Patent ID: 7152604

Claim:
A method for supplying an inspired gas to a person while sampling expired gases from the person, the method comprising: positioning an oronasal gas device on the person in an area between a nose and a mouth of the person, said oronasal device having a lumen for supplying a gas from a source to the person and fluid outlets that direct said supplied gas toward nostrils of the nose and toward the mouth for inhalation, said device also having portions that extend from a body of the device, two of said portions being nostril portions extending such that each may be inserted into a different nostril of the nose and a third portion extending into a breath stream of the mouth, said two nostril portions having fluid inlets adapted to channel expired gases from the nostrils to a sensor for detecting when said person is inhaling and exhaling, wherein said fluid outlets are located away from said fluid inlets to minimize mixing of expired gases and said supplied gas; collecting expired gases using said fluid inlets and transmitting said collected expired gases through a plurality of lumens; determining whether the person is in an exhalation or an inhalation phase of a respiratory cycle using said sensor; delivering an increased flow of inspired gas to the person during the determined inhalation phase of the respiratory cycle; and analyzing said expired gases using an analyzer, said analyzer receiving expired gases collected by at least two of said fluid inlets independently via at least two of said lumens such that expired gases from said at least two fluid inlets are independently analyzed.