Exhalation valve with flow transducer

摘要

An exhalation flow transducer through which a mammalian patient is permitted to exhale, comprising: a housing having a fluid flow path deflectable in the direction of fluid flow through said flow path to create a pressure differential upstream and downstream of said flapper within said flow path; a first pressure port located upstream of said flapper; a second pressure port located downstream of said flapper; means for measuring the pressure differential between said first pressure port and second pressure port; a data storage device storing specific flow/pressure calibration information representing the actual fluid flow through the flow path for a given pressure differential between the first pressure port and second pressure port; and means for computing the flow rate of fluid flow through the flow path based upon the pressure differential existing between the first and second pressure port and the specific flow calibration information stored in said data storage device.