A manifold for a medical waste collection system. A filter element is disposed within a housing and includes a basket, and a seal retaining element coupled to the basket. The seal retaining element supports the seal in sealing engagement with a rim of the housing. The basket may be disposed within a body portion of the housing, and the seal retaining element may be disposed within a first leg of the housing. The seal may define a groove, and the seal retaining element may be partially disposed within the groove. The seal retaining element may define an aperture, and a tongue of the seal may be resiliently deflected into the aperture by an inner surface of the housing. The seal may have a width greater than a height to be noncircular, and may include flaps defining a seal aperture oriented widthwise.

Ventilator system with multiple inspiratory lumens is provided. The inspiratory lumens are configured so that separate inspiratory lumens provide inspiratory gas mixtures to separate portions of a patient's airways, for instance to separate lungs and/or bronchi. The ventilator system can include one or more expiratory lumens to evacuate expiratory gases from airways. The use of separate inspiratory lumen(s), with expiratory lumen(s), allows for functional separation of structural portions of the lungs, and maintenance of continuous or almost continuous flow through at least part of respiratory cycle via inspiratory and expiratory lumens. This can further reduce dead space and clear suspended therein diseases causative agents with improvement in outcomes, reduce risk of cross-contamination or cross-infection between different parts of airways, for example such as cross-infection from one lung lobe to another lobe or. The ventilator system allows for independent titration of PEEP, pCO.sub.2 and pO.sub.2 with no need for permissive hypercapnia.

Ventilator system with multiple inspiratory lumens is provided. The inspiratory lumens are configured so that separate inspiratory lumens provide inspiratory gas mixtures to separate portions of a patient's airways, for instance to separate lungs and/or bronchi. The ventilator system can include one or more expiratory lumens to evacuate expiratory gases from airways. The use of separate inspiratory lumen(s), with expiratory lumen(s), allows for functional separation of structural portions of the lungs, and maintenance of continuous or almost continuous flow through at least part of respiratory cycle via inspiratory and expiratory lumens. This can further reduce dead space and clear suspended therein diseases causative agents with improvement in outcomes, reduce risk of cross-contamination or cross-infection between different parts of airways, for example such as cross-infection from one lung lobe to another lobe or. The ventilator system allows for independent titration of PEEP, pCO.sub.2 and pO.sub.2 with no need for permissive hypercapnia.

An intravascular blood pump has an intake filter that reduces risk of heart tissue being sucked into an intake port of the pump. The filter defines a plurality of apertures, through which blood flows through the filter. The apertures are sized to prevent ingestion, by the input port, of the heart tissue. The filter includes a plurality of generally helical first struts wound about a longitudinal axis of the filter, and a plurality of second struts. The first and second struts collectively define the plurality of apertures therebetween. The struts may be woven filaments, or the apertures may be defined in a thin film (foil) tube, where remaining material between the apertures form the struts.

Capsules are provided for holding material within a vaporization chamber of a personal or portable vaporization device. Each capsule comprises a cap and a cup, each with a corresponding base wall having air inlet/outlet holes therein. The capsules are provided with first and second standoff structures that position the respective capsule to avoid occlusion of the air inlet/outlet holes by surfaces of the oven and/or lid that form the vaporization chamber. During use of the vaporization device, the capsule design encourages air to flow through the material held within the capsule via the air inlet/outlet holes, rather than flowing around the capsule to bypass the material held therein. In some embodiments, the capsules include tamper-resistant features that prevent separation of the cap and cup once assembled, thereby protecting the material held within the capsule.

Methods of assembling a manifold for a medical waste collection system. A flapper valve unit is secured to a head of a cap. A filter element is positioned within a shell. Basket hands of the filter element are fitted between first pairs of ribs of the cap skirt. Fingers of the shell are fitted between second pairs of ribs of the cap skirt. The cap is secured to the shell to cover an open distal end of the shell. A drip stop is secured to the proximal end base of the shell to seat within the outlet opening. Ears may be fitted through holes defined by the flapper valve unit and cap holes defined by the cap so as to snap lock to the head of the cap. The hub of the flapper valve unit may be compressed with the ears snap locked to the head of the cap.

A waste collection unit for collecting waste material. First and second waste containers are supported on a portable cart. A control panel is configured to receive one or more inputs of selectively set vacuum levels in the first and/or second waste containers. A control system controls operation of vacuum regulators based on the input(s) to regulate levels of vacuums being drawn in each of the waste containers. Pressure sensors in communication with the control system may be positioned to monitor pressure in the waste containers. A back up port support on the portable cart may be provided to receive a vacuum line for coupling a vacuum manifold to a remote vacuum source not located on the portable cart. Container lamps may be coupled to the first and/or second waste containers and configured to illuminate the waste material within the waste containers to be viewed through transparent windows.

Various venting attachments or leak devices can be removably or permanently coupled to a surgical cannula to allow a user to vent gases, in particular smoke, from a surgical cavity. The venting attachment can be configured to vent the smoke at a predetermined rate and filter out the smoke prior to venting to atmosphere. The substantially constant venting flow rate can promote clearing of the smoke in the surgical cavity while helping to maintain a substantially constant pressure, and thus stability, in the surgical cavity.

An intravascular blood pump has an intake filter that reduces risk of heart tissue being sucked into an intake port of the pump. The filter defines a plurality of apertures, through which blood flows through the filter. The apertures are sized to prevent ingestion, by the input port, of the heart tissue. The filter includes a plurality of generally helical first struts wound about a longitudinal axis of the filter, and a plurality of second struts. The first and second struts collectively define the plurality of apertures therebetween. The struts may be woven filaments, or the apertures may be defined in a thin film (foil) tube, where remaining material between the apertures form the struts.

A manifold apparatus and method of opening a valve in a medical/surgical waste collection unit. The manifold includes a base at a proximal end with the base defining an opening off center from an axis of the manifold. The manifold further includes two arcuately spaced tabs, each subtending arcs having different arcuate lengths. The manifold is positioned such that the tabs mate with at least two slots of a lock ring of the waste collection unit so as to cause the opening of the manifold to be, upon insertion into a bore of the waste collection unit, in a specific rotational alignment in the bore. The manifold is rotated within the bore to cause a valve disk to move between a first position in which the valve disk blocks fluid flow through the receiver and a second position in which the valve disk allows fluid flow through the receiver.