| abstract |
Apparatus, systems and methods for monitoring persons suffering from chronic diseases predict and evaluate physiological changes that may affect the management of the subject. Examples of such chronic diseases include, but are not limited to, heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, and diabetes. Monitoring includes measurement of breathing movements, which can then be analyzed for evidence of changes in respiratory rate, or for events such as hypopnea, sleep apnea and periodic breathing. Monitoring can be augmented by measurement of nighttime heart rate in conjunction with breath monitoring. Additional physiological measurements such as subjective symptom data, blood pressure, blood oxygen level and various molecular markers may be obtained. Embodiments for the detection of breathing patterns and heart rate are disclosed with exemplary implementations of the decision process based on these measurements. |