A nebulizer providing a moistened breathing mixture of aerosol for inhalation therapy is provided with an improved accumulator chamber and heater configured to heat aerosol discharged from the nebulizer so as to most efficiently utilize the heat energy and to most efficiently transfer heat energy from the heater to the aerosol. Passage of the aerosol through and accumulation in a relatively long annular accumulator chamber that adjoins the heater allows introduction of heated water vapor into the aerosol. A central chamber collects precipitated droplets from the mixing chamber, and a wicking disc flows the collected liquid, under pressure or by wicking action, into the accumulator chamber where it is heated and vaporized.
This application is a continuation-in-part application of application Ser. No. 422,310, filed Oct. 16, 1989 for Nebulizer Heater now U.S. Pat. No. 5,063,921, which in turn is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 280,550, filed Dec. 6, 1988, for Nebulizer Heater (now abandoned), which in turn is a continuation-in-part application of application Ser. No. 120,080, filed Nov. 12, 1987 for Nebulizer Heater, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,819,625.
A device for controlling the breathing gas flow is provided including a breathing gas block (2), a cover (4) and a valve plate (3) as well as a heating device. Condensation effects are prevented from occurring with the supply of the smallest possible amount of energy by provision of a heating foil (16) as a heating element.
Improved nebulizers and aerosol inhalation devices including these nebulizers are provided by this invention. The disclosed nebulizers are suitable for supplying an aerosol mist to a patient and include a liquid inlet for receiving a liquid, a gas inlet for receiving a pressurized gas and an aerosol outlet for providing an aerosol mist. An important aspect of this invention is the addition of gas swirling means or flow controlling means for creating a swirling action or a tangential velocity to the gas forming the aerosol. The nebulizer and other devices of this invention can produce an aerosol mist having an obscuration of at least 10% and a median droplet size of less than 1 .mu.m.
An improved filtration device suitable for reducing exhaled particles in an aerosol inhalation device. The filtration device includes a body portion having an interior chamber which communicates with an inlet and outlet opening through the chamber wall. Within the chamber is a substance recovery media designed to capture a portion of the exhaled particles from the patient and for assisting in returning a portion of the captured particles back to the patient, such as by a nebulizer. The filtration device further includes a filter layer located within the interior chamber for filtering out contaminants, such as viruses and bacteria, in the gaseous medium prior to releasing the remaining portion of the gaseous medium into the environment. Aerosol inhalation devices containing such filters are also provided by this invention.
An aerosol is formed by supplying a material in liquid form to a tube and heating the tube such that the material volatizes and expands out of an open end of the tube. The volatized material combines with ambient air such that volatized material condenses to form the aerosol. An apparatus for generating such an aerosol, and a method for generating such an aerosol, are also disclosed.
Improved aerosol inhalation devices including a nebulizer and a rain-off chamber for returning droplets of liquid medication or diagnostics exhaled by the patient back to the nebulizer for reatomization.
