US3695254A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Method and apparatus for determining volume of a lung
Assignee: Technicare Corp
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Filing: 1971-06-07
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Granted: 1972-10-03
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Expires: 1991-06-07
Abstract
Abstract A method and apparatus for dispensing a known and unknown volume of gas into the lungs of a vertebrate, for processing pulsatile input data from a sensing system for direct digital calibration and readout of the measurement, and for externally determining the volume and gas flow rate of each lung in a vertebrate.
Inventors
- 👤 Alvin S Blum
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-04 04:02
CPC Classifications
A; A61; A61B; A61B5/00; A61B5/103; A61B5/107; A61B5/1073; A61B5/08; A61B5/0813
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 21
Claim 1
Independent Claim
122 words
A method of determining the volume of a lung in a patient comprising, dispensing a known volume of a radioactive gas into said lung of the patient, externally sensing the quantity of radiation emitted from the lung containing said known volume of said gas, dispensing an unknown volume of said gas to fill said lung after exhalation of said known volume of gas, externally sensing the quantity of radiation emitted from said lung filled with the unknown volume of said gas, and determining the volume of said lung by comparing the sensed quantity of radiation from said lung filled with the unknown volume of said gas with the sensed quantity of radiation from said lung containing said known volume of said gas.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
122 words
A method of determining the volume of a lung in a patient comprising, dispensing a known volume of a radioactive gas into said lung of the patient, externally sensing the quantity of radiation emitted from the lung containing said known volume of said gas, dispensing an unknown volume of said gas to fill said lung after exhalation of said known volume of gas, externally sensing the quantity of radiation emitted from said lung filled with the unknown volume of said gas, and determining the volume of said lung by comparing the sensed quantity of radiation from said lung filled with the unknown volume of said gas with the sensed quantity of radiation from said lung containing said known volume of said gas.
Claim 3
Independent Claim
153 words
An apparatus for determining the volume of a lung in a patient comprising, a means for holding a radioactive gas source, a dispensing system including a dispensing means connected to said means for holding and adapted to be connected to the patient for dispensing a known volume of a radioactive gas into the lung of a patient and for filling the lung of a patient with an unknown volume of said radioactive gas, said dispensing system including connecting means adapted to connect the patient to said dispensing system, and a detecting system including detecting means adapted to be placed operatively near the exterior of the patient''s lung cavity, said detecting systems including a sensing means for sensing the quantity of radiation emitted from the lung containing said known volume of the radioactive gas, and for sensing the quantity of radiation emitted from said lung filled with the unknown volume of said radioactive gas.
Claim 4
Independent Claim
153 words
An apparatus for determining the volume of a lung in a patient comprising, a means for holding a radioactive gas source, a dispensing system including a dispensing means connected to said means for holding and adapted to be connected to the patient for dispensing a known volume of a radioactive gas into the lung of a patient and for filling the lung of a patient with an unknown volume of said radioactive gas, said dispensing system including connecting means adapted to connect the patient to said dispensing system, and a detecting system including detecting means adapted to be placed operatively near the exterior of the patient''s lung cavity, said detecting systems including a sensing means for sensing the quantity of radiation emitted from the lung containing said known volume of the radioactive gas, and for sensing the quantity of radiation emitted from said lung filled with the unknown volume of said radioactive gas.
Claim 5
Independent Claim
206 words
An apparatus for determining the volume of each lung in a patient comprising, a means for holding a radioactive gas source, a dispensing system including a dispensing means connected to said source and adapted to be connected to the patient for dispensing a known volume of a radioactive gas into the lungs of a patient and for filling the lungs of a patient with an unknown volume of said radioactive gas, said dispensing system including connecting means adapted to connect the patient to said dispensing system, and a detecting system including detecting means adapted to be placed adjacent the exterior of the patient''s lung cavity and operatively coNnected to said dispensing means, said detecting system including a sensing means for sensing the quantity of radiation emitted from the lungs containing said known volume of the radioactive gas, and for sensing the quantity of radiation emitted from each lung filled with the unknown volume of said radioactive gas, and processing means connected to said sensing means for comparing the sensed quantity of radiation emitted from each lung filled with said radioactive gas with the sensed quantity of radiation emitted from the lungs containing the known volume of said radioactive gas for determining the volume of each lung.
