Importance

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Abstract

A system supplies discrete puffs of gas, containing particles of an active product, to a patient's respiratory tract. A nebulizer containing the particles is in a gas circuit supplying gas to the user. A gas flow control delivers a metered amount of the gas to the nebulizer and to the user in each puff. Breath phases of the patient are sensed for initiating each of the puffs at the correct point in the breath cycle, and for counting the puffs. The sequence of puffs is programmably controlled and the puffs in a predetermined sequence according to a puff sequence program. The puff sequence program includes a maximum number of puffs, times and dates of treatment, etc. A transportable memory storage unit, such as a chip or a magnetic card, is used for transporting the puff sequence program to the controller, which includes a reader/writer to accept the puff sequence program from the memory storage unit, and also for recording the times and amounts actually used by the patient on the memory storage unit. A physician's programing station is used for for entering the puff sequence program onto the memory storage unit and reading back the treatments taken by the patient.

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First Claim