Purge system for nitric oxide administration apparatus

A method for purging a nitric oxide delivery system of an oxygen containing gas to avoid the production of nitrogen dioxide in the system, said method comprising the steps of:

• placing the system in an inactive state in which delivery of nitric oxide containing gas to a patient is not carried out;
• sensing the inactive state of the system and thereafter sealing a source of nitric oxide containing gas to avoid production of nitrogen dioxide in the source from oxygen containing gases in the system;
• and
• purging a conduit by which the nitric oxide containing gas is delivered from the source to a patient, the purging being carried out by passing nitric oxide containing gas along the conduit for a predetermined period of time to remove oxygen containing gas from the delivery system.

A method for purging a nitric oxide delivery system of an oxygen containing gas to avoid the production of nitrogen dioxide in the system, said method comprising the steps of:

• placing the system in an active state in which the system is capable of delivering nitric oxide containing gas to a patient;
• sensing the commencement of the active state to initiate a purging of a conduit through which the nitric oxide containing gas is delivered from a source to a patient, the purging being carried out by passing nitric oxide containing gas along the conduit for a predetermined period of time to remove oxygen containing gas from the delivery system;
• and
• delivering nitric oxide containing gas to a patient when the purge has been completed.

A method for purging a nitric oxide delivery system of oxygen containing gas to avoid the production of nitrogen dioxide in the system, said method comprising the steps of:

• placing the system in an active state in which the system is capable of delivering nitric oxide containing gas to a user;
• sensing the commencement of the active state to provide a prompt to a user of the system calling for the initiating of a purging of the system;
• sensing a physical parameter of gas passing in the conduit as a result of a user initiated purge to verify occurrence of the purge;
• and
• delivering nitric oxide containing gas to a user when the purge has been completed.

A method for purging a nitric oxide delivery system of an oxygen containing gas to avoid the production of nitrogen dioxide in the system, said method comprising the steps of:

• placing the system in an inactive state in which delivery of nitric oxide containing gas to a user is not carried out;
• sensing the inactive state of the system to provide a prompt to a user of the system calling for a user initiated sealing of a source of nitric oxide containing gas and a user initiated purging of a conduit by which the nitric oxide containing gas is delivered from the source to a user, the purging being carried out by passing nitric oxide containing gas along the conduit for a predetermined period of time to remove oxygen containing gas from the delivery system to avoid production of nitrogen dioxide in the source from oxygen containing gases in the system;
• and
• sensing a physical parameter of the purging gas passage in the conduit to verify occurrence of the purging and sealing of the source of nitric oxide containing gas.

A method for purging a nitric oxide delivery system of oxygen containing gases to avoid the production of nitrogen dioxide in the system, said method comprising the steps of:

• placing the system in an active state in which the system is capable of delivering nitric oxide containing gas to a user;
• sensing the commencement of the active state to provide a prompt to a user calling for the initiation of a purging of the system;
• and
• delivering nitric oxide containing gas to a user when the purge has been completed.

A method for purging a nitric oxide delivery system of an oxygen containing gas to avoid the production of nitrogen dioxide in the system, said method comprising the steps of:

• placing the system in an inactive state in which delivery of nitric oxide containing gas to a user is not carried out;
• and
• sensing the inactive state of the system to provide a prompt to a user calling for a user initiated sealing of a source of nitric oxide containing gas and a user initiated purging of a conduit by which the nitric oxide containing gas is delivered from the source to a patient, the purging being carried out by passing nitric oxide containing gas along the conduit for a predetermined period of time to remove oxygen containing gas from the delivery system to avoid production of nitrogen dioxide in the source from oxygen containing gases in the system;
• and
• delivering nitric oxide containing gas to a user when the purge has been completed.