Sleep apnea treatment device and treatment method

Abstract

To provide a sleep apnea treatment apparatus and sleep apnea treatment method that radiate low-frequency sound to a subject in order to treat sleep apnea and to alleviate the symptoms of sleep apnea.SOLUTION: A sleep apnea treatment apparatus includes: a stimulation device that applies a stimulation to a subject; and a controller including circuitry which receives sounds produced by the subject, converts the sounds to received sound signals, obtains snoring sound information from the received sound signals, calculates an impact of snoring sound produced by the subject based on the snoring sound information, and causes the stimulation device to apply the stimulation to the subject when the impact is higher than a threshold.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] This application is based on and claims the benefit of priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 62 / 774,085, filed November 30, 2018, U.S. Provisional Application No. 62 / 847,742, filed May 4, 2019, and U.S. Provisional Application No. 62 / 925,104, filed October 23, 2019, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

[0002] The present invention relates to a sleep apnea treatment device and method that radiates low frequency sound to a subject to treat sleep apnea and reduce symptoms of sleep apnea. [Background technology]

[0003] Snoring is a disorder that occurs frequently in the general population. The prevalence of chronic snoring is estimated to be 40% in adult men and 20% in adult women (Non-Patent Document 1). Snoring sounds are determined by many factors (Non-Patent Document 2), including the respiratory pathway (Non-Patent Document 3), the main site of upper airway narrowing (Non-Patent Document 4), and sleep stage and body position (Non-Patent Document 5).

[0004] Snoring is one of the important symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), which causes medical morbidity and mortality (Non-Patent Document 6). Obstructive sleep apnea is a sleep disorder in which breathing is repeatedly interrupted during sleep (Non-Patent Document 7). Sleep apnea not only causes insomnia, but also increases the incidence of various diseases and symptoms, such as hypertension, heart attack, cardiac arrhythmia, stroke, and depression. Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is the most common treatment for obstructive sleep apnea (Non-Patent Document 8). However, patients with obstructive sleep apnea feel frustrated because of some problems with CPAP (Non-Patent Document 9). Therefore, most investors focus on OSA treatments (Patent Document 1, Patent Document 2, Patent Document 3, Non-Patent Document 10). However, these treatments require behavioral changes or invasive procedures.

[0005] Snoring sounds are also a big problem for the snorer's bedmate. There are many attempts to suppress the impact of snoring sounds. Earplugs are the most common solution to suppress the impact of snoring noise. However, earplugs also suppress important sounds, such as the sound of an alarm system. In addition, wearing earplugs requires behavioral changes. Noise canceling systems attempt to cancel snoring sounds (Patent Document 4), but it requires behavioral changes and is not able to effectively suppress snoring sounds. Another strategy utilizes a system using an eye mask that emits a flash of light when the snoring sound intensity exceeds a pre-determined threshold (Patent Document 5). The application attempted to avoid affecting the normal sleep of the user, however, wearing an eye mask on the user requires behavioral changes. The anti-snoring bed system (Patent Document 6) attempts to stop snoring by changing the shape of the bed. This system presupposes the use of a special bed, i.e., it is not applicable to subjects who use normal beds.

[0006] Prior art documents Patent Literature Citation List Patent Literature PL 1 TR Shantha, "Device for snoring and obstructive sleep apnea treatment," US9072613B2. PL 2 F. Li, Z. Li, "Method and device for intelligently stopping snoring," WO2015027744A1. PL 3 W. Li, "Anti-snoring device," US9554938 B2. PL 4 G. Raviv, "Snoring suppression system," US5444786A. PL 5 H. Bruckhoff, "Device for snoring prevention," EP0493719A1. PL 6 H.-D. Lin, "Automated anti-snoring bed system," US8418289B2. Non-Patent Literature Citation List Non Patent Literature NPL 1 V. Hoffstein, "Apnea and snoring: state of the art and future directions," Acta Otorhinolaryngol Belg 2002;56(2):205-36. NPL 2 D. Pevernagie, R.M. Aarts, M. De Meyer, "The acoustics of snoring," Sleep Med Rev. 2010 Apr;14(2):131-44. NPL 3 Liistro G, Stanescu D, Veriter C. Pattern of simulated snoring is different through mouth and nose. J Appl Physiol 1991;70(6):2736-41. NPL 4 S.J. Quinn, N. Daly, P.D. Ellis, "Observation of the mechanism of snoring using sleep nasendoscopy," Clin Otolaryngol 1995;20(4):360-4. NPL 5 H. Nakano, T. Ikeda, M. Hayashi, E. Ohshima, A. Onizuka, "Effects of body position on snoring in apneic and nonapneic snorers," Sleep 2003;26(2):169-72. NPL 6 NM Punjabi, "The Epidemiology of Adult Obstructive Sleep Apnea," Proc Am Thorac Soc. 2008 Feb 15;5(2):136-43. NPL 7 www.sleepfoundation.org / sleep-apnea NPL 8 www.sleepfoundation.org / excessive-sleepiness-osa / treatments / cpap-treatment NPL 9 www.mayoclinic.org / diseases-conditions / sleep-apnea / in-depth / cpap / art-20044164 NPL 10 www.sleepreviewmag.com / 2014 / 09 / alternative-therapies-obstructive-sleep-apnea / Summary of the Invention

