The present invention relates generally to medical equipment, more particularly, the use of fluid hoses coupling tanks to cannulas, as part of medical gas therapy, such as oxygen therapy. The invention describes a collection system for managing excess flexible hose that a patient might need to wear for medical reasons such as home oxygen medical therapy. It comprises a collection container, a non-spooling roller system for collecting excess hose into the collection container and extraction from the collection container, and power system to power and control the roller system.

A breathing circuit for use in conjunction with a ventilator serving a mechanically-ventilated patient includes an expiratory gas airflow pathway; an inspiratory gas airflow pathway; and a gas mixing mechanism operable to mix inspiratory gas and expiratory gas in an amount sufficient to equilibrate the patient's PETCO.sub.2 and arterial PCO.sub.2 such that the patient's PETCO.sub.2 is a clinically reliable approximation of the patient's PaCO.sub.2.

Disclosed is a manually operable volume-adjustable ventilation device. The device includes a reservoir with an inlet mechanism, an outlet mechanism, and a volume adjuster configured to move a volume adjustment limit of the reservoir and change an expressed maximum volume of the reservoir. The reservoir has a body having a plurality of movable walls defining an enclosed volume. The reservoir has an uncompressed state and a compressed state. The walls of the reservoir are movable with respect to each other, such that moving the walls expresses the volume adjustment limit of the reservoir. The walls can be operably connected by movable structures configured such that two adjacent walls are configured to rotate around substantially orthogonal axes with respect to each other when the reservoir moves from an uncompressed to a compressed state. In some embodiments, the movable structures can be hinges, such as snap-fit assembly hinges. Methods of ventilating a patient that involve the device are also disclosed.

In one embodiment, the present invention provides a system to deliver at least one therapeutic gas to a spontaneously breathing patient, wherein the rate of delivery of the at least one therapeutic gas exceeds the patient's inspiratory flow rate, and the amount of the at least one therapeutic gas that is wasted is minimized or eliminated.

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for facilitating anaesthesia, particularly in Re-Breather anaesthetic circuits. A problem with Re-Breather circuits is that their dynamic response can be relatively slow. The dynamic response is the response of the circuit to delivering changes of anaesthetic concentration. In current circuits, Fresh Gas containing anaesthetic is delivered into the circuit and may be substantially diluted by the gas already present in the circuit. It is therefore difficult to achieve a rapid increase of anaesthetic concentration for delivery to the patient. In the present invention, an accumulator is placed in the Re-Breather circuit to accumulate Fresh Gas containing anaesthetic as it is introduced into the circuit, adjacent an inhalation conduit to the patient. Fresh Gas containing high concentrations of anaesthetic is therefore immediately available to the patient.

A manual resuscitator regulating system for regulating the rate and volume of ventilation during manual resuscitation. The manual resuscitator regulating system may include an intake assembly configured to permit a selected volume of gas to flow into a chamber over a predetermined amount of time and/or an outtake assembly configured to permit a selected volume of gas flow out of the chamber over a predetermined amount of time. The intake assembly and/or the outtake assembly may include one or more adjustment mechanisms configured to allow a user to selectively adjust volume. The intake assembly and the outtake assembly may be configured to coordinate with one another to deliver a selected tidal volume and/or volume of gas. The manual resuscitator regulating system may include a placement indicator configured to indicate or guide a user where to squeeze or compress the chamber.

Described here are closed-circuit breathing devices and methods for their use. In general, the closed-circuit breathing device is configured to achieve a steady-state equilibrium, whereby therapeutic gas is introduced into the breathing circuit in small, controlled volumes until a steady state concentration of the therapeutic gas is reached. During this time, the closed-circuit breathing device is operated in a true closed circuit, such that the therapeutic gas is not lost to the atmosphere. Safety measures are built into the closed-circuit breathing device so that a hypoxic mixture is not delivered to the subject. The therapeutic gas may be xenon.

A system for respiratory training including a housing, a respiratory air channel disposed within the housing, a sensor configured to detect a breathing indicator and transmit a breathing indicator signal, a haptic device disposed within the housing, a processor operatively coupled to the sensor and the haptic device, and a memory device operatively coupled to the processor. The memory device includes instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to receive the breathing indicator signal from the sensor; generate a breath determination based on the breathing indicator signal; and responsive to the breath determination, cause the haptic device to generate a vibration.

A feedback device for an acute care provider includes: at least one motion sensor; a haptic output component for providing feedback having a varying haptic pattern to the acute care provider regarding performance of a resuscitation activity; and a controller. The controller can be configured to receive and process a signal representative of performance of the resuscitation activity from the at least one motion sensor, compare the acute care provider's performance of the resuscitation activity to a target performance of the resuscitation activity, and cause the haptic output component to provide haptic feedback to the acute care provider by changing the haptic pattern based, at least in part, on the signal from the at least one motion sensor and the comparison of the acute care provider's performance to the target performance of the resuscitation activity. The device can be adapted to be wrist-worn by the acute care provider.

Methods for using a manually actuated, self-inflating resuscitator device provides users with a positive pressure ventilation device that reliably provides a proper tidal volume to the patient and controls the rate of ventilation of the patient. The resuscitator device is lightweight, compact, durable, and quickly deployable in the field. The resuscitator device is preferably operable with one hand and can be configured for use in low-light environments.