Patent ID: 8469030

Claim:
An exhalation valve assembly for controlling pressure in a ventilation system comprising: a valve module including a valve body and attached seal element, the valve body defining an inlet port providing access to a valve chamber and an exhaust port allowing gas to exit the valve chamber, the valve body having a valve seat opposite the attached seal element wherein displacement of the seal element relative to the valve seat controls gas pressure within the inlet port; an actuator module removably connected to the valve module that, when attached to the valve module, is operable to move a seal element relative to the valve seat to control the pressure of gas in the inlet port and the release of gas via the exhaust port; a filter module comprising a filter body containing filter media and removably connected to the valve module, wherein the filter module, when attached to the valve module, filters gas delivered to the exhalation valve assembly prior to the gas entering the inlet port of the valve module; and wherein the actuator module, the valve module and the filter module are configured to be assembled into at least a first configuration for a contagious patient and a second configuration for a non-contagious patient, wherein when assembled in the first configuration the valve module and the filter module cannot be discconected from each other but can be disconnected as a unit from the actuator module.