[0007] In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, a sleep apnea treatment apparatus includes a stimulation device for providing stimulation to a subject, and a controller including circuitry for receiving sound produced by the subject, converting the sound into a received sound signal, obtaining snoring sound information from the received sound signal, calculating an impact of the snoring sound produced by the subject based on the snoring sound information, and causing the stimulation device to provide stimulation to the subject when the impact is higher than a threshold value. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0008] A more complete appreciation of the invention and many of the attendant advantages thereof will be readily obtained as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which: [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a sleep apnea treatment device in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2]FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a sleep apnea treatment device including a low frequency sound generator. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a sleep apnea treatment device that emits low frequency sound to a subject when the subject goes into an apneic state during sleep, and acquires respiratory information using an ultra-wideband Doppler radar system. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a sleep apnea treatment device that emits low frequency sound to a subject when the subject goes into an apneic or snoring state during sleep, and acquires respiratory information using an ultra-wideband Doppler radar system and microphone. [Diagram 5] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a sleep apnea treatment device that emits low frequency sound to a subject when the subject experiences apnea or hypopnea during sleep, and acquires respiratory information using an ultra-wideband Doppler radar system, a microphone and a pulse oximeter. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a sound emitting device including a speaker unit, a housing and a tube to radiate low frequency sound into the near field of the opening area of ​​the tube and into the near field in front of the speaker unit. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a sleep apnea treatment apparatus including a sound emitting device using a housing, a tube, and a speaker unit to emit low frequency sound. [Figure 8] FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a sleep apnea treatment device using a data storage block. [Figure 9] FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a sleep apnea treatment apparatus that uses a sound emitting device with a tube and a speaker unit to emit low frequency sound. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a sound emitting device including a tube, a speaker unit, and an adjustment device for adjusting the position of the speaker unit. [Figure 11] FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a sound emitting device including a tube and a speaker unit for radiating low frequency sound, where the tube has a thickened portion at the location of the speaker unit. [Figure 12]FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a sound emitting device including a tube and a speaker unit for emitting low frequency sound, using acoustic horns at either end of the tube. [Figure 13] FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a sound emitting device including a speaker unit for radiating low frequency sound, a box having two parts separated by a partition, and two tubes. [Figure 14] FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a sound emitting device including a speaker unit for emitting low frequency sound, a box having two parts separated by a partition, and two tubes, each penetrating a respective part of the box. [Figure 15] FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram of a sleep apnea treatment apparatus including a sound emitting device using a speaker unit and a bifurcated tube with a valve, where the speaker unit is positioned across the inside of the tube and the valve opens the branch tube facing the snorer. [Figure 16] FIG. 16 shows a sleep apnea treatment apparatus that uses a sound emitting device with two speaker units and a bifurcated tube, with each speaker unit positioned across each of the branch tubes. [Figure 17] FIG. 17 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of an air vibration device including a speaker unit that generates air vibrations. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0009] Embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numbers designate corresponding or identical elements throughout the various drawings.

[0010] CPAP is an important treatment for obstructive sleep apnea, but wearing a CPAP device and forcing air through it can be frustrating for CPAP patients, and the sound of snoring can also be a major problem for snorers' bed companions.

[0011] In one aspect, the present invention aims to provide stimulation to a subject to stop or reduce the subject's apnea, hypopnea, and / or snoring during sleep. A sleep apnea treatment device according to an embodiment of the present invention is a device for emitting low frequency sound to a subject when the subject experiences apnea, hypopnea, and / or a precursor to apnea and hypopnea during sleep, the device including a low frequency sound generator having a transmission circuit for emitting low frequency sound to the subject, and a controller including a circuit for converting a plurality of sounds produced by the subject into a received signal, obtaining respiratory information from the received signal, processing the respiratory information such that an indicator corresponding to cessation of breathing, hypopnea, snoring, and / or a precursor to apnea and hypopnea is determined based on the respiratory information, and causing the low frequency sound generator to apply low frequency sound to the subject when the indicator is higher than a threshold value.

[0012] Another aspect of the invention is a method for treating sleep apnea, comprising converting sounds produced by a subject into a received signal, obtaining respiratory information from the received signal, processing the respiratory information such that indicators corresponding to respiratory pauses, hypopnea, snoring, and / or precursor conditions of apnea and hypopnea are determined based on the respiratory information, and applying low frequency sound to the subject when the indicators are higher than a threshold value.

[0013] A sleep apnea treatment device according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a device for providing stimuli 118 to a subject 100 when the subject snores. FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a sleep apnea treatment device using an embodiment of the present invention. The device is provided with one or more microphones 104 having one or more receiving circuits 106 for detecting and receiving sounds generated by the subject 100 and converting a plurality of sounds generated by the subject 100 into a plurality of received signals, a snore sound extraction block 108 for extracting snore sound information from the plurality of received signals, a snore sound evaluation block 110 for evaluating the snore sound information to detect snoring, a signal generation block 112 for generating signals to generate stimuli 118 for providing to the subject 100 using the stimulation device 116, and a stimulation device 116 having a transmitting circuit 114 for providing the stimuli 118 to the subject 100. A system controller 120 controls these operations of the sleep apnea treatment device. The system controller 120 determines / calculates the impact of the snoring sound generated by the subject based on the snoring sound information, compares the impact with a pre-determined threshold, which may be stored in memory, and causes the stimulation device 116 to provide the stimulation 118 to the subject 100 when it determines that the impact is higher than the threshold. The impact is estimated by the strength of the received sound signal. The threshold is determined by the strength of the received sound signal. For example, the threshold may be set to the average strength of the received sound signal when the subject is snoring.

[0014] The sleep apnea treatment device can stimulate the subject when the subject becomes apneic during sleep. The device is provided with one or more microphones 104 having one or more receiving circuits 106 for receiving sounds generated by the subject 100 and converting the sounds generated by the subject 100 into a plurality of received signals, a sleep information extraction block 200 for extracting respiration information from the plurality of received signals, a sleep apnea evaluation block 202 for evaluating the respiration information to detect breathing interruptions, snoring and / or hypopnea of ​​the subject, a signal generation block 112 for generating signals for generating stimuli 118 to be applied to the subject 100 using a stimulation device 116, and a stimulation device 116 having a transmission circuit 114 for applying the stimuli 118 to the subject 100. A system controller 120 controls these operations of the sleep apnea treatment device. The system controller 120 determines / calculates indicators corresponding to respiratory interruptions, hypopnea, and / or precursor conditions of apnea and hypopnea based on the respiratory information, compares the indicators to pre-determined thresholds which may be stored in memory, and causes the stimulation device 116 to provide stimulation 118 to the subject 100 when the indicators are higher than the thresholds.

[0015] In an embodiment of the present invention, the system controller 120 may be implemented by at least one computer readable medium or memory that holds instructions programmed according to the teachings of the present invention and that contains data structures, tables, records, or other data described herein. Examples of computer readable media are compact discs, hard disks, floppy disks, tapes, magneto-optical disks, PROMs (EPROMs, EEPROMs, Flash EPROMs), DRAMs, SRAMs, SDRAMs, or any other magnetic media, compact discs (e.g., CD-ROMs), or any other media from which a computer can read.

[0016] In an embodiment of the present invention, the system controller 120 may be a computer including a central processing unit (CPU) and memory such as read-only memory (ROM) and random access memory (RAM). The controller's CPU may be a single-core processor (including a single processing unit) or a multi-core processor. The computer may be a mobile device such as a personal digital assistant (PDA), a laptop computer, a field programmable gate array, or a cellular telephone.

