Patent ID: 7946291

Claim:
A method of delivering a surfactant to a patient's respiratory system which comprises the steps of: providing a CPAP system having a pressure-generating circuit with a first gas flow of sufficiently high volume to maintain continuous positive airway pressure in the system, a respiratory circuit connecting the pressure-generating circuit to a patient interface device, wherein the respiratory circuit contains a second gas flow of lower volume than said first gas flow, and a vibrating aperture nebulizer coupled to the respiratory circuit at a distance from the patient interface device sufficient to provide an acceptable efficiency of delivering a liquid surfactant to the patient's respiratory system; introducing the liquid surfactant into the nebulizer; aerosolizing the surfactant in the nebulizer; and entraining the aerosolized surfactant into the second gas flow of the respiratory circuit to avoid dilution of the aerosolized surfactant delivered to the patient.