Patent ID: 7086098

Claim:
A mechanical breathing aid comprising: an inspiratory sensor for measuring a tidal volume and pressure of a breathing gas delivered during an inspiration phase of a respiratory cycle, said inspiratory sensor generating inspiratory sensor output signals representing said tidal volume and pressure; an expiratory pressure regulator for regulating a gas pressure within an expiration gas flow path dependent on a regulatory signal; an expiratory pressure sensor disposed to measure an actual gas pressure within said expiration gas flow path, said expiratory pressure sensor generating an expiratory pressure sensor output signal representing said actual gas pressure; and a control unit operatively connected to said expiratory pressure regulator and to said expiratory pressure sensor, said control unit calculating a target pressure dependent on a compliance value calculated by said control unit from the inspiratory sensor output signals during said inspiration phase, and generating said regulatory signal in said respiratory cycle dependent on a magnitude of a difference between said target pressure and said actual pressurre.