Claim 6
Independent Claim
206 words
An apparatus for determining the volume of each lung in a patient comprising, a means for holding a radioactive gas source, a dispensing system including a dispensing means connected to said source and adapted to be connected to the patient for dispensing a known volume of a radioactive gas into the lungs of a patient and for filling the lungs of a patient with an unknown volume of said radioactive gas, said dispensing system including connecting means adapted to connect the patient to said dispensing system, and a detecting system including detecting means adapted to be placed adjacent the exterior of the patient''s lung cavity and operatively coNnected to said dispensing means, said detecting system including a sensing means for sensing the quantity of radiation emitted from the lungs containing said known volume of the radioactive gas, and for sensing the quantity of radiation emitted from each lung filled with the unknown volume of said radioactive gas, and processing means connected to said sensing means for comparing the sensed quantity of radiation emitted from each lung filled with said radioactive gas with the sensed quantity of radiation emitted from the lungs containing the known volume of said radioactive gas for determining the volume of each lung.
Claim 7
Independent Claim
122 words
A method of determining the volume of each lung in a patient comprising, dispensing a known volume of a radioactive gas into the lungs of the patient, externally sensing the quantity of radiation emitted from the lungs containing said known volume of said gas, dispensing an unknown volume of said gas to fill each lung after exhalation of said known volume of gas, externally sensing the quantity of radiation emitted from each lung filled with the unknown volume of said gas, and determining the volume of each lung by comparing the sensed quantity of radiation from each lung filled with the unknown volume of said gas with the sensed quantity of radiation from the lungs containing said known volume of said gas.
Claim 8
Independent Claim
122 words
A method of determining the volume of each lung in a patient comprising, dispensing a known volume of a radioactive gas into the lungs of the patient, externally sensing the quantity of radiation emitted from the lungs containing said known volume of said gas, dispensing an unknown volume of said gas to fill each lung after exhalation of said known volume of gas, externally sensing the quantity of radiation emitted from each lung filled with the unknown volume of said gas, and determining the volume of each lung by comparing the sensed quantity of radiation from each lung filled with the unknown volume of said gas with the sensed quantity of radiation from the lungs containing said known volume of said gas.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
55 words
A method of determining the volume of each lung in a patient as set forth in claim 4 wherein, the lungs are initially sensed externally to determine the background radiation emitted from the lungs prior to receiving radioactive gas, reducing the sensed quantities of radiation from the lungs containing radioactive gas to provide actual values.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
46 words
A method of determining the volume of each lung in a patient as set forth in claim 4 which includes, dispensing the known volume of said gas at the beginning of inhalation to place said known volume of said gas into the lungs of the patient.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
41 words
A method of determining the volume of each lung in a patient as set forth in claim 6 which includes, dispensing the known volume of said gas into an external opening in the body of the patient leading to the lungs.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
40 words
A method of determining the volume of each lung in a patient as set forth in claim 7 which includes, sensing the radiation for a known time interval, and accumulating the quantities of sensed radiation in the form of counts.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
79 words
A method of determining the volume of each lung in a patient as set forth in claim 8 which includes, determining the volume of each lung in absolute units by direct computation of the accumulated counts from the sensing of the radiation from each lung filled with said gas as a multiple of the accumulated counts from the sensing of the radiation from the lungs containing the known volume of the gas, and displaying the volume of each lung.
Claim 14
Independent Claim
201 words
An apparatus for determining the volume of each lung in a patient comprising, a radioactive gas source, a dispensing system including a dispensing means connected to said source and adapted to be connected to the patient for dispensing a known volume of a radioactive gas into the lungs of a patient and for filling the lungs of a patient with an unknown volume of said radioactive gas, said dispensing system including connecting means adapted to connect the patient to said dispensing system, and a detecting system including detecting means adapted to be placed adjacent the exterior of the patient''s lung cavity and connected to said dispensing means, said detecting system including a sensing means for sensing the quantity of radiation emitted from the lungs containing said known volume of the radioactive gas, and for sensing the quantity of radiation emitted from each lung filled with the unknown volume of said radioactive gas, and processing means connected to said sensing means for comparing the sensed quantity of radiation emitted from each lung filled with said radioactive gas with the sensed quantity oF radiation emitted from the lungs containing the known volume of said radioactive gas for determining the volume of each lung.
