Aerosol Delivery Control Device Breath Filtering
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional medical aerosol delivery devices face increased treatment times due to breathing pattern anomalies, such as brief inhalation periods caused by patients consciously controlling transitions between inhalation and exhalation or moving their tongues across the mouthpiece, which reduces the proportion of time spent delivering aerosol per breath and affects treatment regimen compliance.
Innovation Solution
A control device for medical aerosol delivery devices that provides inhalation length data, compares it with a predetermined threshold, filters out brief inhalation periods, and adjusts the aerosol delivery timing based on filtered data, using techniques like replacing brief inhalation lengths with moving averages to prevent anomalies from affecting treatment duration.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If conventional adaptive aerosol delivery algorithms treat brief periods of inhalation flow as breaths, then the algorithm can predict breath length, but treatment time increases due to breathing pattern anomalies
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a minimum breath duration threshold parameter to filter out brief inhalation artifacts. By changing the parameter criteria for breath detection from any inhalation flow to inhalations exceeding a predetermined minimum duration, the system excludes transient artifacts caused by tongue movements or conscious breathing control, thereby preventing treatment time extension while maintaining accurate breath detection
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts and removes brief inhalation artifacts from the breath detection process by comparing each detected inhalation against a minimum duration threshold. Inhalations below this threshold are excluded from breath counting and treatment timing calculations, separating true breaths from artifacts and preventing their negative impact on treatment duration
2Adaptability or versatility
If brief inhalation periods are included in breath detection, then breath prediction can be maintained, but the proportion of time spent delivering aerosol per breath is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The system changes the parameter threshold for breath inclusion from zero-duration inhalations to inhalations exceeding a minimum duration. This parameter modification ensures that only substantial breaths contributing to meaningful aerosol delivery are included in the adaptive algorithm, maintaining breath pattern adaptability while improving delivery efficiency by excluding brief periods that reduce overall productivity
3Loss of time
If breathing pattern anomalies are filtered out, then treatment time is reduced, but detection precision must be maintained
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a minimum duration threshold as an intermediary criterion between raw inhalation detection and breath confirmation. This intermediary filter selectively excludes brief artifacts while preserving true breaths, achieving both treatment time reduction and detection precision maintenance by mediating between raw sensor data and processed breath information
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to a control device (10) for a medical aerosol delivery device (2), a medical aerosol delivery system (1), a method for controlling a medical aerosol delivery device (2), a computer program element for controlling such device or system, and a computer readable medium having stored such computer program element. The control device (10) for a medical aerosol delivery device (2) comprises a provision unit (11), a processing unit (12), and a control unit (13). The provision unit (11) is configured to provide inhalation length data per breath. The processing unit (12) is configured to compare the provided inhalation length data with a predetermined inhalation length threshold, and to filter provided inhalation length data below the predetermined inhalation length threshold. The control unit (13) is configured to control the medical aerosol delivery device (2) based on the filtered inhalation length data.