Breathing Circuit Pressure Sensor False Alarm Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional closed circuit breathing apparatus (CCBA) devices fail to accurately alert users when insufficient oxygen is supplied, due to pressure switches being unable to distinguish between breathing-related pressure fluctuations and ambient pressure changes, leading to potential suffocation risks.
Innovation Solution
A method and apparatus that utilize a pressure sensor to sense pressure signals within the breathing circuit, determining if the signal represents breathing by identifying characteristic inhalation and exhalation events, and generating an alert only when insufficient oxygen is supplied and breathing is detected, thereby preventing false alarms and ensuring user safety.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If the sensitivity of the pressure switch is increased to detect breathing, then breathing detection capability is improved, but false alarms increase due to ambient pressure fluctuations
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary analysis of pressure signal characteristics to establish a baseline pattern of breathing before triggering an alert. The processor analyzes multiple pressure fluctuations over time to confirm they match breathing patterns before generating an alarm, preventing premature or false alerts while maintaining sensitivity to actual breathing events
Solution Approach 2:
The system continuously monitors pressure fluctuations and provides feedback by comparing each new pressure change against the established breathing pattern. This feedback mechanism allows the system to distinguish between ambient pressure changes and actual breathing events, maintaining high sensitivity while reducing false alarms through continuous pattern verification
2Reliability
If the sensitivity of the pressure switch is reduced to prevent false alarms, then false alarm rate decreases, but breathing detection capability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary analysis of pressure signal characteristics to establish a baseline pattern of breathing before triggering an alert. The processor analyzes multiple pressure fluctuations over time to confirm they match breathing patterns before generating an alarm, preventing premature or false alerts while maintaining sensitivity to actual breathing events
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts its detection threshold based on the analyzed breathing pattern. Rather than using a fixed sensitivity level, the processor adapts the detection criteria to match the user's specific breathing characteristics, maintaining optimal detection sensitivity while filtering out ambient pressure variations that do not match the established pattern
3Reliability
If ambient pressure fluctuations are monitored more closely to distinguish from breathing, then false alarm reduction is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The existing pressure switch is made multi-functional by programming it to perform both traditional alert triggering and breathing pattern recognition. The processor analyzes the same pressure signal for multiple purposes: detecting ambient pressure changes, identifying breathing patterns, and generating appropriate alerts. This eliminates the need for separate sensors or systems while achieving false alarm reduction
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses its own pressure sensing capability to solve the false alarm problem without requiring external or additional components. The pressure switch's output signal is fed into the processor which autonomously analyzes the signal characteristics to distinguish breathing from ambient fluctuations, making the system self-sufficient and avoiding increased complexity
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution effectively reduces false alarms while ensuring that users are alerted to insufficient oxygen supply, thereby preventing suffocation risks by accurately differentiating between breathing-related pressure changes and ambient fluctuations.
Implementation Method 1
sensing pressure within the breathing circuit using a pressure sensor
Data Source
AI summary
A closed circuit breathing apparatus (2) and a method of operating the same, the method comprising: determining whether a sufficient amount of replenishing gas is being supplied to a breathing circuit (4); sensing pressure within the breathing circuit (4) using a pressure sensor (6); generating a pressure signal representative of the sensed pressure; determining whether the pressure signal is representative of breathing; and generating an alert if it is determined that both an insufficient amount of replenishing gas, such as oxygen, is being supplied to the breathing circuit (4) and that the pressure signal is representative of breathing.