Drug dispensing controller and monitoring system for a ventilator
First Claim
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1. An automated medical system for controlling medication dispensed to a ventilator circuit that extends between a mechanical ventilator and a patient, comprising:
- a gas conduit having axially opposing first and second ends, each end being in-line with and adapted to attach to spaced apart segments of tubing of the ventilator circuit to form part of the ventilation circuit;
at least one pressurized metered dose inhaler (pMDI) canister held orthogonal to the gas conduit with a dispensing end of the pMDI canister held proximate the gas conduit in fluid communication with the ventilator circuit via the gas conduit;
an actuator in communication with the at least one pMDI canister to press against the at least one pMDI canister to release medication from the dispensing end to the gas conduit then into the tubing of the ventilator circuit;
a housing holding the gas conduit, the at least one pMDI canister and the actuator;
a control unit residing away from the housing and attached to the housing by a cable, the control unit comprising an operator interface configured to allow an operator to adjust dosage and schedule medication dispensing for each of the at least one pMDI canister and to actuate the actuator to dispense medication from each of the at least one pMDI canister to the ventilator circuit at a defined dosage, delivery time and/or frequency, wherein the control unit monitors air pathway flow in the ventilator circuit and is configured to time actuation of the actuator so that medication from the at least one pMDI canister is released from the at least one pMDI canister only during an inspiratory/inhale cycle with gas flow toward the patient; and
a display held by the control unit for displaying parameters including number of doses remaining for each of the at least one pMDI canister.
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Abstract
An automated drug delivery and monitoring system for use on mechanically ventilated patients in the intensive care unit is presented. Medication in the form of respirable particles is transported through ventilator circuitry by a delivery unit. Multiple medications may be delivered into the gas flow of the ventilator, with each medication delivered in a defined dose for a frequency and interval as specified by an operator. The particles mixed into the gas flow of the ventilator are inhaled and ingested by the patent'"'"'s lungs.
116 Citations
23 Claims
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1. An automated medical system for controlling medication dispensed to a ventilator circuit that extends between a mechanical ventilator and a patient, comprising:
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a gas conduit having axially opposing first and second ends, each end being in-line with and adapted to attach to spaced apart segments of tubing of the ventilator circuit to form part of the ventilation circuit; at least one pressurized metered dose inhaler (pMDI) canister held orthogonal to the gas conduit with a dispensing end of the pMDI canister held proximate the gas conduit in fluid communication with the ventilator circuit via the gas conduit; an actuator in communication with the at least one pMDI canister to press against the at least one pMDI canister to release medication from the dispensing end to the gas conduit then into the tubing of the ventilator circuit; a housing holding the gas conduit, the at least one pMDI canister and the actuator; a control unit residing away from the housing and attached to the housing by a cable, the control unit comprising an operator interface configured to allow an operator to adjust dosage and schedule medication dispensing for each of the at least one pMDI canister and to actuate the actuator to dispense medication from each of the at least one pMDI canister to the ventilator circuit at a defined dosage, delivery time and/or frequency, wherein the control unit monitors air pathway flow in the ventilator circuit and is configured to time actuation of the actuator so that medication from the at least one pMDI canister is released from the at least one pMDI canister only during an inspiratory/inhale cycle with gas flow toward the patient; and a display held by the control unit for displaying parameters including number of doses remaining for each of the at least one pMDI canister. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. An automated medical system for controlling medication dispensed to a ventilator circuit that extends between a mechanical ventilator and a patient, comprising:
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a gas conduit having axially opposing first and second ends, each end being in-line with and adapted to attach to spaced apart segments of tubing of the ventilator circuit to form part of the ventilation circuit; a plurality of pressurized metered dose inhaler (pMDI) canisters held orthogonal to the gas conduit with a dispensing end of a respective pMDI canister held proximate the gas conduit in fluid communication with the ventilator circuit via the gas conduit, wherein a delivery path from the dispensing end of the pMDI canisters is directly into an axially extending flow path that is in-line with of the gas conduit; at least one actuator in communication with the pMDI canisters to press against the pMDI canisters to release medication from the dispensing end to the gas conduit then into the tubing of the ventilator circuit, wherein the at least one actuator can serially and selectively actuate each pMDI canister; a housing holding the gas conduit, the pMDI canisters and the at least one actuator; a control unit operably associated with the at least one actuator and comprising an operator interface configured to allow an operator to adjust dosage and schedule medication dispensing for each of the pMDI canisters and to actuate the at least one actuator to dispense medication from each pMDI canisters to the ventilator circuit at a defined dosage, delivery time and/or frequency, wherein the control unit monitors air pathway flow in the ventilator circuit and is configured to time actuation of the actuator so that medication from the at least one pMDI canister is released from the at least one pMDI canister only during an inspiratory/inhale cycle with gas flow toward the patient, wherein the control unit is further configured to provide electronic data records of patient physiologic parameters including a flow profile that contains peak flow, peak flow timing, patient airway resistance and duration for inhalation and exhalation; and a display held by the control unit for displaying parameters including number of doses remaining for each of the at least one pMDI canister. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23)
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Specification