Abstract: A respiratory sound analyzer system for use in the noisy ambient environments, such as in medical transport vehicles including helicopters, boats, aircraft, ambulances, and other vehicles, as well as at fire scenes, disasters, sporting events, rock concerts, and the like, includes an array of miniature accelerometers which are connected to the chest of a patient. Rather than relying on traditional auscultation, the on-board personnel will analyze a conditioned signal on a display screen or other device to monitor a patient's breathing patterns. Successive signals may be stored and compared with each other to determine a deterioration in a patient's breathing pattern, and signals may also be compared with stored normal and abnormal breathing signals. Ambient noise effects can be reduced or eliminated from the sensed breathing signal by a number of means.

Abstract: A laryngotracheal airway spectra readout and monitor uses one or more miniature accelerometers placed on the outside of the neck of a patient to generate acoustic signals of patterns of breathing. The miniature accelerometers act as contact microphones which are sensitive to the physical vibration of breathing noise but otherwise insensitive to ambient and environmental noise. The acoustic signals are processed using Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) or other suitable acoustic analysis to generate a digitized spectra which may be printed out or recorded for later diagnostic analysis. The printoputs are in the form of a calibrated and normalized graphic readout which can be read by trained physicians or technicians in much the same way as EKGs. The digitized spectra is analyzed by comparing identified parameters of the spectra with a database of known parameters of normal and abnormal airways.