Patent · US Expired

Drying sample line

US5042500A · kind A · utility

139Cited by
4References
2Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateJun 18, 1990
Grant dateAug 27, 1991
Priority date
Expiry dateJun 18, 2010

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC A)Human Necessities
  • CPC primaryA61B5/083
  • WIPO fieldMedical technology
  • WIPO sectorInstruments

Abstract

A drying sample line for coupling a patient's expiratory gases to a gas analyzer consists of first and second concentrically disposed tubes where the innermost tube is fabricated from Nafion plastic. The expiratory gas is drawn through the lumen of the Nafion inner tube and, simultaneously, dried air is made to pass through the lumen of the outer tube in a counterflow direction relative to the expiratory gases. Because of the properties of the Nafion plastic, water vapor (moisture) contained in the expiratory gas being coupled to the analyzer passes through the wall of the Nafion tube and into the dried air stream. In this fashion, the water vapor is removed from the expiratory gas mixture being applied to the analyzer.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.