US 12,138,067 B2
Characterization of the nasal cycle
Noam Sobel, Tel Aviv (IL); Kobi Snitz, Tel Aviv (IL); Danielle Honigstein, Jerusalem (IL); and Aharon Weissbrod, Rehovot (IL)
Assigned to Noam Sobel, Tel Aviv (IL)
Filed by Noam Sobel, Tel Aviv (IL)
Filed on Jul. 20, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/380,348.
Prior Publication US 2023/0028914 A1, Jan. 26, 2023
Int. Cl. A61B 5/00 (2006.01); A61B 5/087 (2006.01)
CPC A61B 5/4035 (2013.01) [A61B 5/0002 (2013.01); A61B 5/087 (2013.01); A61B 5/4561 (2013.01); A61B 5/6819 (2013.01); A61B 5/6822 (2013.01); A61B 2562/0247 (2013.01)] 22 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. Apparatus comprising:
a left-nostril pressure sensor, a right-nostril pressure sensor, and an oral pressure sensor;
a nostril-oral probe, which comprises:
a left-nostril pressure probe, which is configured to be inserted into a left nostril of a subject, and comprises a left-nostril-pressure tube that is configured to transmit a left-nostril pressure wave from the left nostril to the left-nostril pressure sensor;
a right-nostril pressure probe, which is configured to be inserted into a right nostril of the subject, and comprises a right-nostril-pressure tube that is configured to transmit a right-nostril pressure wave from the right nostril to the right-nostril pressure sensor; and
an oral pressure probe, which is configured to be positioned in air communication with a mouth of the subject, and comprises an oral-pressure tube that is configured to transmit an oral pressure wave from the mouth to the oral pressure sensor;
a memory, which is configured to store left-nostril, right-nostril, and oral pressures sensed by the left-nostril pressure sensor, the right-nostril pressure sensor, and the oral pressure sensor, respectively, over a total period having a duration of at least 12 hours; and
one or more processors, which are configured:
to convert the left-nostril, the right-nostril, and the oral pressures stored in the memory to left-nostril, right-nostril, and oral pressure airflows, respectively, and
to calculate, based on the left-nostril, the right-nostril, and the oral airflows, a series of orally-weighted laterality-indices over a respective series of sub-periods of the total period,
wherein each of the orally-weighted laterality-indices of each of the sub-periods is indicative of a laterality index over the sub-period weighted by a normalized oral airflow over the sub-period, such that the greater the normalized oral airflow, the smaller the orally-weighted laterality-index, and
wherein each of the orally-weighted laterality-indices of each of the sub-periods reflects relative airflow through the left and the right nostrils over the sub-period.