US 12,350,439 B2
Tuneable Expiratory Positive Airway Pressure (TEPAP) apparatus and method
Stephen George Hlopick, Murrysville, PA (US); and Richard Daniel Sofranko, Monroeville, PA (US)
Assigned to KONINKLIJKE PHILIPS N.V., Eindhoven (NL)
Filed by KONINKLIJKE PHILIPS N.V., Eindhoven (NL)
Filed on Jun. 4, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/339,126.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/034,621, filed on Jun. 4, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2021/0379324 A1, Dec. 9, 2021
Int. Cl. A61M 16/00 (2006.01); A61M 16/08 (2006.01); A61M 16/20 (2006.01)
CPC A61M 16/208 (2013.01) [A61M 16/0003 (2014.02); A61M 16/08 (2013.01)] 15 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A tuneable expiration positive airway pressure apparatus, comprising:
(1) an entrainment valve including an entrainment valve housing having an upstream inlet port, a downstream outlet port, an opening defined in a wall of the housing between the inlet port and the outlet port communicating an interior of the housing to ambient air, and at least one valve disposed within a wall of the entrainment valve housing between the inlet port and the outlet port for selectively blocking or unblocking the opening (i) enabling inspiration airflow from ambient air into an interior of the housing by unblocking the opening during an inspiration breathing phase of a breath cycle and (ii) preventing expiration airflow from the interior of the housing to ambient air by blocking the opening during an expiration breathing phase of the breath cycle; and
(2) an inspiration-to-expiration pressure transition tuning module comprising:
(a) a pressure transition housing fluidly coupled to the entrainment valve outlet port such that gas existing the entrainment values enters an enclosed volume defined within the pressure transition housing, and,
(b) a volume adjustment element that is selectively movable so as to change a size of the enclosed volume between a first fixed volume size and a second fixed volume size for tuning an inspiration-to-expiration pressure transition of the breath cycle, wherein tuning includes facilitating at least one rate-of-change in pressure of the inspiration-to-expiration pressure transition that is non-instantaneous, and wherein the at least one non-instantaneous rate of change in pressure is selected from among different non-instantaneous rates-of-change in pressure of the inspiration-to-expiration pressure transition based on the enclosed volume set by the volume adjustment element.
 
10. A method of tuning expiration positive airway pressure, comprising:
providing an entrainment valve that includes an entrainment valve housing having an upstream inlet port, a downstream outlet port, an opening defined in a wall of the housing between the inlet port and the outlet port communicating an interior of the housing to ambient air, and at least one valve disposed within a wall of the entrainment valve housing between the inlet port and the outlet port for selectively blocking or unblocking the opening (i) enabling inspiration airflow from ambient air into an interior of the housing by unblocking the opening during an inspiration breathing phase of a breath cycle and (ii) preventing expiration airflow from the interior of the housing to ambient air by blocking the opening during an expiration breathing phase of the breath cycle; and
providing an inspiration-to-expiration tuning module comprising: (a) a pressure transition housing fluidly coupled to the entrainment valve outlet port such that gas existing the entrainment values enters an enclosed volume defined within the pressure transition housing, and, (b) a volume adjustment element that is selectively movable so as to change a size of the enclosed volume between a first fixed volume size and a second fixed volume size,
tuning, via the inspiration-to-expiration pressure transition tuning by changing the enclosed volume using the volume adjustment element, an inspiration-to-expiration pressure transition of the breath cycle, wherein tuning includes facilitating at least one rate-of-change in pressure of the inspiration-to-expiration pressure transition that is non-instantaneous, wherein the at least one non-instantaneous rate of change in pressure is selected from among different non-instantaneous rates-of-change in pressure of the inspiration-to-expiration pressure transition.