Humidification system
AssigneeVyaire Medical Consumables LLC
InventorsNeil Alex Korneff, Paul David Dixon, Christopher M. Varga
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Abstract
The present invention provides a method for reducing condensed humidifying agent in a humidification system by pulsing a delivery of humidifying agent into a respiratory circuit. During a non-pulsed interval, gas flowing through the respiratory circuit will evaporate the condensed humidifying agent present in the respiratory circuit. The present invention also provides a method and apparatus for delivering humidified gas to a patient, wherein the delivery avoids the problems associated with a stationary water humidifier. In the method, the delivery of humidifying agent is precisely controlled to deliver a flow of humidifying agent to a volume of gas.
Claims19
A method of reducing condensed humidifying agent in a humidification system, the method comprising:
- providing a humidification system comprising a respiratory circuit for delivering a first volume of gas to a patient and a humidifier portion for delivering a humidifying agent to the first volume of gas;
- delivery of delivering a pulsed amount of humidifying agent to the first volume of gas via the humidifier portion immediately after a patient exhalation or during a patient inhalation and while the first volume of gas is provided from a gas source to the respiratory circuit;
- heating the first volume of gas upstream of a discharge line of the respiratory circuit;
- and
- vaporizing condensed humidifying agent present in discharge line immediately after a patient inhalation or during a patient exhalation and while a second volume of gas, different than the first volume, is provided from the gas source to the respiratory circuit.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.