Patent ID: 11957836
Assignee: IDTX SYSTEMS, INC.
Field: Medical technology (Instruments)
Classification: CPC A | IPC A

Claim 10:
11. An automated medical system for controlling medication dispensed to a ventilator circuit having tubing for conveying gas that extends between a mechanical ventilator and a patient, comprising:
a gas conduit having axially opposing first and second ends, each end being in-line with and adapted to attach to spaced apart segments of the tubing of the ventilator circuit to form part of the ventilation circuit;
at least one pressurized metered dose inhaler (pMDI) canister held orthogonal to the gas conduit with a dispensing end of the pMDI canister held proximate the gas conduit in fluid communication with the ventilator circuit via the gas conduit;
an actuator in communication with the at least one pMDI canister to press against the at least one pMDI canister to release medication from the dispensing end to the gas conduit then into the tubing of the ventilator circuit;
a housing holding the gas conduit, the at least one pMDI canister and the actuator;
a control unit in communication with the actuator, the control unit comprising an operator interface configured to allow an operator to adjust dosage and schedule medication dispensing for each of the at least one pMDI canister and to actuate the actuator to dispense medication from each of the at least one pMDI canister to the ventilator circuit at a defined dosage, delivery time and/or frequency, wherein the control unit monitors air pathway flow in the ventilator circuit and is configured to time actuation of the actuator so that medication from the at least one pMDI canister is released from the at least one pMDI canister only during an inspiratory/inhale cycle with gas flow toward the patient;
at least one sensor in communication with the control unit and the ventilation circuit, the at least one sensor configured to provide data corresponding to at least one of a pressure in the ventilator circuit or a rate of change of pressure in the ventilator circuit and/or other gas flow characteristics, wherein the control unit is configured to determine the patient's ability to receive medication at least in part based on data from at least one sensor, and wherein the control unit automatically adjusts the dosage, delivery time and/or frequency of medication dispensed from the at least one pMDI canister based on the determined ability of the patient to receive medication; and
a display in communication with the control unit for displaying parameters for each of the at least one pMDI canister.