Ambulatory distributed recorders system for diagnosing medical disorders

A method for aiding in the diagnosis of the medical condition of a fully ambulatory subject who exhibits temporal variations in various physiological parameters as a result of experiencing sleep disordered breathing events, comprising the steps of:

• locating a separate, recording unit on a plurality of selected measurement sites of the subject, wherein said recording units each having a physiological parameter sensor with signal conditioning and filtering circuitry to yield required levels of signal fidelity, a programmable controller with an analog to digital converter and an integrated data storage recorder,
• using said units to collect sensor output data that quantifies the temporal variations in the physiological parameter of interest at each said measurement site,
• sampling sensor output data at prescribed time intervals,
• time stamping and storing said sampled data in said integrated recorders,
• providing said units with a smart input/output interface device to control data flow between said recorders and an external computer, while allowing for the time synchronization of the collection of data from said units,
• using said external computer with application software to analyze and display the temporal variations in said data for the purpose of assessing the medical condition of said subject,
• using said external computer to score sleep disorder breathing events recorded within said data, and
• wherein said sleep disorder breathing events are characterized as being either central, obstructive or mixed events and as apneas or hypopneas, wherein said characterizations are based upon airflow and abdomen and thorax respiration effort measurements, with a hypopnea being defined by decreases amounting to less than a total cessation in all said measures, with a central apnea being defined by a cessation of all said measures, with an obstructive apnea being defined as a cessation of airflow with continued respiration efforts, and with an obstructive hypopnea being defined as paradoxical respiration effort changes with a decrease in airflow less than a total cessation.