[0017] The sleep apnea treatment device may emit low-frequency sound to the subject when the subject apnea occurs during sleep. Figure 2 shows a schematic diagram of a sleep apnea treatment device using an embodiment of the present invention. The device is provided with one or more microphones 104 with one or more receiving circuits 106 for converting a plurality of sounds generated by the subject into a plurality of receiving signals, a sleep information extraction block 200 for extracting respiration information from the plurality of receiving signals, a sleep apnea evaluation block 202 for evaluating the respiration information to detect the subject's pause in breathing, hypopnea, snoring, and / or precursor conditions of apnea and hypopnea, a signal generation block 112 for generating a signal for generating a low-frequency sound 206 using a low-frequency sound generator 204, and a low-frequency sound generator 204 with a transmitting circuit 114 for emitting the low-frequency sound 206 to the subject 100.

[0018] A sleep apnea treatment device may use an ultra-wideband Doppler radar system to obtain respiration information. FIG. 3 shows a schematic diagram of a sleep apnea treatment device using an embodiment of the present invention. The ultra-wideband Doppler radar system 302 includes one or more transmit antennas 304 and one or more receive antennas 306. Millimeter waves 308 are transmitted from the multiple transmit antennas 304. The transmitted millimeter waves 308 may be modulated using one of the pulse compression techniques, for example, m-sequence. The transmitted millimeter waves 308 are reflected by the body surface of the subject 100. The reflected millimeter waves are received by the multiple receive antennas 306. Two transmit antennas 304 and two receive antennas 306 result in 2×2=4 channels. This system is called a multiple input multiple output (MIMO) system. Multiple ultra-wideband Doppler radar systems result in an increase in channels, since the number of channels is generally equal to the product of the number of transmit antennas and the number of receive antennas. The sleep information extraction block 200 extracts respiration information from the information of multiple received signals, i.e., channels, acquired by the ultra-wideband Doppler radar system. The respiration information includes respiration rate. The sleep information extraction block 200 can extract the subject's heartbeat information, heart rate, and body position. The sleep apnea assessment block 202 detects the subject's breathing interruption, i.e., apnea. When the sleep apnea assessment block 202 detects the subject's apnea, the signal generation block 112 uses the low-frequency sound generator 204 to generate a signal that generates a low-frequency sound 206. The low-frequency sound generator 204 with the transmission circuit 114 emits low-frequency sound to the subject 100 to stop or reduce apnea by stimulating the low-frequency sound emission.

[0019] The sleep apnea treatment device can use the ultra-wideband Doppler radar system 302 and the microphone 104 with the receiving circuit 106 to obtain respiration information. FIG. 4 shows a schematic diagram of a sleep apnea treatment device using an embodiment of the present invention. The microphone 104 with the receiving circuit 106 converts a plurality of sounds generated by the subject into a plurality of received sound signals. A microphone with a receiving circuit in a cell phone is also applicable for obtaining a plurality of received sound signals. The sleep information extraction block 200 extracts snoring sound information from the plurality of received sound signals acquired by the microphone 104 with the receiving circuit 106, and extracts respiration information from the plurality of received signals acquired by the ultra-wideband Doppler radar system 302. The sleep apnea evaluation block 202 detects the subject's breathing interruption and snoring. The sleep apnea evaluation block 202 can detect the subject's breathing depression. When the sleep apnea assessment block 202 detects a pause in breathing or snoring of the subject, the signal generation block 112 generates a signal to generate an infrasound 206 using the infrasound generator 204. The infrasound generator 204 with the transmit circuitry 114 emits infrasound to the subject 100 to stop or reduce apnea and snoring by stimulating the infrasound emission. The infrasound generator 204 with the transmit circuitry 114 may emit infrasound to the subject 100 when the subject is hypopnea to stop or reduce hypopnea.

[0020] A pulse oximeter 500 can be used. FIG. 5 shows a schematic diagram of a sleep apnea treatment device using an embodiment of the present invention. The pulse oximeter 500 acquires oxygen saturation information of a subject. In general, the pulse oximeter 500 acquires peripheral oxygen saturation (SpO2) of a subject. A non-contact oxygen saturation monitor using one or more cameras can be used to acquire oxygen saturation information, heart rate information, and respiratory rate. The sleep information extraction block 200 extracts respiratory information from a plurality of received signals acquired by the ultra-wideband Doppler radar system 302, a plurality of received sound signals acquired by the microphone 104 having a receiving circuit, and the SpO2 information acquired by the pulse oximeter 500. The sleep apnea evaluation block 202 detects apnea, snoring, and hypopnea of ​​the subject. The pulse oximeter 500 can directly input the SpO2 information to the sleep apnea evaluation block 202. When the sleep apnea assessment block 202 detects apnea or hypopnea of ​​the subject, the signal generation block 112 generates a signal to generate an infrasound 206 using an infrasound generator 204. The infrasound generator 204 with the transmit circuitry 114 emits infrasound to the subject 100 to stop or reduce apnea and hypopnea through the stimulation of the infrasound emission. The infrasound generator 204 with the transmit circuitry 114 may emit infrasound to the subject 100 when the subject snores to stop or reduce snoring.

[0021] The ultra-wideband Doppler radar system used in this embodiment can transmit millimeter waves, the center frequency of the millimeter waves is 30 to 300 GHz, and the bandwidth of the millimeter waves is 0.5 GHz or more.

[0022] A controller including a circuit may obtain respiration information and heart rate information from a plurality of received signals acquired by the ultra-wideband Doppler radar system, and process the respiration information and heart rate information such that an index corresponding to breathing pauses, hypopnea, snoring, and / or precursor conditions of apnea and hypopnea is determined based on the respiration information and heart rate information. The index is calculated from the estimated heart rate, respiration rate, and / or snoring sounds.

[0023] The controller including the circuit may output the sleep information. The sleep apnea treatment device may emit infrasound and / or audible sound to the subject. Infrasound is a sound with a frequency lower than 20 Hz. Audible sound is a sound with a frequency between 20 and 20000 Hz.

[0024] The sleep apnea treatment device may use an infrasound generator that selectively radiates infrasound to limited locations, including locations on the subject's head and / or other body parts, to suppress the effects of infrasound radiation on bedmates or people sleeping near the subject. The use of at least two microphones or a radar system allows for detection of the location of the subject and people sleeping near the subject based on interferometry.

