Patent ID: 9675774
Date: 2017-06-13
CPC Classifications: A61M

Claim:
1. A non-invasive ventilation system for providing ventilation support to a patient via a nostril, the system comprising: a gas source; a gas delivery circuit; a nasal interface adapted to communicate with the patient's nostril while allowing the patient to breathe normally and freely from the ambient surroundings, the nasal interface comprising: an outer tube adapted for at least partial insertion in the patient's nostril, the outer tube having an inlet open to ambient air defining an inlet diameter, an outlet, and a jet pump throat between the inlet and the outlet defining a jet pump throat diameter, the outer tube having a constantly tapering internal diameter from the inlet to the jet pump throat; and at least one jet nozzle in fluid communication with the gas delivery circuit and the gas source and having a distal tip disposed outside the inlet of the outer tube, the at least one jet nozzle being configured to deliver ventilation gas into the inlet of the outer tube at a velocity sufficient to define a jet profile, the diameter of the jet profile at the inlet being substantially less than the inlet diameter, the diameter of the jet profile at the jet pump throat substantially equaling the jet pump throat diameter; wherein when ventilation gas is delivered via the at least one jet nozzle into the inlet of the outer tube at a velocity sufficient to define the jet profile, an entrainment area is defined by the cross-sectional area of the inlet outside of the diameter of the jet profile, the entrainment area providing ventilation support by entraining ambient air into the outer tube.