Ventilation system with system status display including a user interface

1. A ventilation system comprising:

a main housing;

a gas delivery system in the main housing;

a ventilation control system in the main housing that controls the gas delivery system and monitors one or more of a patient physiological parameter, operational parameters of the ventilation system, and user-settable parameters;

a primary display controller that generates a graphical user interface and that receives user inputs through the graphical user interface and capable of delivering primary commands to the ventilation control system based on the user inputs;

a primary display housing removably attached to the main housing;

a primary display in the primary display housing that presents the graphical user interface; and

a system status display incorporated into the main housing that displays status data received from the ventilation control system and through which secondary commands may be input directly to the ventilation control system, wherein the secondary commands available for selection vary based at least on attachment of the primary display.

2. The ventilation system of claim 1 wherein:

when the ventilation system is ventilating a patient and receiving power from an external power source and the primary display is attached to the main housing and is displaying the graphical user interface, no secondary commands are available for selection via the system status display.

3. The ventilation system of claim 1 wherein:

when the ventilation system is ventilating a patient and is receiving power from an external power source and the primary display is attached to the main housing and is displaying the graphical user interface, one or more of the following secondary commands aremay be available for selection and received from the system status display and delivered to the ventilation control system:

power save,

primary display shut-down,

system status display shut-down,

breath-type change,

pressure support change,

oxygen percent change, and

tidal volume change.

4. The ventilation system of claim 1 wherein:

when the ventilation system is ventilating a patient and is receiving power from an external power source and the primary display is not attached to the main housing or is not displaying the graphical user interface, one or more of the following secondary commands are available for selection on the system status display and received from the system status display-and delivered to the ventilation control system:

power save,

primary display shut-down,

system status display shut-down,

breath-type change,

pressure support change,

oxygen percent change, and

tidal volume change.

5. The ventilation system of claim 1 wherein:

when the ventilation system is ventilating a patient and is receiving power from an internal power source and the primary display is not attached to the main housing or is not displaying the graphical user interface, one or more of the following secondary commands are received from the system status display and delivered to the ventilation control system:

power save,

primary display shut-down,

breath-type change,

pressure support change,

oxygen percent change, and

tidal volume change.

6. The ventilation system of claim 1 wherein:

when the ventilation system is not ventilating a patient and is receiving power from an external power source and the primary display is not attached to the main housing or is not displaying the graphical user interface, one or more of the following secondary commands are received from the system status display and delivered to the ventilation control system:

power save,

primary display shut-down, and

system status display shut-down.

7. The ventilation system of claim 1 wherein:

when the ventilation system is not ventilating a patient and is receiving power from an internal power source and the primary display is not attached to the main housing or is not displaying the graphical user interface, one or more of the following secondary commands are received from the system status display and delivered to the ventilation control system:

power save,

primary display shut-down, and

system status display shut-down.

8. The ventilation system of claim 7 further comprising:

a control switch that turns on the system status display when the ventilation system is not ventilating the patient and is receiving power from the internal power source.

9. A method for controlling a ventilator system comprising:

ventilating a patient with a ventilator system comprising a system status display and a primary display removable from a main ventilator housing;

controlling the system status display with a ventilation control system, wherein the ventilation control system receives and executes user selected secondary commands from the system status display, wherein the secondary commands offered for selection by the system status display vary based at least on attachment of the primary display;

controlling the primary display with a primary display controller, wherein the primary display controller receives and executes user selected primary commands from a graphical user interface of the primary display; and

operating the system status display on less power than an amount of power necessary to operate the primary display.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

determining that the ventilator system is receiving power from an external power source;

determining that the primary display is attached to the main housing and is displaying the graphical user interface; and

selecting to offer no secondary commands on the system status display based on the step of determining that the ventilator system is receiving power from the external power source and based on the step that the primary display is attached to the main housing and is displaying the graphical user interface.

11. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

determining that the ventilator system is receiving power from an external power source;

determining that the primary display is attached to the main housing and is displaying the graphical user interface; and

offering one or more of the following secondary commands on the system status display based on the step of determining that the ventilator system is receiving power from the external power source and based on the step of determining that the primary display is attached to the main housing and is displaying the graphical user interface:

power save,

primary display shut-down,

system status display shut-down,

breath-type change,

pressure support change,

oxygen percent change, and

tidal volume change.

12. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

determining that the ventilator system is receiving power from an external power source;

determining that the primary display is not attached to the main housing or is not displaying the graphical user interface; and

offering one or more of the following secondary commands on the system status display based on the step of determining that the ventilator system is receiving power from the external power source and based on the step of determining that the primary display is not attached to the main housing or is not displaying the graphical user interface:

power save,

primary display shut-down,

breath-type change,

pressure support change,

oxygen percent change, and

tidal volume change.

13. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

determining that the ventilator system is receiving power from an internal power source;

determining that the primary display is not attached to the main housing or is not displaying the graphical user interface; and

offering one or more of the following secondary commands on the system status display based on the step of determining that the ventilator system is receiving power from the internal power source and based on the step of determining that the primary display is not attached to the main housing or is not displaying the graphical user interface:

power save,

primary display shut-down,

breath-type change,

pressure support change,

oxygen percent change, and

tidal volume change.

14. The method of claim 9 , further comprising utilizing less than 50% of power used by the primary display when in operation to power the system status display when in operation.

15. A method for controlling a ventilator system comprising:

controlling a system status display with a ventilation control system, wherein the ventilation control system receives and executes user selected secondary commands from the system status display, wherein the secondary commands offered for selection by the system status display vary based at least on attachment of a primary display;

controlling the primary display with a primary display controller, wherein the primary display controller receives and executes user selected primary commands from a graphical user interface of the primary display; and

operating a system status display on less power than an amount of power necessary to operate the primary display controller.

16. The method of claim 15 , further comprising:

determining that the ventilator system is not ventilating a patient;

determining that the ventilator system is receiving power from an external power source;

determining that the primary display is not attached to a main housing or is not displaying the graphical user interface; and

offering one or more of the following secondary commands on the system status display based on the step of determining that the ventilator system is not ventilating the patient, based on the step of determining that the ventilator system is receiving power from the external power source, and based on the step of determining that the primary display is not attached to the main housing or is not displaying the graphical user interface:

power save,

primary display shut-down,

system status display shut-down,

ventilator status,

breath-type set-up,

pressure support set-up,

oxygen percent set-up, and

tidal volume set-up.

17. The method of claim 15 , further comprising:

determining that the ventilator system is not ventilating a patient;

determining that the ventilator system is receiving power from an internal power source;

determining that the primary display is not attached to the main housing or is not displaying the graphical user interface; and

offering one or more of the following secondary commands on the system status display based on the step of determining that the ventilator system is not ventilating the patient, based on the step of determining that the ventilator system is receiving power from the internal power source, and based on the step of determining that the primary display is not attached to the main housing or is not displaying the graphical user interface:

power save,

primary display shut-down,

system status display shut-down,

breath-type set-up,

pressure support set-up,

oxygen percent set-up, and

tidal volume set-up.

18. A method for displaying ventilation information comprising:

ventilating a patient with a ventilation system comprising a system status display and a primary display removable from a main ventilator housing;

controlling the system status display with a ventilation control system;

controlling the primary display with a primary display controller;

determining that the primary display is removed from the main ventilator housing with the ventilation control system; and

based on the determining step, activating the system status display that runs on less power than an amount of power necessary to operate the primary display with the ventilation control system.

19. A method for displaying ventilation information comprising:

controlling a system status display with a ventilation control system;

controlling a removable primary display with a primary display controller;

determining that the primary display is removed from a main ventilator housing with the ventilation control system; and

based on the determining step, activating the system status display that runs on less power than an amount of power necessary to operate the primary display controller with the ventilation control system.