Patent ID: 7501630

Claim:
A gas measurement system, comprising: (a) an airway adapter adapted to be coupled to a conduit adapted to carry a flow of gas, the airway adapter comprising: (1) a plurality of walls defining a gas sampling passage in the airway adapter, wherein an aperture is defined in a first wall in the plurality of walls, and (2) a sensing film disposed at least partially in the aperture and in fluid communication with the gas sampling passage; and (b) a luminescence quenching gas measurement assembly adapted to measure a constituent of the flow of gas, wherein the luminescence quenching gas measurement assembly comprises: (1) a radiation source having a generally planar energy transmitting surface disposed in a first plane substantially parallel to the sensing film, (2) at least one detector having a generally planer energy receiving surface, wherein the source and the detector are configured and arranged such that the energy transmitting surface and the energy receiving surface are both disposed in the first plane, and wherein energy emitted by the radiation source is conveyed from the radiation source to the sensing film along an optical channel and energy emitted by the sensing film is conveyed from the sensing film to the detector along substantially the same optical channel, and (3) a housing containing the radiation source and the at least one detector, and wherein the radiation source is disposed in the housing such that the radiation source is proximate to the sensing film responsive to the housing being coupled to the airway adapter so that energy transmitted by the radiation source does not pass through the gas sampling passage prior to being received by the sensing film.