Porting block for a medical ventilator

A porting system for a ventilator, the ventilator including a housing having an exterior surface including a recess, an inlet port, a flow generator structured to generate a flow of gas, and an outlet port structured to discharge the flow of gas from the housing, the ventilator being operable among a plurality of different modes of operation, the porting system comprising:

• (a) a plurality of sensors structured to monitor a number of parameters with respect to the flow of gas;
• and
• (b) a number of porting blocks, wherein the modes of operation of the ventilator comprise a first mode, a second mode, and a third mode, wherein the predetermined configurations of the sensors comprise a first configuration corresponding to the first mode, a second configuration corresponding to the second mode, and a third configuration corresponding to the third mode, wherein the interchangeable porting blocks comprise a first porting block having a first removable routing element, a second porting block having a second removable routing element, and a third porting block having a third removable routing element, wherein, when the ventilator is operated in the first mode, the first removable routing element is structured to be coupled to the housing of the ventilator, wherein, when the ventilator is operated in the second mode, the second removable routing element is structured to be coupled to the housing of the ventilator, and wherein, when the ventilator is operated in the third mode, the third removable routing element is structured to be coupled to the housing of the ventilator.

A ventilator comprising:

• (a) a housing having an interior and an exterior with an exterior surface;
• (b) an inlet port extending from the exterior to the interior of the housing;
• (c) a flow generator disposed within the interior and being structured to generate a flow of gas;
• (d) an outlet port for discharging the flow of gas from the housing;
• (e) a plurality of sensors for monitoring a number of parameters with respect to the flow of gas;
• and
• (f) a number of interchangeable porting blocks structured to be selectively coupled to the housing of the ventilator to facilitate operation of the ventilator in a desired one of a plurality of different operating modes, wherein the number of interchangeable porting blocks is a plurality of porting blocks and wherein each porting block establishes a corresponding configuration of at least one of the plurality of sensors and passageways to facilitate the desired one of the operating modes of the ventilator.

A method of operating a ventilator comprising:

• (a) providing the ventilator with a flow generator structured to generate a flow of gas, and a plurality of sensors for monitoring a number of parameters with respect to the flow of gas, the ventilator having a housing, wherein the ventilator has a plurality of modes of operation, and wherein the sensors are configurable to a plurality of different predetermined configurations corresponding to the modes of operation of the ventilator;
• (b) providing a number of porting blocks each having a removable routing element;
• (c) selecting one of the modes of operation of the ventilator;
• (d) selecting the porting block among the number of porting blocks which corresponds to the selected mode of operation of the ventilator;
• and
• (e) attaching the removable routing element of the selected porting block to the housing of the ventilator in order to configure the sensors in the predetermined configuration corresponding to the selected mode of operation of the ventilator.