RESPIRATION MONITORING PROCESS AND DEVICE

摘要

A respiration monitor comprises a transducer array (5) having a plurality of individual transducer elements (7) that span at least part of the region of diaphragm movement of a patient. A patient (1) having a lung (2) and an abdomen (3) being separated therefrom by a diaphragm (4) is fitted with an ultrasound transducer array (5) over the lung sinus (6) prior to being given a CT or MRI scan. Each individual transducer element (6) emits an ultrasound pulse and then detects its echo in the known manner. Because air has a much higher acoustic impedance than tissue, the reflection of the ultrasound beam is much more pronounced when the lung is insonated. By measuring the strength of the receiving signal, it is possible to determine to a high degree of accuracy the position of the patient's diaphragm.