[0025] A sound emitting device using a speaker unit with a housing and a tube may be used as a low frequency to selectively radiate low frequency sound to a location of a subject. FIG. 6 shows the configuration of a sound emitting device that may be used for an embodiment of the present invention. The sound emitting device is provided with a speaker unit 600, a housing 604, and a tube (open tube section) 602 to radiate low frequency sound to the near field of the opening area of ​​the tube and the near field in front of the speaker unit 600. The speaker unit 600 is located at one open end of the housing, and the tube 602 is located at the other end of the housing 604 in the longitudinal direction. The size of the housing 604 may be larger than 10 cm. The opening location of the tube 602 is away from the location of the speaker unit 600. The sound emitting device of the present invention radiates low frequency sound at a frequency lower than the resonant frequency of the sound emitting device. In this setup, the low frequency sound radiated from the opening location of the tube 602 is approximately in anti-phase with the low frequency sound radiated from the speaker unit 600. In general, the effect of low frequency sound depends on the distance from the radiation point. In the near field of the side region, the effect of low frequency sound is approximately r S and the distance r from the tube opening location T and are almost the same, i.e., r S / r T is close to 1. This means that when the intensity of the low frequency sound emitted from the speaker unit is almost the same as the intensity of the low frequency sound emitted from the opening location of the tube, the amplitude of the low frequency sound emitted from the speaker unit is close to the amplitude of the low frequency sound emitted from the opening location of the tube. Therefore, the radiation of the anti-phase sound from the opening location of the speaker unit 600 and the tube 602 suppresses the influence of the low frequency sound 206 in the near field of the side region. S / r T Since r is close to 1, the effect of low frequency sound 206 in the far field is also suppressed. In contrast, in the near field of the tube opening area and in front of the speaker unit, r S / r Tis far from 1. This means that the amplitude of the low frequency sound emitted from the speaker unit is far from that of the low frequency sound emitted from the tube opening location, that is, the low frequency sound emitted from the speaker unit cannot effectively suppress the low frequency sound emitted from the tube opening. Therefore, this setting can limit the influence of the low frequency sound 206 to the near field of the tube opening area and the near field in front of the speaker unit. The speaker unit includes at least one of a dynamic loudspeaker, a dynamic midrange speaker, and a dynamic tweeter.

[0026] Fig. 7 shows a schematic diagram of a sleep apnea treatment apparatus using the sound emitting device shown in Fig. 6. The apparatus includes one or more microphones 104 having one or more receiving circuits 106 for converting a plurality of sounds generated by a subject into a plurality of receiving signals, a sleep information extraction block 200 for extracting respiration information from the plurality of receiving signals, a sleep apnea evaluation block 202 for evaluating the subject's respiration information and breathing pause, snoring, and / or hypopnea, a signal generation block 112 for generating a transmission signal for generating a low-frequency sound 206 using the sound emitting device, and a sound emitting device having a transmission circuit 114 including a speaker unit, a housing, and a tube.

[0027] In this setup, the low frequency sound radiated from the opening location of the tube 602 is approximately in anti-phase with the low frequency sound radiated from the speaker unit 600, so that the frequency of the low frequency sound radiated by the sound emitting device is lower than the resonant frequency of the sound emitting device.

[0028] In this setting, the frequency of the third harmonic of the low-frequency sound emitted by the sound-emitting device is lower than the resonant frequency of the sound-emitting device, i.e., the third harmonic of the low-frequency sound emitted from the opening location of the tube 602 is also in anti-phase with the third harmonic of the low-frequency sound emitted from the speaker unit 600, so the frequency of the low-frequency sound emitted by the sound-emitting device may be lower than 1 / 3 of the resonant frequency of the sound-emitting device using the housing. The resonant frequency of the sound-emitting device mainly depends on the volume of the housing, the tube radius, and the tube length.

[0029] The frequency of the low frequency sound radiated by the sound emitting device may be 20 to 100 Hz, and the resonant frequency of the sound emitting device using the housing may be 100 to 500 Hz, because in this setting, the frequency of the fifth harmonic of the low frequency sound radiated by the sound emitting device is also lower than the resonant frequency of the sound emitting device.

[0030] The speaker unit or tube opening area of ​​the sound emitting device used in the present invention can be directed towards the subject as the sound emitting device radiates low frequency sound into the near field of the tube opening area and into the near field in front of the speaker unit.

[0031] The sleep apnea treatment device can determine the transmission signal using the data acquired and / or calculated by the sleep apnea evaluation block and / or the transmission signal determination block. Figure 8 shows a schematic diagram of the sleep apnea treatment device using the data storage block. The sleep apnea treatment device is provided with one or more microphones 104 having one or more receiving circuits 106 for converting a plurality of sounds generated by the subject into a plurality of receiving signals, a sleep information extraction block 200 for extracting respiration information from the plurality of receiving signals, a sleep apnea evaluation block 202 for evaluating the respiration information and detecting the subject's cessation of breathing, snoring, and / or hypopnea, a transmission stage determination block 800 for determining the stage of transmission, a sleep apnea evaluation block and / or a data storage block 802, a signal generation block 112 for generating a transmission signal for generating the low-frequency sound 206 using the low-frequency sound generator, and a low-frequency sound generator including a speaker unit 600, a tube 602, and a housing 604 having a transmission circuit 114 for radiating the low-frequency sound to the subject. The stage of transmission determines the type of signal to be transmitted.

[0032] To increase the effect of the sound radiation on the subject, the frequency and / or intensity of the transmitted signal may be increased when the low frequency sound radiation on the subject fails to stop or reduce the subject's apnea, hypopnea, and / or snoring during sleep.

[0033] A user may directly adjust the frequency and / or strength of the transmitted signal, or the frequency and / or strength of the transmitted signal may be remotely adjusted based on a user condition, including a medical condition.

[0034] Since a quiet environment is believed to enforce the effects of low frequency radiation, low frequency sound may be radiated to the subject during periods of silence or quiet within each breath. Since snoring generally ceases or decreases during the expiratory phase, low frequency sound may be radiated to the subject during the expiratory phase.

[0035] The transmission stage determination block may use one or more special stages starting from a certain time before the wake-up time to wake up the subject comfortably. The certain time may be set to 30 to 60 minutes. The sound emission may be stopped from a certain time before the wake-up time to reduce the subject's discomfort caused by an unexpected wake-up. When a special stage is selected, low intensity low frequency sounds and / or musical tones may be emitted to the subject. The low intensity low frequency sounds and / or musical tones may be emitted intermittently. When a special stage is selected, the sleep apnea therapy device may provide vibration stimulation to the subject instead of low frequency sound emission.

[0036] The sound emitting device using a speaker can adopt the condition that the distance between the opening area of ​​the tube and the location of the speaker unit is more than 10 cm, because a certain distance between the opening area of ​​the tube and the location of the speaker unit can limit the influence of low frequency sound to the near field of the opening area of ​​the tube and the near field in front of the speaker unit.

