EP-4736829-A1 - AUTOMATIC PRESSURE CONTROL SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR HYPERBARIC OXYGEN CHAMBER FOR DETECTING PRESSURE EQUILIBRIUM STATE BETWEEN OUTER EAR AND MIDDLE EAR

EP4736829A1EP 4736829 A1EP4736829 A1EP 4736829A1EP-4736829-A1

Abstract

According to the present disclosure, in an automatic pressure control system of a hyperbaric oxygen chamber for detecting pressure equalization between the external ear and the middle ear, at least one processor may be configured to calculate an admittance of the eardrum based on an energy level of an output wave output by a speaker and an energy level of a reflected wave received by a microphone, determine whether the pressure equalization has occurred based on changes in the calculated admittance, and control an air feed valve based on the determination of whether the pressure equalization has occurred.

Inventors

The designation of the inventor has not yet been filed

Assignees

Ibex Medical Systems Co., Ltd.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260506
Application Date: 20240826

Claims (15)

An automatic pressure control system of a hyperbaric oxygen chamber for detecting pressure equalization between the external ear and the middle ear, comprising: a chamber having an internal space in which a patient can be positioned; a probe configured to be inserted into the patient's ear and having a speaker configured to output sound waves and a microphone configured to receive sound waves; an MCU module electrically connected to the probe; an air feed valve configured to open or close an air feed line connected to the chamber; an air exhaust valve configured to open or close an air exhaust line connected to the chamber; and at least one processor, wherein the MCU module is configured to transmit an output wave through the speaker and receives a reflected wave of the output wave reflected from the patient's eardrum through the microphone, wherein the at least one processor is configured to: calculate an admittance of the eardrum based on an energy level of the output wave output by the speaker and an energy level of the reflected wave received by the microphone, determine whether the pressure equalization has occurred based on changes in the calculated admittance, and control the air feed valve based on the determination of whether the pressure equalization has occurred.
The automatic pressure control system of Claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is configured: in determining whether the pressure equilibrium state has occurred, to determine that the pressure equalization has occurred when the admittance continues to increase or decrease within a window of a predetermined size.
The automatic pressure control system of Claim 2, wherein the window includes a predetermined number of admittance values.
The automatic pressure control system of Claim 2, wherein the at least one processor is configured: in determining whether the pressure equilibrium state has occurred, to determine that the pressure equalization has occurred when the admittance continues to increase within the window and a last admittance value within the window is equal to or greater than a predetermined multiple of a first admittance value.
The automatic pressure control system of Claim 2, wherein the at least one processor is configured: in determining whether the pressure equilibrium state has occurred, to determine that the pressure equalization has occurred when the admittance continues to decrease within the window and a first admittance value within the window is equal to or greater than a predetermined multiple of a last admittance value.
The automatic pressure control system of Claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is configured to: calculate the admittance by accumulating a predetermined amount of time-dependent data based on an energy level of the output wave and an energy level of the reflected wave, overlapping a portion of the predetermined accumulation amount of data, and updating only the remaining portion.
The automatic pressure control system of Claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is configured to: control the air feed valve to increase an internal pressure of the chamber, and pause pressurization of the chamber based on the calculated admittance when a pressure difference between the inner ear and the external ear is equal to or greater than a predetermined pressure difference.
The automatic pressure control system of Claim 7, wherein the at least one processor is configured to: control the air exhaust valve to decrease the internal pressure of the chamber when the pressure difference between the inner ear and the external ear is maintained at or above the predetermined pressure difference for a predetermined time in a state where the pressurization of the chamber is paused.
The automatic pressure control system of Claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is configured to: in controlling the air feed valve, when it is determined that the pressure equalization has occurred, control the air feed valve to maintain an internal pressure of the chamber for a predetermined time and then increase the internal pressure of the chamber.
An automatic pressure control method of a hyperbaric oxygen chamber for detecting pressure equalization between the external ear and the middle ear, comprising: transmitting an output wave through a speaker and receiving a reflected wave of the output wave reflected from a patient's eardrum through a microphone, wherein the speaker and the microphone included in a probe configured to be inserted into the patient's ear; calculating an admittance of the eardrum based on an energy level of the output wave output by the speaker and an energy level of the reflected wave received by the microphone; determining whether the pressure equalization has occurred based on changes in the calculated admittance; and controlling an air feed valve, which is configured to open or close an air feed line connected to a chamber, based on the determination of whether the pressure equalization has occurred.
The automatic pressure control method of Claim 10, wherein the determining whether the pressure equalization has occurred includes determining that the pressure equalization has occurred when the admittance continues to increase or decrease within a window of a predetermined size.
