Systems and Methods for Heating and Humidifying Inspired Gases during Mechanical Ventilation

A system for delivering respiratory gas to a patient, said system comprising:

• a humidifier which has a heating element and a chamber having an outlet;
• an inspiratory conduit having a chamber end connectable to the outlet of the humidifier and a patient end connectable to a patient airway apparatus;
• a heating member extending through or along at least a substantial portion of the inspiratory conduit;
• at least one airway sensor located at a patient airway sensor location at or near the patient end of the inspiratory conduit, said airway sensor being operative to sense the temperature and/or humidity of respiratory gas at or near the patient end of the inspiratory conduit;
• at least one chamber end sensor located at a chamber sensor location and operative to sense temperature and/or humidity of respiratory gas at or near the chamber of the humidifier;
• and
• a controller having a user interface;
• wherein the user interface is operative to allow a user to input target temperature and/or target humidity values to the controller within a clinically acceptable range and wherein the controller is programmed to control the amount of humidity delivered by humidifier and/or the amount of heat delivered by the heating member so as to cause temperature and/or humidity sensed by said at least one airway sensor and/or said at least one chamber end sensor to be substantially the same as or within a predetermined acceptable range of the user-input target temperature and/or target humidity value(s).