Systems and respirators for supporting the airway of a subject

Abstract

A respiration appliance (10), a system (40), and a method (62, 72, 86) for supporting the airway of a subject (12) as the subject (12) breaths are diclosed. The flow of gas from the lungs of the subject during exhalation is leveraged to provide support to the airway. In particular, a body (14) that encloses one or more external orifices of the subject (12) provides a resistance differential between inhaled gas flows and exhaled gas flows that supports the subject's airway.

Description

[0001] This patent application claims priority under Title 35, United States Code, Section 119(e) of US Provisional Application No. 61 / 141,250, filed December 30, 2008, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference. [0002] This application is related to U.S. Application Serial No. 61 / 141,270 filed December 30, 2008, U.S. Application Serial No. 61 / 141,251 filed December 30, 2008, and U.S. Application Serial No. 61 / 141,251 filed December 30, 2008 No. 61 / 141,252, which applications are hereby incorporated into this application in their entirety. technical field [0003] The present invention relates to supporting the airway of a subject as the subject breathes. Background technique [0004] Patients suffering from sleep-disordered breathing are often treated with positive airway pressure (PAP) devices that provide compressed respiratory airflow according to predetermined ventilation patterns, such as continuous positive airway pressure, proportional positive airw...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

In some cases, conventional airway obstructors are considered uncomfortable by some patients and may not provide adequate support for some patients

For example, during inspiration, conventional airway obstructors leave the airway completely unsupported, or even reduce the pressure due to some resistance to the inspiratory flow

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