Claim 15
Independent Claim
201 words
An apparatus for determining the volume of each lung in a patient comprising, a radioactive gas source, a dispensing system including a dispensing means connected to said source and adapted to be connected to the patient for dispensing a known volume of a radioactive gas into the lungs of a patient and for filling the lungs of a patient with an unknown volume of said radioactive gas, said dispensing system including connecting means adapted to connect the patient to said dispensing system, and a detecting system including detecting means adapted to be placed adjacent the exterior of the patient''s lung cavity and connected to said dispensing means, said detecting system including a sensing means for sensing the quantity of radiation emitted from the lungs containing said known volume of the radioactive gas, and for sensing the quantity of radiation emitted from each lung filled with the unknown volume of said radioactive gas, and processing means connected to said sensing means for comparing the sensed quantity of radiation emitted from each lung filled with said radioactive gas with the sensed quantity oF radiation emitted from the lungs containing the known volume of said radioactive gas for determining the volume of each lung.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
60 words
An apparatus for determining the volume of each lung of a patient as set forth in claim 10 wherein, said dispensing system including control means to dispense the known volume of the radioactive mixture at the beginning of inhalation into an external opening in the body of the patient to place the known volume of said gas into the lungs.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
87 words
An apparatus for determining the volume of each lung in a patient as set forth in claim 11 wherein, said sensing means senses the radiation from each lung to transmit a pulsatile signal to said processing system, and said processing system accumulates, stores and compares the quantity of radiation from each lung filled with the unknown volume of the radioactive gas with said quantity of the radiation from said lungs containing the known volume of the gas to determine the volume of each lung in absolute units.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
67 words
An apparatus for determining the volume of each lung in a patient as set forth in claim 12 wherein, said dispensing system includes a measuring means connected to said control means, said measuring means provides a known volume of said radioactive gas, and said control means dispenses the known volume of said gas into the lungs and dispenses the unknown volume of said gas into the lungs.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
119 words
An apparatus for determining the volume of each lung of a patient as set forth in claim 13 wherein, said sensing means senses the radiation from each lung filled with unknown volume of said radioactive gas at a second stage during breathing maneuvers, and said processing system accumulates, stores and compares the quantity of radiation from each lung filled with the unknown volume of said radioactive gas at a second stage during breathing maneuvers with the total quantity of radiation from both lungs containing the known volume of said gas for determining the gas flow rate of each lung during the time lapse between the two sensing operations by determining the difference in the two volumes of each lung.
Claim 20
Independent Claim
164 words
A method of determining the gas flow rate of each lung in a patient which consists in, dispensing a known volume of a radioactive gas into the lungs of the patient, externally sensing the quantity of radiation emitted from the lungs containing said known volume of said gas, dispensing an unknown volume of said gas to fill each lung, externally sensing the quantity of radiation emitted from each lung containing the unknown volume of said gas at two stages during breathing maneuvers, determining the volume of each lung filled with said gas at each of the two stages by comparing the sensed quantity of radiation from each lung containing the unknown volume of said gas at each stage with the sensed quantity of radiation from the lungs containing said known volume of said gas, and determining the gas flow rate of each lung during the time lapse between the two stages by determining the difference in volume of each lung at the two stages.
Claim 21
Independent Claim
164 words
A method of determining the gas flow rate of each lung in a patient which consists in, dispensing a known volume of a radioactive gas into the lungs of the patient, externally sensing the quantity of radiation emitted from the lungs containing said known volume of said gas, dispensing an unknown volume of said gas to fill each lung, externally sensing the quantity of radiation emitted from each lung containing the unknown volume of said gas at two stages during breathing maneuvers, determining the volume of each lung filled with said gas at each of the two stages by comparing the sensed quantity of radiation from each lung containing the unknown volume of said gas at each stage with the sensed quantity of radiation from the lungs containing said known volume of said gas, and determining the gas flow rate of each lung during the time lapse between the two stages by determining the difference in volume of each lung at the two stages.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1975-10-03 | 1976-04-03 | 1976-10-03 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1979-10-03 | 1980-04-03 | 1980-10-03 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1983-10-03 | 1984-04-03 | 1984-10-03 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |