Patent ID: 9138167
Filing Date: 2015-09-22
Classification: A61B,A61M

Abstract:
1. A method for spirometric measurement using a whistle that has a pre-determined correlation between through-flowing airflow per unit time and frequency of acoustic emissions from the whistle, and a mobile digital device with a microphone, a sampling capability, a display, a data recording, processing and storage capability, and an ability to communicate data over a wireless network with an external data processing and storage resource, the whistle being physically separate from the mobile digital device and capable of transmitting an audio signal through electrically passive means for reception by the microphone of the mobile digital device, the method comprising: recording samples of an audio signal in an audible frequency range received at the microphone of the mobile digital device using the sampling capability of the mobile digital device, determining frequency values of the audio signal based on said recorded samples, determining whether the audio signal received at the microphone of the mobile digital device corresponds to an audio signal transmitted by the whistle in response to a user performing an exhalation forcefully through said whistle based on at least one of time-domain data and the determined frequency values of the audio signal, determining at least one expiratory airflow rate value of the user based on said determined frequency values and said correlation, determining at least one respiratory parameter of the user based on said at least one expiratory airflow rate value, and presenting feedback to said user on the display of the mobile device, wherein the feedback is based on at least one of the following: at least one of said recorded audio samples, at least one of said determined frequency values, said at least one determined expiratory airflow rate value, and said at least one determined respiratory parameter, wherein at least one of the steps of determining at least one expiratory airflow rate value of the user, determining at least one respiratory parameter of the user and presenting feedback to said user on the display of the mobile device is performed in response to determining that the audio signal received at the microphone of the mobile digital device corresponds to an audio signal transmitted by the whistle in response to a user performing an exhalation forcefully through said whistle, and wherein the steps of determining frequency values, determining at least one expiratory airflow rate value and determining at least one respiratory parameter are each performed by at least one of the mobile digital device and the external data processing and storage resource.