A breathing system for a patient to breathe through and inhale a substance from

Abstract

A breathing system for a patient to inhale an analgesic, anaesthetic and / or sedative substance from repeatedly and consecutively, comprises a mask, an adding means 14, a user control 18 and a control

Claims

1. A breathing system for a patient to inhale an analgesic, anaesthetic and / or sedative substance from repeatedly and consecutively, comprising:a mask mountable on the patient, so that inhaling and exhaling occur through the mask;adding means for adding the substance to a gas to be inhaled, wherein the substance is a volatile liquid, comprising vaporisation means for vaporising of the substance into the gas, wherein the vaporisation means is mounted in or on the mask so as to be fixedly disposed relative thereto and mountable on a face of the patient,a user control;a control means, the user control being coupled to the control means to provide input thereto in response to operation of the user control by the patient, and wherein the control means is configured to control the adding by the adding means using the vaporisation means dependent at least on the input.

2. The breathing system of claim 1, further comprising the substance.

3. The breathing system of claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the vaporisation means comprises a material located for gas to flow over or through, and from which the substance can evaporate, wherein the adding means is configured to locate or disperse the substance on and / or through the material.

4. The breathing system of claim 3, further comprising a housing mounted on or in the mask so as to be mountable on the face of the patient, wherein the housing retains the material and provides an inhalation path through or over the material.

5. The breathing system of claim 4, wherein the material is planar, wherein the breathing system is configured for mounting of the material proximal the face of the patient, and wherein the inhalation path passes perpendicularly with respect to the plane of the material.

6. The breathing system of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the patient airway interface includes an inspiratory valve and an expiratory valve, wherein the inspiratory valve is a one-way valve located to prevent flow of exhaled air through the vaporisation means and to permit inhalation of gas through the vaporisation means, and wherein the expiratory valve is a one-way valve enabling exhaled gas to exit the patient airway interface to the environment and prevents ambient air from entering the breathing system.7 The breathing system of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the vaporisation means includes a substance intake port and the adding means comprises pumping means for pumping the substance to the material through the substance intake port.8 The breathing system of claim 7, wherein the pumping means is located physically spaced from the mask and coupled to the substance intake port.

9. The breathing system of claim 8, wherein the pumping means is coupled to and co-located with the user control.

10. The breathing system of any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the adding means is mounted on or in the mask so as to be mountable on a face of the patient.

11. The breathing system of any one of claims 8 and 9, comprising a reservoir for containing the substance, wherein the pumping means is coupled to the reservoir for pumping the substance from the reservoir to the material.

12. The breathing system of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the control means is coupled to and at least partially co-located with the user control.

13. The breathing system of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the control means is at least partiallymounted on or in the mask so as to be mountable on a face of the patient.

14. The breathing system of claim 12, wherein the user control is physically spaced from the mask and operatively coupled to the at least part of the control means mounted on or in the mask by a cable.

15. The breathing system of any one of the preceding claims, comprising an airway and an inlet port connected to the airway and connectable to a source other than the environment, so that the gas to be inhaled can comprise oxygen or oxygenated air from the source.

16. The breathing system of any one of the preceding claims, comprising a plurality of such inlet airways enabling connection of a plurality of sources of gas each being different, such that gases from those sources may be inhaled.

17. The breathing system of any one of the preceding claims, further comprising an end tidal CO2 monitoring port and a carbon dioxide level sensor enabling end tidal carbon dioxide monitoring via the port.

18. The breathing system of any one of the preceding claims, further comprising an operator control enabling an operator to input a value for weight, estimated weight, height and / or pain level of the patient, wherein the control means is configured to use the value in determining a background rate and / or a rate of adding of the substance to gas to be inhaled subsequent to operation of the user control by the patient.

19. The breathing system may further comprise at least one sensor device for detecting a condition of the patient and providing sensor information indicative of the condition to the control means, wherein the control means is configured to control the adding means dependent also on the sensor information.

20. The breathing system of any one of claims, further comprising an airway coupled to the patient airway interface including an opening for intake of gas, wherein inhalation causes intake of said gas into the airway, wherein the adding means is arranged to add the substance to the gas in the airway.

21. The breathing system of any one of the preceding claims, wherein, the control means is configured to respond to receiving of an input by first determining that a maximum rate will not be exceeded and, if not, increasing an adding rate at which the substance is added to gas to be inhaled.

22. The breathing system of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the control means comprises means expandable to cause the adding of the substance, and wherein the user control is operable to cause increase of pressure within the expandable means, thereby to cause the expansion.

23. The breathing system of any one of claims 1 to 21, wherein the inputs are mechanical, pneumatic or electronic trigger signals.

24. The breathing system of any one of claims 1 to 23, wherein the control means comprises a processing means and a memory means having computer program code stored thereon, wherein the processing means, with the memory means and the code, is configuring to perform control of the adding by the adding means dependent at least on the inputs.

25. The breathing system of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the inputs are discrete inputs.

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