Portable drag compressor powered mechanical ventilator
First Claim
1. An exhalation valve for controlling the expiratory gas flow from a mammalian patient, said exhalation valve comprising:
- a housing defining an expiratory gas flow passageway therethrough;
an annular valve seat formed within said expiratory gas flow passageway;
an annular diaphragm movably disposed within said gas flow passageway, in juxtaposition to said annular valve seat, said diaphragm being variably movable back and forth to various positions between and including;
i) a fully closed position wherein said diaphragm is firmly seated against said annular valve seat to prevent gas from flowing through said passageway; and
ii) a fully open position wherein said diaphragm is retracted away from said annular valve seat so as to permit substantially unrestricted flow of expiratory gas through said pathway;
an elongate actuation shaft having a proximal end and a distal end, the distal end of said actuation shaft being contactable with said diaphragm, and said actuation shaft being axially moveable back and forth to control the positioning of said diaphragm between said fully closed and said fully open positions;
an electrical induction coil linked to said actuation shaft such that a decrease in the current passing into said induction coil will cause said shaft to advance in the distal direction and an increase in the current passing into said induction coil will cause said shaft to retract in the proximal direction;
means for determining the flow rate of expiratory gas passing out of said exhalation valve;
means for determining airway pressure;
a microprocessor controller connected to said means for determining airway pressure, said controller being provided with a positive expiratory pressure setting, and said controller being connected to said induction coil and adapted to emit control signals to said induction coil to control the movement of said actuation shaft in response to the current airway pressure, thereby maintaining the present amount of positive expiratory pressure;
a radio frequency transponder containing flow characterization data specific for said exhalation valve for the means for determining the flow rate of expiratory gas passing out of said exhalation valve;
said controller being further connected to said means for determining the flow rate of expiratory gas passing out of said exhalation valve and being equipped to receive radio frequency input of the characterization data contained in the radio frequency transponder, and to utilize such data to determine the instant flow rate of expiratory gas passing out of said exhalation valve.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A ventilator device and system comprising a rotating compressor, preferably a drag compressor, which, at the beginning of each inspiratory ventilation phase, is accelerated to a sufficient speed to deliver the desired inspiratory gas flow, and is subsequently stopped or decelerated to a basal flow level to permit the expiratory ventilation phase to occur. The ventilator device is small and light weight enough to be utilized in portable applications. The ventilator device is power efficient enough to operate for extended periods of time on internal or external batteries. Also provided is an oxygen blending apparatus which utilizes solenoid valves having specific orifice sizes for blending desired amounts of oxygen into the inspiratory gas flow. Also provided is an exhalation valve having an exhalation flow transducer which incorporates a radio frequency data base to provide an attendant controller with specific calibration information for the exhalation flow transducer.
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Citations
17 Claims
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1. An exhalation valve for controlling the expiratory gas flow from a mammalian patient, said exhalation valve comprising:
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a housing defining an expiratory gas flow passageway therethrough; an annular valve seat formed within said expiratory gas flow passageway; an annular diaphragm movably disposed within said gas flow passageway, in juxtaposition to said annular valve seat, said diaphragm being variably movable back and forth to various positions between and including; i) a fully closed position wherein said diaphragm is firmly seated against said annular valve seat to prevent gas from flowing through said passageway; and ii) a fully open position wherein said diaphragm is retracted away from said annular valve seat so as to permit substantially unrestricted flow of expiratory gas through said pathway; an elongate actuation shaft having a proximal end and a distal end, the distal end of said actuation shaft being contactable with said diaphragm, and said actuation shaft being axially moveable back and forth to control the positioning of said diaphragm between said fully closed and said fully open positions; an electrical induction coil linked to said actuation shaft such that a decrease in the current passing into said induction coil will cause said shaft to advance in the distal direction and an increase in the current passing into said induction coil will cause said shaft to retract in the proximal direction; means for determining the flow rate of expiratory gas passing out of said exhalation valve; means for determining airway pressure; a microprocessor controller connected to said means for determining airway pressure, said controller being provided with a positive expiratory pressure setting, and said controller being connected to said induction coil and adapted to emit control signals to said induction coil to control the movement of said actuation shaft in response to the current airway pressure, thereby maintaining the present amount of positive expiratory pressure; a radio frequency transponder containing flow characterization data specific for said exhalation valve for the means for determining the flow rate of expiratory gas passing out of said exhalation valve; said controller being further connected to said means for determining the flow rate of expiratory gas passing out of said exhalation valve and being equipped to receive radio frequency input of the characterization data contained in the radio frequency transponder, and to utilize such data to determine the instant flow rate of expiratory gas passing out of said exhalation valve. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. An exhalation valve comprising:
