Patent ID: 6918389

Claim:
A humidification apparatus for humidifying a gases flow to be supplied to a patient or other person in need of such gases comprising: humidification chamber and having an inlet and an outlet to allow said gases flow to pass through said humidification chamber, a chamber heater provided adjacent said humidification chamber and adapted to vaporise liquid water in said humidification chamber in order to provide water vapour to said gases flow passing through said humidification chamber, a conduit connected to said outlet of said humidification chamber to convey said gases flow to said patient or other person in need of such gases, and humidity sensor configured to provide an indication of the absolute humidity of said gases flow at least at one of said humidification chamber and at a point along said conduit in said gases flow, a controller or processor configured or programmed to receive as inputs said indication of the absolute humidity of said gases flow, estimate a rate of condensation of said gases in said conduit based on said inputs and control said chamber heater based on said rate of condensation to minimise condensation of said gases in said conduit.