Pulse Oximetry Control Using Breathing-Triggered Sampling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing pulse oximetry sensors for diagnosing obstructive sleep apnea are resource-intensive and cumbersome, often requiring prolonged use, which leads to high power consumption and inefficiency, while missing relevant oxygen desaturation events due to continuous operation.
Innovation Solution
A processing system controls a pulse oximetry sensor based on a subject's breathing pattern, particularly snoring, to activate only during periods indicative of sleep disordered breathing, such as hypopnea or imminent apnea events, using sensors like microphones, accelerometers, and machine-learning algorithms to optimize power usage and data relevance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the pulse oximetry sensor operates continuously to capture all oxygen desaturation events, then measurement completeness is improved, but power consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The pulse oximetry sensor operates in periodic cycles, alternating between active measurement periods and sleep periods. The sensor is activated based on breathing pattern detection, creating a periodic operation mode that reduces overall power consumption while maintaining measurement completeness during critical events
Solution Approach 2:
The breathing pattern detector autonomously determines when the sensor should be activated based on detected breathing patterns. The system self-regulates its operation without external control, activating the sensor only when breathing patterns indicate potential oxygen desaturation events, thereby reducing unnecessary power consumption
2Use of energy by moving object
If the pulse oximetry sensor is activated only during specific breathing patterns to reduce power consumption, then power efficiency is improved, but risk of missing oxygen desaturation events increases
Solution Approach 1:
The breathing pattern detector continuously monitors breathing patterns and identifies indicators of potential oxygen desaturation events before they occur. By detecting breathing pattern changes in advance, the system can activate the sensor at the optimal moment, ensuring events are captured while maintaining power efficiency during non-critical periods
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses feedback from the breathing pattern detector to control sensor activation. The detector continuously provides information about breathing patterns, and this feedback loop enables real-time adjustments to sensor operation, ensuring activation occurs during critical events while maintaining power efficiency during normal breathing
3Measurement precision
If the sensor activation threshold is set to be highly sensitive to breathing patterns, then event detection accuracy is improved, but false activation increases power consumption
Solution Approach 1:
The system adjusts activation parameters based on the specific breathing pattern characteristics detected. By changing the threshold parameters dynamically according to the type and severity of breathing pattern abnormalities, the system achieves high detection accuracy for critical events while avoiding unnecessary activation during minor or benign breathing variations
Data Source
Figure 1~2
AI summary
A system and method for controlling a pulse oximetry sensor. The pulse oximetry sensor is activated and de-activated according to one or more breathing characteristics of a subject's breathing such that the pulse oximetry sensor acquires pulse oximetry data only at times for which the one or more breathing characteristics indicate that oxygen desaturation is likely to occur.