Patent attributes
A system and method for determining the breathing rate of a patient using only an oscillometric device as the physiological sensor. Here, the oscillometric device is mounted on a patient's limb, and oscillometric pulse waveforms are obtained as the device's cuff deflates, thus obtaining pulse wave signals and artifact signals over multiple patient breaths. A computer processor analyzes these signals, and removes artifacts according to various algorithms. The resulting signal can be viewed as containing both an amplitude modulated envelope of pulse waves (AM signals) and a frequency modulated sequence of pulses at various time intervals (FM signals). The main harmonics of the AM and FM signals both contain breathing rate data, and system accuracy can be improved by comparing the AM harmonics with the FM harmonics. The final breathing rate data, often a function of the AM and FM harmonics, is output or stored in memory.