[0037] A sound emitting device using a speaker unit with a tube may be used as a low frequency to selectively radiate low frequency sound to a location of the subject. FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a sleep apnea treatment apparatus using a sound emitting device using a speaker unit with a tube. A microphone 104 with a receiving circuit 106 converts a plurality of sounds generated by the subject into a plurality of receiving signals. A microphone with a receiving circuit in a cell phone is also applicable for acquiring a plurality of receiving signals. A sleep information extraction block 200 extracts breathing information from the plurality of receiving signals. A sleep apnea evaluation block 202 evaluates the breathing information and detects the subject's breathing interruption, snoring and / or hypopnea. A signal generation block 112 generates one or more signals to radiate a low frequency sound 206 or an audible sound using a tube 602 with a speaker unit 600. The low frequency sound 206 or an audible sound is applied to the subject 100 to stop or reduce the subject's apnea, hypopnea and / or snoring during sleep. The low frequency sound radiated from one end of the tube 602 is approximately in anti-phase with the low frequency sound radiated from the other end of the tube 602. This setup allows the influence of the low frequency sound 206 to be restricted to the near field of the opening area of ​​the tube 602. The influence of the low frequency sound 206 in the near field of the side areas is suppressed due to the radiation of the anti-phase sound from the opposite end of the tube 602.

[0038] A sound emitting device uses a speaker with a tube to selectively radiate low frequency sound to the subject's location, with both tube ends facing the subject.

[0039] The speaker units of a sound emitting device using a speaker unit with a tube may be positioned asymmetrically across the inside of the tube. A sound emitting device using a speaker unit with a tube may use an adjustment device 1000. FIG. 10 shows the configuration of a sound emitting device using the embodiment presented. The adjustment device (adjuster) 1000 adjusts the speaker unit O in the tube 602. S Adjust the location of 1002. Speaker unit O S The modification of the location of 1002 can adjust the null direction 1010 of the radiation pattern of the low frequency sound 206, since it changes the phase difference between the low frequency sound 206 at one end of the tube T1 1004 and the low frequency sound 206 at the other end of the tube T2 1006. In general, the null direction 1010 satisfies the following condition: T10 S =O S T2+T2R, and the angle T1RT2 is a right angle. The null direction may be directed towards the bed partner.

[0040] A tube with a thickened section 1100 at the location of the speaker unit can be used. Figure 11 shows the configuration of a sound emitting device using an embodiment of the present invention. The thickened section of the tube 1100 has a larger diameter compared to the diameter of the tip region of the tube 602, allowing a larger speaker unit 600 to be used.

[0041] A tube with one or more acoustic horns 1200 can be used. Figure 12 shows the configuration of a sound emitting device using the embodiment presented. Acoustic horns 1200 are used at both ends of the tube 602. Also, the thick part 1100 can be used for the location of the speaker unit. The acoustic horn 1200 can be located at the thick part 1100 of the tube. Simple cone horn, exponential horn, multi-cell horn, radial horn, tractrix horn, constant directivity horn, manta ray horn, bi-radial horn, twin Bessel horn, constant directivity horn, multi-entry horn, and waveguide horn can be used as the acoustic horn 1200.

[0042] A box 1300 having a partition 1302 can be used. Figure 13 shows the configuration of a sound emitting device using an embodiment of the present invention. The partition 1302 divides the inside of the box 1300 into two parts (two internal parts). The speaker unit 600 is placed in the partition 1302 of the box 1300. The speaker unit 600 may be placed or attached to an opening of the partition 1302. Each of the two parts of the box communicates with the outside by one or more tubes 602. An acoustic horn may be used instead of the tubes. The opening directions of both of the two tubes may be directed toward the subject 100.

[0043] The tube passes through a part of the box to communicate between the outside and the other part of the box. Figure 14 shows the configuration of a sound emitting device using the embodiment presented. This configuration allows the use of a long tube. One or both of the opening directions of the two tubes may be directed toward the subject 100.

[0044] A bifurcated tube with a valve can be used. FIG. 15 shows a schematic diagram of a sleep apnea treatment apparatus using a sound emitting device using an embodiment of the present invention. Two or more microphones 104 with a receiving circuit 106 convert the sounds generated by a sleeping person into a plurality of receiving signals. A microphone with a receiving circuit in a cell phone is also applicable for acquiring the plurality of receiving signals. A sleep information extraction block 200 extracts breathing information from the plurality of receiving signals. A sleep apnea evaluation block 202 evaluates the breathing information and detects the subject's breathing interruption, snoring and / or hypopnea. A snorer detection block 1504 uses the receiving signals acquired by the two or more microphones 104 to determine who among the sleepers is a snorer. A drive unit controller 1506 controls a drive unit 1508 to close one of the branch tubes by a valve 1510, and the open branch tube is directed to a snorer 1500 estimated by the snore detection block 1504. The drive unit controller 1506 can be realized by at least one computer readable medium or memory for holding instructions programmed according to the teachings of the present invention and for containing data structures, tables, records, or other data described herein. Examples of computer readable medium are compact disks, hard disks, floppy disks, tapes, magneto-optical disks, PROMs (EPROMs, EEPROMs, flash EPROMs), DRAMs, SRAMs, SDRAMs, or any other magnetic media, compact disks (e.g., CD-ROMs), or any other media that can be read by a computer. The drive unit 1508 can be realized by an actuator. Examples of actuators are solenoids, hydraulic cylinders, piezoelectric actuators, electric motors, and stepper motors. The signal generation block 112 generates one or more signals to radiate low frequency sounds 206 or audible sounds using a speaker unit 600 positioned throughout the inside of the tube. The infrasound 206 or audible sound is applied to the snorer 1500 to stop or reduce the subject's apnea, hypopnea, and / or snoring while sleeping.

[0045] A bifurcated tube with two speaker units can be used. FIG. 16 shows a schematic diagram of a sleep apnea treatment apparatus using a sound emitting device using an embodiment of the present invention. Two or more microphones 104 with receiving circuits 106 convert the sounds generated by a sleeping person into multiple receiving signals. A microphone with receiving circuits in a cell phone is also applicable for acquiring the multiple receiving signals. A sleep information extraction block 200 extracts breathing information from the multiple receiving signals. A sleep apnea evaluation block 202 evaluates the breathing information and detects the subject's breathing interruption, snoring and / or hypopnea. A snorer detection block 1504 uses the receiving signals acquired by the two or more microphones 104 to determine who among the sleepers is a snorer. A drive unit controller 1506 controls a drive unit 1508 to close one of the branch tubes by a valve 1510, and the open branch tube is directed to a snorer 1500 estimated by the snore detection block 1504. The two speaker units 600 are positioned across the interior of the two branch pipes or at the ends of the two branch pipes. The signal generation block 112 generates one or more signals to emit low frequency sounds 206 or audible sounds using the speaker units 600 toward the snorer 1500. The low frequency sounds 206 or audible sounds are applied to the snorer 1500 to stop or reduce the subject's apnea, hypopnea, and / or snoring during sleep. To suppress the effect of the low frequency sounds emitted from the speaker units 600 toward the snorer 1500, the speaker units 600 toward the potential snorer 1502 may emit canceling low frequency sounds. The sleep apnea treatment device may exclude a valve with a drive unit and a drive unit controller.

[0046] The speaker unit may generate airflow or air vibration to stimulate the snorer to suppress snoring. Figure 17 shows the configuration of an air vibration device using an embodiment of the present invention. A partition 1302 divides the inside of a box 1300 into two parts. The speaker unit 600 is located in the partition 1302 of the box 1300. Each of the two parts of the box communicates with the outside by one acoustic horn 1200. Both opening directions of the two tubes are directed toward the snorer 1500. The air vibrations are generated by a speaker unit 600 having a box 1300 and an acoustic horn 1200. The air vibrations 1700 generated from the acoustic horn 1200 are approximately in antiphase with the air vibrations from the other acoustic horns 1200.

[0047] Another aspect of the present invention is a method for treating sleep apnea, comprising converting a plurality of sounds produced by a subject into a plurality of received signals, obtaining respiratory information from the plurality of received signals, processing the respiratory information such that indicators corresponding to respiratory pauses, hypopnea, snoring, and / or precursor conditions of apnea and hypopnea are determined based on the respiratory information, and applying low frequency sound to the subject when the indicators are higher than a threshold value.

[0048] First Exemplary Embodiment 2 shows a schematic diagram of a sleep apnea treatment device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The device includes one or more microphones 104 with one or more receiving circuits 106 for converting a plurality of sounds generated by the subject into a plurality of receiving signals, a sleep information extraction block 200 for extracting respiration information from the plurality of receiving signals, a sleep apnea assessment block 202 for evaluating the respiration information and detecting the subject's cessation of breathing, hypopnea, snoring, and / or precursor conditions of apnea and hypopnea, a signal generation block 112 for generating a signal for generating a low-frequency sound 206 using a low-frequency sound generator 206, and a low-frequency sound generator 204 with a transmitting circuit 114 for emitting the low-frequency sound 204 to the subject 100.

[0049] Second Exemplary Embodiment FIG. 5 shows a schematic diagram of a sleep apnea treatment device according to an embodiment of the present invention. A pulse oximeter 500 acquires oxygen saturation information of a subject. In general, the pulse oximeter 500 acquires peripheral oxygen saturation (SpO2) of a subject. A non-contact oxygen saturation monitor using one or more cameras can be used to acquire oxygen saturation information, heart rate information, and respiratory rate. A sleep information extraction block 200 extracts respiratory information from a plurality of received signals acquired by an ultra-wideband Doppler radar system 302, a plurality of received sound signals acquired by a microphone 104 having a receiving circuit, and SpO2 information acquired by the pulse oximeter 500. A sleep apnea evaluation block 202 detects apnea, snoring, and hypopnea of ​​a subject. The pulse oximeter 500 can directly input the SpO2 information to the sleep apnea evaluation block 202. When the sleep apnea assessment block 202 detects apnea or hypopnea of ​​the subject, the signal generation block 112 generates a signal to generate an infrasound 206 using the infrasound generator 204. The infrasound generator 204 with the transmit circuitry 114 emits infrasound to the subject 100 to stop or reduce apneas and hypopneas by stimulating the infrasound emission. The infrasound generator 204 with the transmit circuitry 114 may emit infrasound to the subject 100 when the subject snores to stop or reduce snoring.

[0050] Third Exemplary Embodiment 8 shows a schematic diagram of a sleep apnea treatment device using a data storage block. The sleep apnea treatment device is provided with one or more microphones 104 with one or more receiving circuits 106 that convert a plurality of sounds generated by the subject into a plurality of receiving signals, a sleep information extraction block 200 that extracts breathing information from the plurality of receiving signals, a sleep apnea evaluation block 202 that evaluates breathing information and detects the subject's breathing pause, snoring, and / or hypopnea, a transmission stage determination block 800 that determines the stage of transmission, a data storage block 802 that stores data used and / or calculated by the sleep apnea evaluation block and / or the data storage block, a signal generation block 112 that generates a transmission signal for generating a low-frequency sound 206 using a low-frequency sound generator, and a low-frequency sound generator that includes a speaker unit 600, a tube 602, and a housing 604 with a transmission circuit 114 that radiates the low-frequency sound to the subject. The stage of transmission determines the type of the transmission signal.

