Methods and systems for alerting practitioners to physiological conditions

摘要

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide systems and methods for monitoring a patient to produce a signal representing a blood oxygen concentration. The signal may be analyzed to determine the presence of one or more sleep apnea events, and an integral of the signal may be calculated if the signal is outside of a set range or threshold. A practitioner may choose to be informed of the presence of sleep apnea events if the blood oxygen concentration is less then a preset limit, if an upper limit has been reached for an integral representing the severity of the oxygen deprivation over time, or anytime sleep apnea events may be present in the signal.

主权项

1. A method of evaluating a condition of a patient based on blood oxygen saturation data, the method comprising:
monitoring a patient with a sensor to produce a signal comprising a sequence of numerical values for a physiological parameter over a time period; analyzing the signal with a processor of a patient monitor to determine a presence of one or more oxygen desaturation patterns; determining, with the processor, a value for an integral of the signal if the signal is outside of a predetermined range or threshold; determining, with the processor, whether the signal is indicative of sleep apnea or another type of desaturation event based at least in part upon both the presence of the one or more oxygen desaturation patterns and the value of the integral; providing, with the processor, an indication of sleep apnea based at least in part upon the determination that the signal is indicative of sleep apnea; and providing, with the processor, an indication of another type of desaturation event based at least in part upon the determination that the signal is indicative of another type of desaturation event.