Patent ID: 9597469
Date: 2017-03-21
CPC Classifications: A61M

Claim:
1. A method of detecting a fault in an apparatus for supplying breathable gas to a patient at a positive pressure in connection with the treatment of sleep-disordered breathing, the apparatus including a gas flow generator comprising a servo controlled motor and impeller, the method comprising: monitoring first output from a breath detection module, the first output indicating whether the patient is breathing and being determined based at least in part on a patient respiratory flow signal calculated from parameters gathered from the apparatus; monitoring second output from an apnea detection module, the second output indicating whether the patient is experiencing an apneic event and also being determined based at least in part on the patient respiratory flow signal; determining whether the first output and the second output indicate that the patient is breathing and experiencing an apneic event at the same time; determining whether the first output and the second output indicate that the patient has neither breathed nor experienced an apneic event for a predetermined time period; and generating an alert of a likely fault in the apparatus (a) in response to a determination that the first output and the second output indicate that the patient is breathing and experiencing an apneic event at the same time, and (b) in response to a determination that the first output and the second output indicate that the patient has neither breathed nor experienced an apneic event for a predetermined time period.