Abstract: The present invention is concerned with an electrode and electrode catheter using thin metallic threads or wires, for example, microwires having diameters as low as 10?6 to 10?4 meters or less. The embodiments allow for the efficient mounting of at least one electrode on a catheter, resulting in the creation of a flexible ring-microelectrode that is suitable for, amongst other things, the detection of myoelectrical activity in a patient's muscle, such as the diaphragm or other inspiratory-related muscle.

Abstract: The present invention is concerned with an electrode and electrode catheter using thin metallic threads or wires, for example, microwires having diameters as low as 10?6 to 10?4 meters or less. The embodiments allow for the efficient mounting of at least one electrode on a catheter, resulting in the creation of a flexible ring-microelectrode that is suitable for, amongst other things, the detection of myoelectrical activity in a patient's muscle, such as the diaphragm or other inspiratory-related muscle.

Abstract: Described are an electrode and electrode catheter using thin metallic threads or wires, for example, microwires having diameters as low as 10?6 to 10?4 meters or less. The embodiments allow for the efficient mounting of at least one electrode on a catheter, resulting in the creation of a flexible ring-microelectrode that is suitable for, amongst other things, the detection of myoelectrical activity in a patient's muscle, such as the diaphragm or other inspiratory-related muscle.

Abstract: A medical device has a cuff adapted to be positioned in the trachea of a subject with a patient tube, and a first tube having a distal end coupled to the cuff and a proximal end communicable with the surroundings. More effective and simpler sample taking and/or dosing of medicament is achieved by a second tube that is coupled with a distal end to the cuff and communicable with the surroundings via a proximal end, together with a pumping device that is connected to the proximal end of the first tube and to the proximal end of the second tube in order to circulate a fluid through the cuff. The cuff has a membrane that is permeable to a specific substance, the membrane being disposed to allow transfer of the specific substance between the interior and the exterior of the cuff.

Abstract: In a method and device for preparation of a medicament for the treatment of lungs having a surfactant deficiency, a sample from a patient is quantitatively analyzed with regard to at least one of the proteins SP-A, SP-B, SP-C and SP-D, a determination is made as to whether a deficiency of one of the analyzed protein SP-A, SP-B, SP-C or SP-D exists and if that is the case, a determination is made of a therapeutically effective dose of a replacement substance for the analyzed protein SP-A, SP-B, SP-C or SP-D, and a medicament containing the therapeutically effective dose of the replacement substance is prepared.

Abstract: In conjunction with the diagnosis of conditions in and treatment of the lungs, a small amount of NO is supplied to the lungs in some cases. A gas mixture for this purpose is disclosed in which an inert, non-toxic trace gas is present in an exact concentration in relation to NO, in order to simply and safely control the amount of NO then supplied to the lungs. The amount of NO supplied can be determined by determining the concentration of the trace gas. A method and device for administering breathing gas to a patient together with the aforementioned gas mixture are also disclosed.

Abstract: A device which supplies breathing gas mixed with an additive gas to a patient for pulmonary diagnosis or pulmonary treatment includes a gas mixing unit through which a relatively large flow of breathing gas is achieved from a first gas source through a first pressure regulator and a second pressure regulator. The breathing gas passes through a connecting tube from which the patient can breathe spontaneously through an inspiration tube, thereby inhaling air from the connecting tube. Expired gas passes via an expiration tube to the connecting tube. Additive gas is supplied from a separate gas source via a second pressure regulator and a second flow regulator. The additive gas is supplied in a flow which is considerably smaller than the flow of breathing gas, permitting a very small but accurate concentration of the additive gas to be achieved in the breathing gas. The large flow prevents a reactive additive gas from reacting before being supplied to the patient.

Abstract: In a method for supplying fresh gas in manual ventilation of a patient and in a ventilator system for practicing the method, the supply of fresh gas to a breathing bag is regulated. During inspiration, the breathing bag is squeezed, imposing an inspiration on the patient. A detector at the breathing bag senses when the patient exhales, and an identical flow of gas is fed to the system via an inspiratory valve, the flow of fresh gas is directed into the breathing bag and expired gas is prevented from entering the breathing bag. An expiratory valve simultaneously opens to conduct expired gas out of the system.

Abstract: A ventilator to be connected to the airways of a human or an animal includes several functional units, each functional unit being controlled and/or supervised by a separate microprocessor. At least one of the functional units has an analog control unit whereby the microprocessor only compensates for the coarseness in the regulating function of the analog control unit to increase the accuracy. This makes the ventilator efficient, accurate and safe.

Abstract: A respirator has a bypass gas flow and respective valves in the inspiration and expiration lines for setting the gas flow through these lines. A control unit actuates the valves so that a respiratory cycle is produced and such that the bypass gas flow is maintained during expiration. The expiration pressure is identified by a pressure sensor. When this expiration pressure falls below a prescribed value, a new inspiration phase is triggered. To improve this triggering, the patient gas flow is identified by a flow meter, and the prescribed pressure value is varied dependent on the identified patient gas flow.

Abstract: A device for displaying a parameter value has at least one row of light-emitting diodes in which each light-emitting diode has a position input, and the device has a control circuit with address outputs connected to the position inputs. Faults, such as a short-circuit can be detected more easily by an improved interconnection of the address outputs and position inputs such that two adjacent address outputs are connected to two position inputs physically separated by at least one position input.

Abstract: An apparatus, such as a ventilator, for regulating the flow-through amount of a flowing medium, such as a gas, has a valve with a variable orifice operated by a first regulating circuit with negative feedback. The regulating variable generated by the first regulating circuit controls the size of the orifice so that the difference between a desired value and an actual value for the flow-through amount os minimized, toward zero. To achieve rapid changes in the flow-through amount with a high regulating precision, at least one further regulating circuit is provided to which the regulating variable of the first regulating circuit is supplied as the desired value. The actual value for the further regulating circuit may be the measured position of the closure element for the orifice. The bandwidth and the gain can be optimized for each regulating circuit. The energy consumption can be lowered by current recovery and battery operation can be simplified, in the event of a power outage.

Abstract: Equipment for administering gaseous anesthetic to a patient has at least one anesthetic reservoir serving as the originating source for anesthetic and a ventilator to which the gas is supplied from the reservoir, the ventilator being in communication with the breathing passages of a patient. To maintain the consumption of anesthetic gas as low as possible and to also assure that the patient is constantly ventilated with fresh anesthetic gas having a defined consumption, the exhalation gas from the patient is fed back to the originating anesthetic source via at least one filter in which predetermined gas components, such as water vapor and carbon dioxide are filtered out. The exhalation gas may be returned to the originating source either directly or through a compressor.