Patent ID: RE40806

Claim:
Humidification apparatus for humidifying a gaseous flow to be supplied to a patient or other person in need of such gaseous flow comprising: humidificaion chamber means adapted to hold a quantity of water and having an inlet and an outlet to allow said gaseous flow to pass through said humidification chamber means, heating means provided adjacent said humidification chamber means and adapted to provide heat to said quantity of water in said humidification chamber means in order to provide water vapor to said gaseous flow passing through said humidification chamber means, gaseous flow transportation pathway means connected to said outlet of said humidification chamber means to convey said gaseous flow to said patient or other person in need of such gaseous flow, flow probe means adapted to sense the flow rate of said gaseous flow, probe heating means adapted to heat at least a portion of said flow probe means, temperature sensing means adapted to sense the temperature of said gaseous flow, user input means to allow a user to set a required temperature of said gaseous flow, control means which receives input from said flow probe means, said temperature sensing means and said user input means and controls said heating means in response to said inputs to maintain said gaseous flow at said required temperature.