[0051] Furthermore, the present invention includes the following aspects. 1. A sleep apnea treatment apparatus for stimulating a subject when the subject snores, comprising: a stimulation device having a transmission circuit configured to provide stimulation to the subject; and a controller including circuitry configured to convert a plurality of sounds produced by the subject into a plurality of received signals, obtain snoring sound information from the plurality of received signals, process the snoring sound information such that an impact of the snoring sound is determined based on the snoring sound information, and cause the stimulation device to provide stimulation to the subject when the impact is higher than a threshold. 2. A sleep apnea treatment apparatus for stimulating a subject when the subject experiences apnea, hypopnea, and / or a precursor state to apnea and hypopnea during sleep, the sleep apnea treatment apparatus comprising: a stimulation device having a transmission circuit configured to provide stimulation to the subject; and a controller including circuitry configured to convert a plurality of sounds produced by the subject into a plurality of received signals, obtain respiratory information from the plurality of received signals, process the respiratory information such that an indicator corresponding to respiratory interruption, hypopnea, and / or a precursor state to apnea and hypopnea is determined based on the respiratory information, and cause the stimulation device to provide stimulation to the subject when the indicator is higher than a threshold value. 3. A sleep apnea treatment device that radiates low frequency sound to a subject when the subject experiences apnea, hypopnea, and / or a precursor state to apnea and hypopnea during sleep, comprising: an infrasound generator having a transmitting circuit that radiates low frequency sound to the subject; and a controller including circuitry configured to convert a plurality of sounds produced by the subject into a plurality of received signals, obtain respiratory information from the plurality of received signals, process the respiratory information such that an indicator corresponding to respiratory cessation, hypopnea, snoring, and / or a precursor state to apnea and hypopnea is determined based on the respiratory information, and cause the infrasound generator to apply low frequency sound to the subject when the indicator is higher than a threshold value. 4. A sleep apnea treatment device that radiates low frequency sound to a subject when the subject experiences apnea, hypopnea, and / or a precursor state to apnea and hypopnea during sleep, the sleep apnea treatment device comprising: an ultra-wideband Doppler radar system including one or more transmitting antennas and one or more receiving antennas; an infrasound generator having a transmitting circuit that radiates low frequency sound to the subject; and a controller including a circuit configured to acquire respiratory information from a plurality of received signals acquired by the ultra-wideband Doppler radar system, process the respiratory information such that an indicator corresponding to respiratory arrest, hypopnea, snoring, and / or a precursor state to apnea and hypopnea is determined based on the respiratory information, and cause the infrasound generator to apply low frequency sound to the subject when the indicator is higher than a threshold value. 5. A sleep apnea treatment device for emitting low frequency sound to a subject when the subject experiences apnea, hypopnea, and / or a precursor state to apnea and hypopnea during sleep, the sleep apnea treatment device comprising: an ultra-wideband Doppler radar system including one or more transmitting antennas and one or more receiving antennas; an infrasound generator having a transmitting circuit for emitting infrasound to the subject; and a controller including a circuit configured to convert a plurality of ultra-wideband electromagnetic waves reflected by the subject into a plurality of received radar signals using the ultra-wideband Doppler radar system, convert a plurality of sounds generated by the subject into a plurality of received sound signals, obtain respiratory information from the plurality of received radar signals obtained by the ultra-wideband Doppler radar system and from the plurality of received sound signals, process the respiratory information such that an indicator corresponding to respiratory arrest, hypopnea, snoring, and / or a precursor state to apnea and hypopnea is determined based on the respiratory information, and cause the infrasound generator to apply infrasound to the subject when the indicator is higher than a threshold value. 6. A sleep apnea treatment device that radiates low frequency sound to a subject when the subject experiences apnea, hypopnea, and / or premonitory states of apnea and hypopnea during sleep, comprising an ultra-wideband Doppler radar system including one or more transmitting antennas and one or more receiving antennas; a pulse oximeter that acquires SpO2 information of the subject; an infrasound generator having a transmitting circuit that radiates low frequency sound to the subject; and a plurality of ultra-wideband electromagnetic waves reflected by the subject are converted into a plurality of received radar signals using the ultra-wideband Doppler radar system and generated by the subject. and a controller including a circuit configured to convert a plurality of sounds acquired by the ultra-wideband Doppler radar system into a plurality of received sound signals, obtain respiratory information from a plurality of received radar signals acquired by an ultra-wideband Doppler radar system, from SpO2 information of the subject, and from the plurality of received sound signals, process the respiratory information such that indicators corresponding to breathing arrest, hypopnea, snoring, and / or precursor conditions of apnea and hypopnea are determined based on the respiratory information, and cause the low frequency sound generator to apply low frequency sound to the subject when the indicators are higher than a threshold. 7. The sleep apnea treatment device described in 4, wherein the ultra-wideband Doppler radar system transmits millimeter waves, the center frequency of the millimeter waves is 30 to 300 GHz, and the bandwidth of the millimeter waves is 0.5 GHz or more. 8. The sleep apnea treatment device described in 4, wherein the controller includes a circuit configured to obtain breathing information and heart rate information from a plurality of received signals acquired by the ultra-wideband Doppler radar system, process the breathing information and heart rate information such that indicators corresponding to breathing pauses, hypopnea, snoring, and / or precursor conditions of apnea and hypopnea are determined based on the breathing information and the heart rate information, and cause the low frequency sound generator to apply low frequency sound to the subject when the indicators are higher than a threshold value. 9. A sleep apnea treatment device as described in 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, wherein the controller including the circuitry outputs sleep information. 10. The sleep apnea treatment device according to claims 3, 4, 5 and 6, characterized in that the sleep apnea treatment device emits infrasound and / or audible sound to the subject. 11. A sleep apnea treatment device as described in 3, 4, 5, and 6, wherein the low frequency sound generator selectively emits low frequency sound to a limited location. 12. A sound emitting device using a speaker unit that radiates low frequency sound to a limited location, the sound emitting device includes a speaker unit that radiates low frequency sound, a housing, and a tube, the opening area of ​​the tube being separated from the location of the speaker unit, and the speaker unit includes a dynamic loudspeaker, a dynamic midrange speaker, and a dynamic tweeter. 13. A sleep apnea treatment apparatus as described in 3, 4, 5, and 6, wherein the sound emitting device using the speaker unit as described in 12 is used as a low-frequency sound generator. 14. The sound emitting device according to claim 12, wherein the frequency of the low frequency sound radiated by the sound emitting device is lower than a resonant frequency of the sound emitting device. 15. The sound emitting device according to claim 12, wherein the frequency of the low frequency sound radiated by the sound emitting device is lower than 1 / 3 of the resonant frequency of the sound emitting device. 16. The sound emitting device according to claim 12, wherein the frequency of the low frequency sound radiated by the sound emitting device is between 20 and 100 Hz, and the resonant frequency of the sound emitting device is between 100 and 500 Hz. 17. The sound emitting device described in 12, wherein the opening area of ​​the speaker unit or the tube faces the subject. 18. The sleep apnea treatment device of 3, 4, 5, and 6, wherein the controller includes circuitry configured to convert a plurality of sounds produced by the subject into a plurality of received signals, obtain respiratory information from the plurality of received signals, process the respiratory information such that indicators corresponding to cessation of breathing, hypopnea, snoring, and / or precursor conditions of apnea and hypopnea are determined based on the respiratory information, determine a stage of transmission based on the indicators, store data used and / or calculated by the controller, and cause the low frequency sound generator to apply the low frequency sound to the subject based on the stage of transmission. 19. A sleep apnea treatment device as described in 3, 4, 5, and 6, wherein the frequency and / or intensity of the transmitted signal is increased when the low frequency sound radiation to the subject fails to stop or reduce the subject's apnea, hypopnea, and / or snoring during sleep. 20. A sleep apnea treatment device as described in 3, 4, 5, and 6, wherein the frequency and / or strength of the transmitted signal can be adjusted directly and / or remotely. 21. A sleep apnea treatment device as described in 3, 4, 5, and 6, wherein low frequency sound is radiated to the subject during periods of silence or quiet within each breath. 22. A sleep apnea treatment device as described in 3, 4, 5, and 6, in which low-frequency sound is emitted to the subject during the expiratory phase. 23. The sleep apnea treatment device of claim 18, wherein the controller further includes circuitry configured to determine one of a plurality of special stages as a stage of transmission from a time before a wake-up time. 24. The sleep apnea treatment device according to claim 23, wherein when the transmission stage is one of the special stages, no radiation, low intensity low frequency sound radiation, and / or musical sound radiation is selected. 25. A sleep apnea treatment device as described in 24, wherein the low-intensity low-frequency sound and / or musical sound is emitted intermittently. 26. The sleep apnea treatment device according to claim 23, wherein the sleep apnea treatment device provides vibration stimulation to the subject as an alternative to low-frequency sound radiation when the special stage is selected. 27. The sound emitting device according to claim 12, wherein the distance between the opening area of ​​the tube and the location of the speaker unit is 10 cm or more. 28. A sound emitting device using a speaker unit that radiates low frequency sound, the sound emitting device including a speaker unit that radiates low frequency sound and a tube through which the low frequency sound passes, the speaker unit being positioned across the inside of the tube. 29. The sound emitting device of claim 28, which uses a speaker unit that radiates low frequency sound to a limited location, with both tube ends facing the subject. 30. The sound emitting device of claim 28, wherein the speaker units are positioned asymmetrically across the interior of the tube. 31. The sound emitting device of claim 28, further comprising an adjustment device for adjusting the location of the speaker unit in the tube. 32. The sound emitting device according to claim 28, wherein the tube has a thickened portion at the location of the speaker unit. 33. The sound emitting device according to claim 32 substituting 28, wherein both ends of the tube are provided with acoustic horns, the acoustic horns including a simple cone horn, an exponential horn, a multi-cell horn, a radial horn, a tratrix horn, a constant directivity horn, a manta ray horn, a bi-radial horn, a twin Bessel horn, a constant directivity horn, a multi-entry horn, and a waveguide horn. 34. A sound emitting device using a speaker unit that radiates low frequency sound, the sound emitting device including: a speaker unit that radiates low frequency sound; a box having two parts divided by a partition; and two tubes, the speaker unit being positioned in the partition of the box, and each of the two parts of the box being in communication with the outside by one or more tubes. 35. The sound emitting device of claim 34, wherein each of the tubes passes through another portion of the box. 36. A sound emitting device using a speaker unit that radiates low frequency sound, the device including a bifurcated tube having a valve, the speaker unit positioned across the inside of the tube, the valve closing one of the branches and the valve opening the branch facing the direction of the snoring sound. 37. A sound emitting device using a speaker unit that radiates low frequency sound includes two speaker units that radiate low frequency sound and a bifurcated tube, each of the speaker units positioned across or at the end of each of the branch tubes. 38. An air vibration device using a speaker unit that generates air vibrations, the air vibration device including: a speaker unit that generates air vibrations; a box having two parts divided by a partition; and two acoustic horns or two tubes through which the air vibrations are transmitted, the speaker unit being positioned in the partition of the box, and each of the two parts of the box communicating with the outside by one or more acoustic horns or tubes. 39. An anti-snoring device as described in 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. 40. A method for treating sleep apnea, comprising: converting a plurality of sounds produced by a subject into a plurality of received signals; obtaining respiratory information from the plurality of received signals; processing the respiratory information such that indicators corresponding to respiratory pauses, hypopnea, snoring, and / or precursor conditions of apnea and hypopnea are determined based on the respiratory information; and applying low frequency sound to the subject when the indicators are higher than a threshold.

