Method and device for controlling the temperature of the gas flow in medical devices

Inventors

Menzel, Felix • Zeyßig, Andreas • Korner, Johannes

Assignees

WOM World of Medicine GmbH

Abstract

Disclosed are methods for measuring and controlling the gas temperature in medical procedures. In embodiments of the disclosed methods a gas is supplied to a patient using a gas supply device and a supply line. A heating system heats the gas using a heating wire prior to the gas being provided to the patient. A controller electrically controls the heating power of the heating wire based on an estimated value of a temperature at an exit of the heating system obtained from a mathematical estimation system, wherein a resistance of the heating wire is an input variable of the mathematical estimation system.

Core Innovation

The invention relates to methods and medical devices for measuring and controlling the gas temperature in medical methods. A gas is supplied to a patient using a gas supply device and a supply line, and the gas is heated to a desired temperature prior to being provided to the patient. Heating occurs using a heating wire positioned within the supply line.

The heating power of the heating wire is electrically controlled based on an estimated value of a temperature of the gas at an exit of the heating system. The estimated exit temperature is obtained from a mathematical estimation system configured as a state observer. The resistance of the heating wire and current gas flow volume are used as input variables of the mathematical estimation system.

In embodiments, the state observer is configured as a Luenberger observer to estimate the gas exit temperature. The mathematical estimation system obtains the estimated value of the exit temperature and provides a basis for controlling the heating power of the heating wire. The controller uses the estimated exit temperature together with the heating-wire resistance and the current gas flow volume as inputs for the estimation and control.

Claims Coverage

The partial set includes two independent claims: one for a method and one for a medical device. Across these, the core inventive features are centered on in-line heating using a heating wire and estimating a gas exit temperature via a mathematical estimation system configured as a state observer using heating-wire resistance and current gas flow volume as input variables.

The independent claims require in-line heating via a heating wire within the supply line, heating power control based on an estimated gas exit temperature, and estimation of the exit temperature using a mathematical estimation system configured as a state observer with heating-wire resistance and current gas flow volume as input variables.

Stated Advantages

Documented Applications