Respiratory Muscle Training Device with Variable Volume Chamber
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current respiratory muscle endurance training devices are often complex and expensive, limiting their widespread use for patients with COPD and others seeking to improve ventilatory efficiency.
Innovation Solution
A portable respiratory muscle endurance training device featuring a chamber with adjustable volume, one-way inhalation and exhalation valves, and integrated CO2 and temperature sensors to provide feedback on CO2 levels and usage duration, facilitating effective lung exercise through controlled breathing patterns.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If complicated and expensive equipment is used for respiratory muscle endurance training, then training effectiveness is improved, but device accessibility and widespread use are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the essential functional elements of respiratory muscle training into a simplified device consisting of a chamber, valves, and sensor. By removing unnecessary components from complex equipment while retaining the core training mechanism, the device achieves effectiveness without requiring complicated and expensive infrastructure.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention employs a portable, cost-effective design that can be easily manufactured and distributed. The device uses inexpensive materials and components, making it accessible to a broader population including patients with COPD and athletes, thereby eliminating the barrier of high equipment costs.
2Ease of operation
If portable device is used for respiratory muscle training, then device accessibility is improved, but training precision and control are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent incorporates a sensor that provides real-time feedback on breathing parameters such as CO2 levels and breathing rate. This feedback mechanism enables the portable device to maintain training precision by monitoring and adjusting breathing patterns, ensuring effective respiratory muscle training despite the device's simplified, portable design.
3Device complexity
If fixed volume chamber is used, then device simplicity is improved, but adaptability to different users is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The invention transitions from a fixed volume chamber to a variable volume chamber that can be adjusted according to user requirements. This dynamic adjustment capability allows the same simple device structure to adapt to different users, including patients with COPD and athletes, by modifying the chamber volume to match individual training needs and physiological characteristics.
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 device is user-friendly, adaptable to various users, and provides immediate feedback, enhancing respiratory muscle endurance while being cost-effective and portable, making it accessible for both patients with COPD and healthy athletes.
Implementation Method 1
One or both of a CO2 sensor or a temperature sensor can be coupled to the chamber or patient interface to provide the user or caregiver with indicia about the CO2 level in, or the temperature of, the chamber or patient interface
Implementation Method 2
One or both of a CO2 sensor or a temperature sensor can be coupled to the chamber or patient interface to provide the user or caregiver with indicia about the CO2 level in, or the temperature of, the chamber or patient interface
Implementation Method 3
one-way inhalation and exhalation valves and flow indicators can also be associated with the chamber or patient interface
Implementation Method 4
A variable orifice may be positioned on the variable volume chamber to permit a desired amount of exhaled air to escape during exhalation and to receive a supply of air to replace the escaped exhaled air during inhalation
Data Source
AI summary
A respiratory muscle endurance training device (RMET) includes a chamber and a patient interface. In one implementation, one or both of a CO2 sensor or a temperature sensor can be coupled to the chamber or patient interface to provide the user or caregiver with indicia about the CO2 level in, or the temperature of, the chamber or patient interface, and/or the duration of use of the device. In another implementation, the RMET may have a fixed volume portion adjustable to contain a measured portion of a specific patient's inspiratory volume capacity. Methods of using the device are also provided.