Measurement of exhaled breath temperature

Abstract

A method and apparatus useful for measuring the temperature of exhaled breath (EBT) are disclosed. The apparatus for measuring EBT comprises a conduit defining an air passage, a collector positioned inside the conduit, a mouthpiece associated with the conduit so that exhaled air guided into the air passage by the mouthpiece can exchange heat with the collector, a thermometer configured to measure the temperature of the collector, and a controller that receives the temperature of the collector and calculates an index temperature of the exhaled breath.

Claims

1. A device suitable for measuring exhaled breath temperature (EBT), A conduit that defines an air passage; A heat collector installed in the aforementioned air passage; A mouthpiece functionally associated with the aforementioned conduit and configured to guide exhaled air into the air passage so that the exhaled air can exchange heat with the heat collector when a person exhales air from their mouth; A thermometer configured to measure the temperature of the heat collector at least once during exhalation through the mouthpiece; and An apparatus comprising a controller including a computer processor and memory, configured to receive the temperature measured by the temperature measuring instrument, and then calculate an index temperature indicating the temperature of exhaled breath based on the temperature of the heat collector measured by the temperature measuring instrument.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the temperature measuring device and the controller are configured to measure the temperature of the heat collector multiple times during a single exhalation through the mouthpiece.

3. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the temperature measuring instrument and the controller are configured to measure the temperature of the solar collector in a predetermined or variable number of steps in a single exhalation.

4. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the temperature measuring instrument is configured to measure the temperature of the solar collector at least once every second.

5. A conduit assembly including at least the conduit and the solar collector, and The device comprises a main assembly including other components of the device, The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the conduit assembly and the main body assembly are reversibly separable into a coupled state and a disconnected state that the apparatus can use to measure EBT.

6. The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the mouthpiece is a component of the main body assembly.

7. The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the mouthpiece is a component of the conduit assembly.

8. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the mouthpiece is integrally formed with the conduit.

9. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the solar collector is physically connected to the conduit.

10. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the heat collector is in physical contact with a temperature sensor which is a component of the temperature measuring instrument, and the physical contact provides heat conduction between the heat collector and the temperature sensor.

11. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the temperature sensor includes components selected from the group consisting of thermocouples, thermistors, and integrated circuits.

12. The apparatus according to any one of claims 10 to 11, wherein the temperature sensor is connected by wired electrical communication to an electronic circuit which is a component of the temperature measuring instrument that determines the temperature of the solar collector from information received from the temperature sensor via wired communication.

13. Conduit assembly including the conduit, the solar collector, and the temperature sensor; and The main assembly includes the aforementioned electronic circuit, The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the conduit assembly and the main body assembly are reversibly separable between a coupled state in which wired communication exists between the temperature sensor and the electronic circuit and a separated state in which wired communication does not exist between the temperature sensor and the electronic circuit, so that the apparatus can be used to measure EBT.

14. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the temperature measuring device comprises a non-contact thermometer having a detection window, the detection window is arranged to receive infrared radiation emitted from a position in the air passage where the heat collector is located as exhaled air passes through the air passage.

15. The apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the detection window of the non-contact thermometer is located outside the air passage.

16. The apparatus according to claim 15, wherein at least a portion of the conduit is transparent to infrared radiation so that infrared radiation emitted from the solar collector passes through the infrared-transparent portion of the conduit and is received by the detection window of the non-contact thermometer.

17. A conduit assembly including the aforementioned conduit and the aforementioned solar collector; A main body assembly including a non-contact thermometer, The apparatus according to any one of claims 14 to 16, wherein the conduit assembly and the main body assembly are reversibly separable between a coupled state in which the detection window of the non-contact thermometer is positioned to receive infrared radiation emitted from a position in the air passage where the solar collector is located as exhaled air passes through the air passage, and a separated state, so that the apparatus can be used to measure EBT.

18. The apparatus according to any one of claims 14 to 17, wherein the solar collector is fixedly mounted within the air passage.

19. The apparatus according to any one of claims 14 to 17, wherein the heat collector is movable within the air passage, but when air is drawn into the air passage via the mouthpiece, the heat collector is positioned within the air passage to allow infrared radiation from the heat collector to enter the detection window of the contact thermometer.

20. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 19, wherein the inner wall of the conduit adjacent to the solar collector has a thermal conductivity of about 0.5 W / (m K) or less.

21. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 20, wherein the solar collector has a three-dimensional shape.

22. The apparatus according to claim 21, wherein the solar collector is hollow and has an internal volume.

23. The apparatus according to claim 22, wherein the surface of the solar collector is provided with at least one hole that allows exhaled air to enter the internal volume of the solar collector.

24. The apparatus according to any one of claims 21 to 23, wherein there are ribs of a heat-conductive material within the inner volume of the solar collector, enabling rapid heat transfer throughout the entire solar collector.

25. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 24, wherein the solar collector comprises a thin plate.

26. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 25, wherein the solar collector comprises a wire.

27. The apparatus according to claim 26, wherein the wire is formed in a three-dimensional shape.

28. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 27, further comprising a humidity sensor configured to measure the humidity of exhaled air flowing through the conduit and to provide the measured humidity to the controller.

29. The apparatus according to claim 28, wherein the controller is configured to take into account the humidity of the exhaled breath using the humidity of the received exhaled breath.

30. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 29, further comprising a pressure sensor configured to measure the pressure of exhaled air flowing through the conduit and to provide the measured pressure to the controller.

31. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 30, further comprising an airflow detector configured to detect airflow through the conduit and to provide the controller with an indication that air is flowing in the air passage.

32. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 31, configured to prevent backflow of air from the air passage past the heat collector.

33. The apparatus according to claim 32, further comprising a check valve for preventing backflow of air from the air passage past the heat collector.

34. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 33, further comprising a transmitter configured to communicate with a remote device, wherein the transmitter is selected from the group consisting of wired transceivers, infrared transceivers, radio frequency transceivers, and Li-Fi transceivers.

35. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 34, further comprising hardware and software / firmware configured to provide self-calibration of temperature measurement.

36. A method for measuring the temperature of exhaled breath (EBT), the method being: a. To provide an apparatus having the following: A conduit that defines the air passage in which the solar collector is placed, and A mouthpiece that communicates with the aforementioned air passage and fluid; b. While the subject exhales air from their mouth through the mouthpiece into the air passage, the temperature of the heat collector is measured at least once during exhalation while the exhaled air exchanges heat with the heat collector; c. A method comprising calculating an index temperature indicating the temperature of exhaled breath based on the temperature of the heat collector measured by a temperature measuring instrument.

37. The method according to claim 36, wherein the index temperature is corrected for other factors such as the humidity of exhaled breath, and / or corrected by a correction factor that takes into account known and / or expected inaccuracies.

38. The method according to claim 37, wherein the temperature of the solar collector is measured multiple times during a single exhaled breath.

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