A preflushing unit (10) preflushes a breathing gas circuit (210) of a closed-circuit respirator (200). A basic body (20) has an inlet port (22), feeding breathing gas from a breathing gas supply (220), an outlet port (24) discharging breathing gas into the breathing circuit, and a flow section (32) fluid connecting a valve chamber (30). A valve body (40) with a sealing surface (42) is arranged in the valve chamber (30). An elastomer body (50) with a counter-sealing surface (52) in the valve chamber, fluid tight separates the flow section from a control section (34). The counter-sealing surface acts with a sealing force against the valve body for sealing the flow section. A control port (26) of the basic body provides a controlled feed of breathing gas from the breathing gas supply into the control section for pressure equalization between the flow section and the control section.

Described herein is a system including a patient support unit having a patient environment, a heating module, a sensor module, and a control system. The control system is configured to selectively operate the system in a pre-programmed warm-up mode configured to gradually warm the patient in the patient environment according to a series of stepped skin temperature increases performed over a series of stepped time durations to achieve a goal skin temperature. Related apparatus, system, methods and/or articles are described.

A system for controlling patient sedation and spontaneous breathing intensity includes a ventilator system that delivers ventilation to the patient. The system further includes a spontaneous breathing control module configured to determine a first spontaneous breathing intensity at a first sedative status of the patient, and a second spontaneous breathing intensity at a second sedative status of the patient. A sedation/breathing relationship is then defined between spontaneous breathing intensity and sedative status for the patient based on the first and second sedative statuses and the first and second spontaneous breathing intensities. The spontaneous breathing control module then receives a desired spontaneous breathing intensity for the patient and determines a desired sedative status that achieves that desired spontaneous breathing intensity based on the sedation/breathing relationship.

An Automatic Supplemental Oxygen Control unit, a portable device that automatically monitors and adjusts the flow of supplemental oxygen to the subject in response to the oximetry and other readings derived from sensors attached to the subject and the oxygen source and provides programmed responses to physical inputs from such sensors to provide a closed loop oxygen delivery system.

A ventilator delivers breathing gas to a patient via a patient circuit connecting the ventilator and the patient. The ventilator is configured to, upon activation of an oxygen boost function of the ventilator, increase the oxygen concentration of the breathing gas so as to deliver oxygen-enriched breathing gas to the patient. The ventilator includes a control unit configured to determine the volume of a part of the patient circuit conveying breathing gas from the ventilator to the patient, determine a delay in delivery of the oxygen-enriched breathing gas to the patient based on the volume, and cause indication of the delay to an operator of the ventilator.

A disposable breathing circuit is adapted to be connected between a disposable face mask and a vacuum source for delivering fresh gas to the face mask and for scavenging waste gas exhaled from the face mask. The breathing circuit includes a fresh gas supply limb and an exhalation limb, and a scavenging limb coupled to the exhalation limb. The scavenging limb includes a one-way valve to prevent re-breathing, a flexible flow-through reservoir bag used to store exhaled gas, and an output tube adapted to be coupled between the flow-through reservoir bag and the vacuum source.

A gas tank arrangement for a breathing apparatus, including: a gas tank; an inlet valve configured to control a flow of gas into said gas tank; an outlet valve configured to control a flow of gas out of said gas tank and towards a patient; and a controller configured to control said inlet and outlet valves to maintain the gas within said gas tank at an overpressure for subsequent delivery to the patient, to control the outlet valve based on a parameter that is indicative of pressure within the gas tank, and to control the inlet and outlet valves to always maintain the pressure in the gas tank between a minimum pressure threshold value and a maximum pressure threshold value, wherein the minimum or maximum pressure threshold value is determined based on preset parameters relating to the dynamics of said outlet valve, or a desired minimum or maximum flow of gas out of the gas tank.

Various methods and systems are provided for controlling a supply of medical gas to a gas delivery system, such as an anesthesia machine, via a medical gas delivery module. In one example, a method includes supplying a medical gas from a pipeline gas supply source to a gas delivery system via a first conduit, measuring a quality of the medical gas in the first conduit, comparing the measured quality to an allowable range, switching to an alternative gas supply source for supplying the medical gas to the gas delivery system and communicating a pipeline gas supply fault in response to the measured quality being outside of the allowable range, and continuing supplying the medical gas to the gas delivery system from the pipeline gas supply source in response to the measured quality being inside of the allowable range.

The present disclosure describes a system and method for maintaining oxygen purity in portable oxygen concentrators, even with asymmetric generation of oxygen enriched gas volumes from different sieve beds of the concentration system. The present system and method compensate for asymmetric oxygen enriched gas generation using asymmetric delivery of purge volumes. Purge valves are used to deliver the asymmetric purge gas volumes, enables the system to maintain oxygen purity without additional power consumption, even when a portable oxygen concentrator does not include a product tank. The present system and method are configured such that asymmetry in enriched oxygen generation can be monitored and the asymmetric purge gas compensation can be applied independently from other control mechanisms of a portable oxygen concentrator.

Methods and systems are provided for delivering anesthetic agent to a patient. In one embodiment, an anesthetic vaporizer includes a sump configured to hold a liquid anesthetic agent; an ultrasonic transducer coupled to a bottom of the sump and at least partially disposed within the sump; a vaporizing chamber fluidically coupled to the sump; and a heating element coupled to the vaporizing chamber and configured to increase a temperature of a surface disposed within the vaporizing chamber.