Patent ID: 7168429

Claim:
An auto-titration pressure support system comprising: a pressure generating system adapted to generate a flow of breathing gas at a selectable pressure level; a patient circuit having a first end adapted to be coupled to the pressure generating system and a second end adapted to be coupled to an airway of a patient; a monitoring system associated with the patient circuit or the pressure generating system and adapted to measure a parameter indicative of a pressure at a patient's airway, a flow of gas in such a patient's airway, or both and to output a pressure signal, a flow signal indicative thereof, respectively, or both; and a controller coupled to the monitoring system and the pressure generating system, for controlling a pressure of the flow of breathing gas output by the pressure generating system based on the output of the monitoring system, wherein the controller is programmed to operate according to one control layer in a set of prioritized control layers, wherein each control layer in the set of prioritized control layers competes for control of the pressure generating system with the other control layers, and wherein each control layer implements a unique pressure control process for controlling the pressure of the flow of breathing gas output by the pressure generating system.