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

Claim 0:
1. A method for controlling medication dispensed to a ventilator circuit having tubing for conveying gas that extends between a mechanical ventilator and a patient, comprising:
providing a housing comprising at least one pressurized metered dose inhaler (pMDI) canister and coupled to a gas conduit to form part of the ventilation circuit;
actuating an actuator in the housing to release medication from the at least one 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 to release medication from the dispensing end to the gas conduit then into the tubing of the ventilator circuit, wherein the actuation of the actuator is timed so that the medication from the at least one pMDI canister is automatically released from the at least one pMDI canister only during an inspiratory/inhale cycle with gas flow toward the patient;
monitoring air pathway flow in the ventilator circuit to determine a change in patient airway resistance over time using a controller in communication with at least one sensor coupled to the ventilator circuit, wherein the controller is also in communication with the actuator;
electronically identifying when a different or additional medication, an increase in dosage and/or a change in scheduled frequency of medication delivered by the at least one pMDI canister is needed based on the determined change in patient airway resistance based at least in part on data from the at least one sensor;
automatically adjusting the release of medication with respect to the different or additional medication, the dosage and/or the change in scheduled frequency of medication delivered from the at least one pMDI canister based on the determined change in patient airway resistance;
allowing an operator to adjust a defined dosage, delivery time and/or frequency of medication released by the at least one pMDI canister for the actuating; and
displaying parameters including number of doses remaining for each of the at least one pMDI canister on a display in communication with the controller.