Granted Patent B2

US 12,582,796 · App. 18/482,460 · Granted Mar 24, 2026

Inventor: John C. Taube (Raleigh, NC)

Assignee: Vapotherm, Inc.

A61M16/024A61B5/14551A61M16/00A61M16/026A61M16/12A61M2202/0208A61M2205/502A61M2230/205

Abstract

Claims (69)

1 . A system for controlling a gas blender system configured to deliver a gas mixture with a target FiO 2 to a patient, the system comprising:

at least one processor electronically coupled to the gas blender system; and

a memory electronically coupled to the at least one processor, the memory containing a set of instructions, wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

receive a target PaO 2 value from a user via a user interface;

receive a first measured SpO 2 value from a pulse oximeter functionally connected to the at least one processor;

convert the first measured SpO 2 value to a first measured PaO 2 value using a first lookup table derived from a sigmoid shaped oxyhemoglobin dissociation curve, the first lookup table stored in the memory;

calculate a first error value as a difference between the first measured PaO 2 and the target PaO 2 ;

process the first error value to determine a first oxygen mixer control value, by executing an algorithm using at least one of proportional values, integral values, or derivative values;

receive a second measured SpO 2 value from a regional oximeter functionally connected to the at least one processor and configured to measure cerebral blood oxygen saturation;

convert the second measured SpO 2 value to a second measured PaO 2 value using a second lookup table derived from a sigmoid shaped oxyhemoglobin dissociation curve, the second lookup table stored in the memory;

calculate a second error value as a difference between the second measured PaO 2 and the target PaO 2 ;

process the second error value to determine a second oxygen mixer control value, by executing an algorithm using at least one of proportional values, integral values, or derivative values;

and

if the system is operating in a first mode, output the first oxygen mixer control value to a blender controller configured to cause the gas blender system to deliver the gas mixture to the patient with the target FiO 2 value, or

if the system is operating in a second mode, output the second oxygen mixer control value to the blender controller configured to cause the gas blender system to deliver the gas mixture to the patient with the target FiO 2 value.

2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the processing the error value comprises executing the algorithm using proportional values, integral values, and derivative values.

3 . The system of claim 2 , wherein:

the proportional values are calculated by processing the error value with respect to time with a proportional gain coefficient;

the integral values are calculated by processing the error value with respect to time with an integral gain coefficient and an integral variable; and

the derivate values are calculated by processing the error value with respect to time with a derivative gain coefficient.

4 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the set of instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

control a gas humidifier within the gas blender system, the gas humidifier configured to humidify the gas mixture delivered to the patient.

5 . The system of claim 4 , wherein the gas humidifier comprises:

a sterile water reservoir; and

a humidifier cartridge functionally coupled to the sterile water reservoir, the humidifier cartridge configured to humidify the gas mixture via a vaporization mechanism.

6 . The system of claim 5 , wherein the vaporization mechanism is ultrasonic vibration or heating to steam.

7 . The system of claim 5 , the gas humidifier further configured to:

measure a rate of sterile water consumption in the sterile water reservoir;

and

transmit the measured rate of the sterile water consumption to the processor, the measured rate of the sterile water consumption corresponding to a measure of humidity of the gas mixture delivered to the patient.

8 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the set of instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

receive a target temperature value of the gas mixture delivered to the patient via the user interface; and

control a gas heater within the gas blender system using the target temperature value, the gas heater configured to heat the gas mixture delivered to the patient to the target temperature value.

9 . The system of claim 8 , the gas blender system further comprising a heat sensor configured to:

measure a temperature of the gas mixture delivered to the patient; and

transmit the measured temperature to the processor.

10 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the heat sensor is a thermistor.

11 . A computer implemented method for controlling a gas blender system to deliver a gas mixture with a target FiO 2 to a patient, the method comprising:

receiving, by a processor of the gas blender system, a target PaO 2 value from a user via a user interface;

receiving, by the processor, a first measured SpO 2 value from a pulse oximeter;

converting, by the processor, the first measured SpO 2 value to a first measured PaO 2 value using a first lookup table derived from a sigmoid shaped oxyhemoglobin dissociation curve;

calculating, by the processor, a first error value as a difference between the first measured PaO 2 and the target PaO 2 ;

processing, by the processor, the first error value to determine a first oxygen mixer control value, by executing an algorithm using at least one of proportional values, integral values, or derivative values;

receiving, by the processor, a second measured SpO 2 value from a regional oximeter functionally connected to the at least one processor and configured to measure cerebral blood oxygen saturation;

converting, by the processor, the second measured SpO 2 value to a second measured PaO 2 value using a second lookup table derived from a sigmoid shaped oxyhemoglobin dissociation curve;

calculating, by the processor, a second error value as a difference between the second measured PaO 2 and the target PaO 2 ;

processing, by the processor, the second error value to determine a second oxygen mixer control value, by executing an algorithm using at least one of proportional values, integral values, or derivative values;

and

if the system is operating in a first mode, outputting, by the processor, the first oxygen mixer control value to a blender controller and cause the gas blender system to deliver the gas mixture to the patient with the target FiO 2 value, or

if the system is operating in a second mode, outputting, by the processor, the second oxygen mixer control value to the blender controller and cause the gas blender system to deliver the gas mixture to the patient with the target FiO 2 value.

12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the processing the error value comprises using proportional values, integral values, and derivative values.

13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein:

the proportional values are calculated by processing the error value with respect to time with a proportional gain coefficient;

the integral values are calculated by processing the error value with respect to time with an integral gain coefficient and an integral variable; and

the derivate values are calculated by processing the error value with respect to time with a derivative gain coefficient.

14 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising controlling a gas humidifier within the gas blender system to humidify the gas mixture delivered to the patient.

15 . The method of claim 14 , comprising:

humidifying the gas mixture via a vaporization mechanism in a humidifier cartridge functionally coupled to a sterile water reservoir.

16 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the vaporization mechanism is ultrasonic vibration or heating to steam.

17 . The method of claim 15 , comprising:

measuring a rate of sterile water consumption in the sterile water reservoir;

and

transmitting the measured rate of the sterile water consumption to the processor, the measured rate of the sterile water consumption corresponding to a measure of humidity of the gas mixture delivered to the patient.

18 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

receiving, by the processor, a target temperature value of the gas mixture delivered to the patient via the user interface; and

controlling, by the processor, a gas heater within the gas blender system using the target temperature value to heat the gas mixture delivered to the patient to the target temperature value.

19 . The method of claim 18 , further comprising

measuring a temperature of the gas mixture delivered to the patient using a heat sensor and transmitting the measured temperature to the processor.

20 . The method of claim 19 , wherein the heat sensor is a thermistor.

Assignments (2)

Continuity (2)

References Cited (126)