Patent ID: 7614401

Claim:
A nasal cannula assembly designed for contact with the nasalabidial area of a patient's nose and comprising: a hollow tubular member having an opening at each end, said tubular member having a central portion of sufficient length to span the width of an average patient's nostrils and end portions extending from each end of said central portion, said central portion having a pair of spaced, hollow extensions integral with and projecting therefrom said hollow extensions terminating in gas directing orifices and which hollow portion of said extensions communicate with said hollow tubular member, said central portion lying in a first plane with longitudinal axes symmetrical about a midpoint and forming an angle in said first plane less than 160 degrees, each said hollow extension having a longitudinal axis projecting from said central portion at an acute angle from said first plane, said gas directing orifices of said hollow extensions having a longitudinal axis lying in a second plane essentially parallel to and displaced from said first plane, said end portions of said central portion lying in essentially the first plane with longitudinal axis of said end portion essentially collinear with longitudinal axis of corresponding symmetrical half of said central portion.