[0052] In one embodiment of the present invention, a sleep apnea treatment device is a device that radiates low frequency sound to a subject during sleep when the subject enters apnea, hypopnea, and / or a precursor state to apnea and hypopnea, and includes a low frequency sound generator having a transmit circuit that radiates low frequency sound to the subject, and a controller including circuitry configured to convert a plurality of sounds produced by the subject into a plurality of received signals, obtain respiratory information from the plurality of received signals, process the respiratory information such that an indicator corresponding to respiratory cessation, hypopnea, snoring, and / or a precursor state to apnea and hypopnea is determined based on the respiratory information, and cause the low frequency sound generator to apply low frequency sound to the subject when the indicator is higher than a threshold value.

[0053] Another aspect of the invention is a method for treating sleep apnea, comprising: converting a plurality of sounds produced by a subject into a plurality of received signals; obtaining respiratory information from the plurality of received signals; processing the respiratory information such that indicators corresponding to respiratory pauses, hypopnea, snoring, and / or precursor conditions of apnea and hypopnea are determined based on the respiratory information; and applying low frequency sound to the subject when the indicators are higher than a threshold.

[0054] Explanation of symbols 100 subjects 102 Snoring 104 Microphone 106 Receiving circuit 108 Snoring sound extraction block 110 Snoring Sound Evaluation Block 112 Signal Generator Block 114 Transmitting circuit 116 Stimulation Devices 118 Stimulus 120 System Controller 200 Sleep information extraction block 202 Sleep Apnea Assessment Block 204 Low Frequency Sound Generator 206 Low Frequency Sound 302 Ultra-Wideband Doppler Radar System 304 Transmitting Antenna 306 Receiving Antenna 308 mm wave 500 Pulse Oximeter 600 Drive Unit 602 tube 604 Case 800 Transmission stage decision block 802 Data Storage Block 1000 adjustment equipment 1002 OS 1004 T1 1006 T2 1008 R 1010 Null direction 1100 thick part 1200 Acoustic Horn 1300 Box 1302 Partition 1500 Snorer 1502 Potential Snorers 1504 Snoring person detection block 1506 Drive Unit Controller 1508 Drive Unit 1510 Valve 1700 Air vibration

Claims

1. 1. A system controller for detecting a premonition of sleep apnea, comprising: A received radar signal is obtained, which is a signal of a reflected wave of the ultra-wideband electromagnetic wave transmitted to the subject. acquiring a sound signal, the sound signal being a signal of a sound produced by the subject; detecting respiratory arrest, hypopnea, snoring, and a precursor state of sleep apnea based on respiratory information acquired from the received radar signal and the sound signal; System controller.

2. The ultra-wideband electromagnetic wave is a millimeter wave.

2. The system controller of claim 1.

3. The millimeter wave has a center frequency of 30 to 300 GHz and a bandwidth of 0.5 GHz or more. The system controller according to claim 2 .

4. A sleep apnea treatment device, comprising: A system controller according to any one of claims 1 to 3; a stimulation device connected to the controller; Equipped with the system controller is configured to cause the stimulation device to provide stimulation to the subject when the precursor condition to sleep apnea is detected. Device.

5. The stimulus is low-frequency sound radiation, vibration stimulus, air flow, and / or air vibration; 5. The apparatus of claim 4.

6. The stimulus is low frequency sound radiation.

5. The apparatus of claim 4.

7. and an ultra-wideband Doppler radar system connected to the controller and configured to transmit the ultra-wideband electromagnetic waves.

7. Apparatus according to any one of claims 4 to 6.

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