Patent ID: 6572561
Filing Date: 2003-06-03
Classification: A61B

Abstract:
An indirect calorimeter operative to measure the respiratory oxygen consumption per unit time of a subject, comprising:a respiratory connector operative to be supported in contact with a subject so as to pass respiratory gases as the subject breathes into said respiratory connector; a bi-directional flow meter having an ultrasonic flow transducer that bi-directionally transmits and receives ultrasonic signals to said transducer to generate a signal as a function of the volume of gases passing through said flow meter; a gas concentration sensor operative to generate a signal as a function of an instantaneous carbon dioxide content of gases passing by said gas concentration sensor; a computing device operative to receive signals from said flow meter and said gas concentration sensor; and conduits interconnecting said respiratory connector, said flow meter and said gas concentration sensor, so that the subject's inhalations and exhalations pass through the flow meter and the subject's exhalations pass over the gas concentration sensor; the computer being operative to receive the signals from said gas concentration sensor and said flow meter to calculate the subject's oxygen consumption.