The automatic pressure control method of Claim 11, wherein the determining whether the pressure equalization has occurred includes determining that the pressure equalization has occurred when the admittance continues to increase within the window and a last admittance value within the window is equal to or greater than a predetermined multiple of a first admittance value.
The automatic pressure control method of Claim 11, wherein the determining whether the pressure equalization has occurred includes determining that the pressure equalization has occurred when the admittance continues to increase within the window and a last admittance value within the window is equal to or greater than a predetermined multiple of a first admittance value.
The automatic pressure control method of Claim 11, wherein the determining whether the pressure equalization has occurred includes determining that the pressure equalization has occurred when the admittance continues to decrease within the window and a first admittance value within the window is equal to or greater than a predetermined multiple of a last admittance value.
The automatic pressure control method of Claim 10: wherein in the calculating an admittance, calculating the admittance by accumulating a predetermined amount of time-dependent data based on an energy level of the output wave and an energy level of the reflected wave, a portion of the predetermined accumulation amount of data is overlapped, and only the remaining portion is updated.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure relates to an automatic pressure control system and method of a hyperbaric oxygen chamber for detecting pressure equalization between the external ear and the middle ear. BACKGROUND Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is a medical treatment that involves supplying nearly pure oxygen to a patient in a pressurized environment at a pressure more than twice that of the atmospheric pressure using a hyperbaric oxygen chamber. It is mainly used for conditions such as decompression sickness, air embolism, gas poisoning, wound healing, and burn treatment. In a conventional automatic pressure control system of a hyperbaric oxygen chamber, the pressure is controlled based on a treatment table without considering the patient's condition. However, during hyperbaric oxygen therapy, the pressure difference between the external ear and the middle ear in the pressurized environment can cause middle ear barotrauma. Depending on the severity, middle ear barotrauma may result in mild pain, congestion, and bleeding, and in severe cases, may cause eardrum rupture. To prevent the occurrence of middle ear barotrauma, the use of nasal sprays and extremely slow pressurization have been implemented. However, these methods cannot completely prevent the occurrence of middle ear barotrauma. A major issue is that the occurrence of middle ear barotrauma during treatment must be determined by the medical personnel based only on the patient's subjective feedback obtained through conversation. Therefore, a patient-customized treatment system is needed that can objectively determine the occurrence of middle ear barotrauma during hyperbaric oxygen therapy and can adjust the pressurization level according to the patient's condition. DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION PROBLEMS TO BE SOLVED BY THE INVENTION The present disclosure is conceived to objectively determine the pressure difference between the external ear and the middle ear of a patient undergoing hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Also, the present disclosure is conceived to automatically control the pressure of a hyperbaric oxygen chamber to protect a patient undergoing hyperbaric oxygen therapy from middle ear barotrauma. The problems to be solved by the present disclosure are not limited to the above-described problems. There may be other problems to be solved by the present disclosure. MEANS FOR SOLVING THE PROBLEMS An automatic pressure control system for a hyperbaric oxygen chamber for detecting pressure equalization between the external ear and the middle ear may comprise, a chamber having an internal space in which a patient can be positioned, a probe configured to be inserted into the patient's ear and having a speaker configured to output sound waves and a microphone configured to receive sound waves, an MCU module electrically connected to the probe, an air feed valve configured to open or close an air feed line connected to the chamber, an air exhaust valve configured to open or close an air exhaust line connected to the chamber, and at least one processor. Wherein the MCU module may be configured to transmit an output wave through the speaker and receives a reflected wave of the output wave reflected from the patient's eardrum through the microphone. Wherein the at least one processor may be configured to, calculate an admittance of the eardrum based on an energy level of the output wave output by the speaker and an energy level of the reflected wave received by the microphone, determine whether the pressure equalization has occurred based on changes in the calculated admittance, and control the air feed valve based on the determination of whether the pressure equalization has occurred. An automatic pressure control method for a hyperbaric oxygen chamber for detecting pressure equalization between the external ear and the middle ear may comprise, transmitting an output wave through a speaker and receiving a reflected wave of the output wave reflected from a patient's eardrum through a microphone, wherein the speaker and the microphone included in a probe configured to be inserted into the patient's ear, calculating an admittance of the eardrum based on an energy level of the output wave output by the speaker and an energy level of the reflected wave received by the microphone, determining whether the pressure equalization has occurred based on changes in the calculated admittance, and controlling an air feed valve, which is configured to open or close an air feed line connected to a chamber, based on the determination of whether the pressure equalization has occurred. Effects of the invention According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the pressure difference between the external ear and the middle ear can be objectively determined by detecting the condition of the patient's eardrum. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of middle ear barotrauma in the patient, ensure safety, and improve the efficiency of pressure control in the hype