| 摘要 |
A respiration appliance (10), system (40), and method (62, 72, 86) for supporting the airway of a subject (12) as the subject (12) breaths. The flow of gas from the lungs of the subject (12) during exhalation is leveraged to provide support to the airway. In particular, a body (14) that encloses one or more external orifices of the subject (12) provides a resistance differential between inhaled gas flows and exhaled gas flows that supports the subject's airway. |
| 主权项 |
1. A respiration appliance configured to support an airway of a subject as the subject breaths, the respiration appliance comprising:
a body configured such that when the body is installed on a face of the subject a body-face interface encloses one or more external orifices of the airway of the subject, wherein the body forms a plurality of flow paths between the one or more external orifices of the airway of the subject and ambient atmosphere, the plurality of flow paths comprising a first subset of flow paths made up of one or more of but not all of the plurality of flow paths; a set of one or more inhalation valves disposed only in the first subset of flow paths, wherein the one or more inhalation valves permit gas to flow relatively freely from ambient atmosphere to one or more external orifices of the airway of the subject within the first subset of flow paths, and wherein the one or more inhalation valves significantly resist or seal a flow of gas from the one or more external orifices of the airway of the subject to ambient atmosphere within the first subset of flow paths; a set of one or more exhalation valves disposed in a second subset of flow paths formed by the body, the one or more exhalation valves being configured to permit gas flow from the one or more external orifices of the airway of the subject to ambient atmosphere through the second subset of flow paths, wherein the second subset of flow paths is made up of one or more of the plurality of flow paths formed by the body that are not included in the first subset of flow paths; wherein a cumulative resistance to gas flow within the plurality of flow paths formed by the body for gas passing from ambient atmosphere to the one or more external orifices of the airway of the subject is low enough that the subject can inhale freely through the body, and wherein the cumulative resistance to gas flow within the plurality of flow paths formed by the body for gas passing from the one or more external orifices of the airway of the subject to ambient atmosphere is high enough that exhalation by the subject through the body creates a pressure in the airway of the subject that supports the airway during exhalation; such that the one or more external orifices of the airway of the subject that are enclosed by the body comprise a first external orifice and a second external orifice, wherein at least one of the second subset of flow paths communicates with the first external orifice but not the second external orifice and has disposed therein a first subset of the one or more exhalation valves, wherein at least one of the second subset of flow paths communicates with the second external orifice but not the first external orifice and has disposed therein a second subset of the one or more exhalation valves, and wherein the cumulative resistance of the first subset of the one or more exhalation valves is different than the cumulative resistance of the second subset of the one or more exhalation valves. |