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a) a housing defining a first exhalation passageway through which expiratory gas may outflow in a first direction; b) a valve seat formed within said passageway; c) a diaphragm having a front side and a back side, said diaphragm being sized and configured such that the front side thereof may abut against said valve seat to thereby block the flow of gas through said exhalation passageway, said diaphragm being moveable back and forth between; i) a first position wherein said diaphragm is fully retracted from said valve seat to permit unrestricted flow through said passageway; ii) a second position wherein said diaphragm is seated on said valve seat to block flow through said passageway; iii) a range of intermediate positions between said first and second positions wherein said diaphragm will cause varying degrees of restriction of the flow through said passageway; d) an elongate shaft having a first end and a second end, the first end of said shaft being adjacent to the back side of said diaphragm, said shaft being axially moveable back and forth between; i) a first position wherein the first end of said shaft is at a location which will retain said diaphragm in its first position; ii) a second position wherein the first end of said shaft is at a location which will allow said diaphragm to move to its second position; and
,iii) a range of intermediate positions wherein said shaft is at a location which will allow said diaphragm to move to one of its intermediate positions; e) an electrical induction coil slidably mounted within said housing so as to move back and forth in response to changes in current applied to the coil, said coil consisting essentially of multiple spirally wound contiguous convolutions of wire upon which a rigidifying coating has been applied to hold said wire in a closely coiled substantially cylindrical configuration without an internal support structure; f) a mounting spider connecting said shaft to said coil, said spider configured to hold said shaft in co-axial alignment with the longitudinal axis of the coil, with the first end of the shaft protruding toward the back side of said diaphragm such that, when the coil moves forward, said shaft will move forward toward said first shaft position, and when said coil moves rearward, said shaft will be retracted toward said second shaft position. - View Dependent Claims (5)
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6. An exhalation valve comprising:
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a) a housing defining a first exhalation passageway through which expiratory gas may outflow in a first direction; b) a valve seat formed within said passageway; c) a diaphragm having a front side and a back side, said diaphragm being sized and configured such that the front side thereof may be abut against said valve seat to thereby block the flow of gas through said exhalation passageway, said diaphragm being moveable back and forth between a first position wherein said diaphragm is fully retracted from said valve seat to permit unrestricted flow through said passageway;
a second position wherein said diaphragm is seated on said valve seat to block flow through said passageway; and
a range of intermediate positions between said first and second positions wherein said diaphragm will cause varying degrees of restriction of flow through said passageway;d) an elongate shaft having a first end and a second end, the first end of said shaft being adjacent to the back side of said diaphragm, said shaft being axially moveable back and forth between a first position wherein the first end of said shaft is at a location which will retain said diaphragm in its first position;
a second position wherein the first end of said shaft is at a location which will allow said diaphragm to move to its second position; and
range of intermediate positions wherein said shaft is at a location which will allow said diaphragm to move to one of its intermediate positions;e) an electrical induction coil slidably mounted within said housing so as to move back and forth in response to changes in current applied to the coil, said coil consisting essentially of multiple convolutions of wire upon which a rigidifying coating has been applied to hold said wire in a closely coiled substantially cylindrical configuration; f) a mounting spider connecting said shaft to said coil, said spider configured to hold said shaft in co-axial alignment with the longitudinal axis of the coil, with the first end of the shaft protruding toward the back side of said diaphragm such that, when the coil moves forward, said shaft will move forward toward said first shaft position, and when said coil moves rearward, said shaft will be retracted toward said second shaft position; g) a pliable dust barrier disposed between said valve seat and said induction coil, said pliable dust barrier being sealed to the surrounding housing to prevent particulate matter from passing around said shaft and into said induction coil, said dust barrier being in contact with said shaft and being sufficiently flexible to move back and forth in accordance with axial movement of said shaft. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8)
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9. An exhalation valve comprising:
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a housing defining an expiratory gas flow path connectable to a mammalian patient such that expiratory gas exhaled by the patient will pass through said flow path in a first direction; a valve associated with said flow path to permit gas exhaled by the patient to pass through said flow path in said first direction, but to prevent gas from being drawn through said flow path in a second direction, opposite said first direction, when said patient inhales; a flow measuring apparatus for monitoring the flow rate of expiratory gas passing through said exhalation valve; and specific flow-pressure calibration information for the flow measuring apparatus stored on a storage medium contained within the exhalation valve housing. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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Specification