Patent ID: 7762255

Claim:
An improved CO 2 absorber for a patient breathing circuit capable of indicating the potential for, or existence of, hazardous conditions in the CO 2 absorber, the breathing circuit recirculating CO 2 laden breathing gases which may also contain an anesthetic agent, said absorber comprising: a canister suitable for insertion in the breathing circuit so that the recirculating breathing gases pass through the canister, the canister being formed to permit viewing of contents of the canister; a pelletized CO 2 absorbent material in said canister for removing CO 2 from breathing gases, said absorbent material being susceptible to drying by the breathing gases in the breathing circuit, at least a portion of the pellets of absorbent material having an indicator changing color from a first color to a second color as the absorptive capacity of the CO 2 absorbent material becomes exhausted; and a plurality of sentinel pellets of CO 2 absorbent material disposed throughout the pelletized CO 2 absorbent material, said sentinel pellets containing a cobalt chloride substance and changing from a third color to the second color to indicate the dehydration of the CO 2 absorbent material of the sentinel pellets; wherein the first color and the third color are different colors.