Patent ID: 8353844

Claim:
A spirometry-based device for continuous monitoring of work of breathing (WOB), comprising: a flow sensor; and a respiratory mechanics module connected with the flow sensor; wherein the flow sensor samples an airway gas flow and an airway pressure when a patient is in a state of inspiration; wherein the respiratory mechanics module calculates an incremental amount of a gas volume that flows to the patient side of the flow sensor in a sampling period, calculates a product of the airway pressure and the incremental amount of the gas volume in the sampling period, and accumulates the product into the total work of breathin (WOB tot ) wherein the respiratory mechanics module further measures a peak inspiratory pressure (PIP) and a tidal volume (VT) under a condition of mechanical respiration and calculates elastic work of breathing (WOB elastic ) as: W ⁢ ⁢ O ⁢ ⁢ B elastic = 1 2 ⁢ V ⁢ ⁢ T · P ⁢ ⁢ I ⁢ ⁢ P .