A nasal CPAP treatment apparatus is disclosed with a flow generator coupled to a nasal mask. The mask has a nasal cushion forming a nose-receiving cavity. The cushion has a triangularly-shaped frame of resilient material with a mask engaging portion connected by a side wall to a face engaging portion which has a nasal bridge region, a cheek region and a lip region. The cushion may have a portion of the side wall in the nasal bridge region being other than straight to provide an improved sealing in the nasal bridge region. A plurality of membranes, preferably three, of resilient material extend substantially around the triangularly-shaped frame. Some of the membranes are thicker in the lip region than in the nasal bridge region to improve fit of the cushion in use.
RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application, pursuant to 37 C.F.R. .sctn. 1.78(c), claims priority based on provisional application Ser. No. 60/291,902 filed May 18, 2001 and provisional application Ser. No. 60/314,141 filed Aug. 22, 2001.
A patient interface is described which is reduces the pressure of the mask on the users face. The patient interface has a sealing interface having an inner sealing member and an outer sealing member. The inner and outer sealing members are adapted to seal around the facial contours of a user providing a sealed fluid communication to the user's respiratory tract. The inner and outer sealing members are at least continuously in contact with each other around the portions where the sealing interface contacts the user's facial contours. The inner sealing member may be provided with cut outs to provide additional flexibility to particular areas, such as the nasal bridge, upper lip or cheek regions and may be provided with a contoured edge to better fit the facial contours of a user.
A respiratory mask is provided having an outer shell coupled to a cushion for the delivery of a gas to a user. The cushion of the respiratory mask has a pleat and varied wall thicknesses about the device in order to provide varying degrees of flexibility and support about the cushion.
A nasal cushion (30) comprises a substantially triangularly shaped frame (32) from which extends a membrane (34). The frame (32) has a scalloped edge (36) by which the cushion (30) is affixed to a mask body. The membrane (34) has an aperture (38) into which the wearer's nose is received. The membrane (34) is spaced away from the rim (40) of the frame (32), and its outer surface (41) is of substantially the same shape as the rim (40). Respective notches (42,44) receive the bridge of the wearer's nose. The wearer's nose is received through the aperture (38) into the chamber within the mask body (46). The seal forming portion (45) thus contacts both the surface of the wearer's nose and a portion of the wearer's face in the region between the base of the nose and the upper lip, and around the sides and over the bridge of the nose. The shape of the seal forming portion (45) is particularly suited to effectively seal the difficult region of the facial contour that is the crease between the sides of the nose and the face.
