject or part of the subject,   analyze the signal to obtain information corresponding to a non-cardiopulmonary motion or other signal interference, and   process the signal to obtain information corresponding to the physiological movement of the subject or part of the subject, substantially separate from the non-cardiopulmonary motion or other signal interference.   
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one non-contact physiological motion sensor is a radar based sensor. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the at least one non-contact physiological motion sensor is further configured to detect a heart rate of the subject, the heart rate being used to confirm an apnea indicated by other measurements. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the at least one non-contact physiological motion sensor comprises multiple antenna hardware to track movement of subject while sleeping. 
     
     
         14 . A method of treating snoring, comprising the steps of:
 detecting a snoring event of a patient via one or more sensors;   sending information regarding the snoring event from the one or more sensors to a sensor processing unit;   sending a command from the sensor processing unit to an external therapeutic device operably connected to directly stimulate a hypoglossal nerve region of the patient, thereby activating the external therapeutic device;   alleviating the snoring event, without awakening the patient, via the external therapeutic device providing hypoglossal nerve stimulation of increasing frequency; and   ceasing stimulation when the snoring event has ceased.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein detecting the snoring event of the patient via one or more sensors employs a snoring detector comprising one or more selected from the group consisting of a microphone, acoustic stethoscope, and a transducer configured to detect the snoring event. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein a therapeutic device comprising the snoring detector is configured to be coupled with a separate stand-alone device selected from the group consisting of: a sensor, a smartphone, and a computer tablet. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the therapeutic device comprises a battery having an indicator of battery condition. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the therapeutic device comprises one or more selected from the group consisting of: storage of data, a web interface, a display, user interface and controls, a clock, recording hardware and software, and communications hardware and software. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the therapeutic device comprises an embedded processor to process sensor signals and to relay data to the stand-alone device. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the external therapeutic device is an external stimulator comprising a vibration transducer and/or electrodes configured to produce electrical signals to produce vibrations to stimulate the hypoglossal nerve region of the patient. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the external therapeutic device comprises a neck patch. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the neck patch comprises a retention layer including alignment edges to align the neck patch to the hypoglossal nerve region for therapeutic placement. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 22 , wherein the external therapeutic device comprises a plurality of vibratory force transfer regions through which therapeutic energy to stimulate the hypoglossal nerve region is delivered to the patient. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the external therapeutic device comprises a wireless receiver, the wireless receiver configured to receive a wireless trigger signal from a separate wireless transceiver, the external therapeutic device providing hypoglossal nerve region stimulation in response to the wireless trigger signal. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein at least one of the one or more sensors is a motion sensor positioned in a location remote to the patient. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the one or more sensors are directly attached to the patient.