Ventilation masks are disclosed herein including a mask body and a gas manifold coupled to the mask body to form a gas channel for directing a gas through a gas port to create a curtain effect gas flow within the patient cavity and form a gas curtain within the patient cavity and adjacent to at least one vent opening formed through the mask body, and a sampling cover couplable with the mask body to form a sampling channel between a sampling portal of the sampling cover and a sensing port, where the sampling portal is formed by a protrusion of the sampling cover that extends into the vent opening and can extend toward a patient cavity formed by an inner surface of the mask body.

A conventional flow tube for a metabolic cart is usually a straight length of pipe whose inner diameter is fixed by the respiratory burden imposed by the flow tube on the user, with a smaller diameter imposing a higher respiratory burden. The ratio of the straight flow tube's length to diameter is fixed by fluid dynamics, so increasing the flow tube's diameter causes the flow tube's length to increase. As the flow tube gets longer, it exerts more torque on the user's neck and jaw, creating discomfort. Reducing the flow tube's length causes an undesired increase in the respiratory burden but increasing the flow tube's diameter to reduce the respiratory burden makes the flow tube less comfortable, making the flow tube unconformable, hard to breathe through, or both. Bending the flow tube makes it possible to increase the flow tube's propagation length without increasing the flow tube's lever arm length.

Described herein are Dirofilarial exhalant signatures and methods of detecting a Dirofilaria signature in a non-blood biological sample, such as exhalant, that can be used to detect Dirofilarial infection in a subject, such as a canine.

A wireless sensor platform design and a single walled carbon nanotube/ionic liquid-based chemidosimeter system can incorporated into a highly sensitive and selective chemical hazard badge that can dosimetrically detect an analyte down to a sub parts-per-million concentration.

A pump-less breath analysis device regulates the flow of breath past an analyte sensor, which may be a semiconductor sensor, by dynamically adjusting the state or position of a valve as the user exhales into the device. The valve controls the flow of incoming breath between two flow paths: a venting path through which breath exits the device without passing by the sensor, and a sensing path that includes the sensor. In some embodiments, the valve is controlled by a processor that monitors pressure produced by the user's exhalation force. Based on these real-time pressure measurements, the processor adjusts the valve to maintain the pressure, and thus the flow rate, in the sensing path within a desired range. The processor may also use the pressure measurements to determine whether the characteristics of the user's exhalation are sufficient to generate a valid measurement.

The invention relates to methods for predicting the response of a subject suffering from asthma or a respiratory disorder to a therapy comprising a Th2 pathway modulator and a device for use in such methods.

The present technology relates to open respirator devices having sensors for measuring breath biometrics. For example, a respirator device (100) can include a mask component (102) that fits at least partially over a user's face and forms a gap (112) between a periphery of the mask component and the user's face, thereby forming a breathing chamber (108) between the mask portion and the user's face. A fan unit can provide air from the external environment to the breathing chamber for the user to inhale. In some embodiments, the air may be filtered before entering the breathing chamber and the fans may provide a positive pressure seal between across the gap. One or more sensors can be coupled to the mask component for measuring one or more metrics associated with the user's breath.

Method and apparatus obtain information about a patient and/or a respiratory therapy system that is configured to deliver respiratory therapy to the patient. The respiratory therapy system may include a flow generator configured to generate a supply of pressurized air along an air circuit to a patient interface. A sound signal representing a sound in the air circuit may be processed to obtain cepstrum data. A time series of delay estimates based on acoustic signatures of the cepstrum data may be generated. Each acoustic signature may represent a reflection of sound from a patient interface along the air circuit. Variation in the time series of delay estimates may be analysed. One or more output indicators based on the variation may be generated. The one or more output indicators may concern patient and/or system status.

An Expiratory breathing simulator device is provided and configured to simulate a real patient's End Tidal CO.sub.2 (ETCO.sub.2). The device is configured to be used with a vital signs simulator to simulate a patient's behaviour on a medical monitoring apparatus, for example for training medical professionals.

Methods for preserving catalytic activity of a PSA polymer membrane in a humid environment by immobilizing in the membrane an organic acid having a pKa greater than the pKa of the PSA polymer membrane; optical sensors based on the PSA membranes further including an immobilized organic reagent capable of reacting with a target compound in a humid environment to produce a detectable color shifted product; and non-invasive methods for estimating blood glucose concentration by utilizing an optical sensor to detect concentration of acetone in exhaled human breath and correlating it to blood glucose concentration.