Airway adaptor with optical pressure transducer and method of maufacturing a sensor component

• US 10,086,163 B2
• Filed: 05/26/2009
• Issued: 10/02/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 05/25/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Koninklijke Philips N.V.
• Original Assignee: Koninklijke Philips N.V.
• Inventors: Russell, James T.
• Primary Examiner(s): Negin, Russell S
• Application Number:
  US12/472,045
• Publication Number:
  US 20090262358A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,416 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 16/08 Bellows; Connecting tubes having means for taking samples G01N1/22; Water traps; Patient circuits
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 16/0858 Pressure sampling ports
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 16/0866 Passive resistors therefor
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2016/0027 pressure meter
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2016/0036 in the breathing tube and used in both inspiratory and expiratory phase
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2016/102 Measuring a parameter of the content of the delivered gas
• CPC Class Codes: G01B 2290/25 Fabry-Perot in interferometer, e.g. etalon, cavity
• CPC Class Codes: G01B 9/02023 Indirect probing of object, e.g. via influence on cavity or fibre
• CPC Class Codes: G01F 1/38 the pressure or differential pressure being measured by means of a movable element, e.g. diaphragm, piston, Bourdon tube or flexible capsule
• CPC Class Codes: G01F 1/383 with electrical or electro-mechanical indication
• CPC Class Codes: G01F 1/40 Details of construction of the flow constriction devices
• CPC Class Codes: G01L 9/0077 for measuring reflected light

Abstract

An airway adapter includes a housing and a pressure transducer. The housing includes a flow path having a first end and a second end, a first pressure port that communicates with the flow path, and a second pressure port that communicates with the flow path. The first pressure port is spaced apart from the second pressure port. The flow restriction is disposed in the flow path between the first and second pressure ports that creates a pressure differential therebetween. The pressure transducer generates a signal that reflects the differential pressure created by the flow restriction between the first and second pressure ports, wherein the pressure transducer includes an optical interferometer.

Claims

1. An airway adapter comprising:

a housing comprising;

a flow path,

a first pressure port that communicates with the flow path,

a second pressure port that communicates with the flow path, wherein the first pressure port is spaced apart from the second pressure port, and

a flow restriction disposed in the flow path between the first pressure port and the second pressure port to create a pressure differential;

a pressure transducer that generates a signal that reflects the pressure differential created between the first pressure port and the second pressure port; and

a channel formed within the housing that communicates the first pressure port with the second pressure port, the channel having two walls that are substantially parallel to each other and are substantially parallel to a portion of the flow path that includes the flow restriction, wherein a wall of the two walls contacts the portion of the flow path that includes the flow restriction, wherein the pressure transducer comprises a diaphragm disposed within the housing and communicating with the channel, the channel being formed proximate to an outer surface of the flow path and being substantially parallel to the portion of the flow path that includes the flow restriction.

2. The airway adaptor of claim 1, wherein the channel is directly adjacent to the outer surface of the flow path.

3. The airway adaptor as in claim 1, further comprising a member configured to reduce ingress of moisture from the passage into the channel, wherein the member is disposed proximate to the first pressure port.

4. The airway adaptor as in claim 1, wherein the channel is integrally molded as part of the housing.

5. The airway adaptor as in claim 1, wherein the diaphragm forms a portion of a boundary of the flow path.

6. The airway adapter of claim 1, wherein the diaphragm is substantially parallel to the portion of the flow path that includes the flow restriction.