Nebulizer

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11027076-B2
Application number	US-201816019026-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 26, 2018
Priority date	May 3, 2012
Publication date	Jun 8, 2021
Grant date	Jun 8, 2021

Abstract

A nebulizer comprises a controller linked at its output to a nebulizer head, and at its input to a USB cable and USB plug for connection to a host system. The link between the USB plug and the controller is a USB cable with power and data channels. The controller comprises a boost circuit, a microcontroller 11 , and a drive circuit. The latter provides power and control signals via a cable and proprietary plug to the nebulizer head. These signals provide power and control for a vibrating membrane receiving a liquid to be aerosolised. The controller has a housing with LED status lamps, and an ON/OFF button. The controller can be controlled via a host, either locally or remotely.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for generating aerosol via a nebulizer head, comprising:
delivering power and a plurality of control signals from a host system to a controller via a universal bus cable and a universal bus plug connectable to the host system;
generating a plurality of nebulizer head drive signals based on the plurality of control signals via the controller; and delivering the plurality of nebulizer head drive signals to the nebulizer head via a head cable having a proprietary head plug; and
generating aerosol via the nebulizer head according to the plurality of nebulizer head drive signals.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the controller further includes a boost circuit, the method further including:
generating a voltage supply for a processor and the drive circuit of the controller via the boost circuit.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein a voltage level of the voltage supply is 12V.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of control signals includes at a nebulization flow rate signal, a nebulization pulse rate signal, or an inspiratory/expiratory signal to enable phased nebulization.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of nebulizer head drive signals includes a wet/dry state of the nebulizer head, a nebulizer disconnect status, a cable disconnect status, an error or fault status, or a nebulization duration and time of nebulization.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the delivering the plurality of nebulizer head drive signals to the nebulizer head is done via a drive circuit of the controller, and wherein the drive circuit generates a waveform having a frequency range between 120 kHz and 150 kHz.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein a total power requirement of the controller and of the nebulizer head falls within a power specification of USB protocol.

8. The method of claim 1 , further including:
delivering to the nebulizer head no more than 500 mA at nominal 5V from the controller.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the head cable, controller, and bus cable form an in-line arrangement.

10. A method for generating aerosol via a nebulizer head, comprising:
delivering power and a control signal from a host system to a controller via a universal bus cable and a universal bus plug extending from a first end of the controller, wherein the control signal includes at least one of a nebulization flow rate signal, a nebulization pulse rate signal, or an inspiratory/expiratory signal to enable phased nebulization;
generating a nebulizer head drive signal based on the control signal via the controller;
delivering the nebulizer head drive signal and power to the nebulizer head via a head cable having a proprietary head plug extending from a second end of the controller; and
generating aerosol via the nebulizer head according to the nebulizer head drive signal.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the control signal is one of a plurality of control signals, wherein each control signal of the plurality of control signals is a different type of signal than any other control signal of the plurality of control signals.

12. The method of claim 10 , further including:
uploading to the host system via the universal bus cable and universal bus plug the following nebulizer characteristic information previously captured from the nebulizer head:
a wet/dry state of the nebulizer head,
a nebulizer disconnect status,
a cable disconnect status,
an error or fault status, or
a nebulization duration and time of nebulization.

13. The method of claim 10 , wherein the generating the nebulizer head drive signal is at least partially based on a patient dosing regime.

14. The method of claim 10 , further including:
downloading control instructions from and/or uploading nebulizer data to a remote server.

15. The method of claim 10 , wherein the host system includes a smartphone or tablet computer.

16. The method of claim 10 , wherein the host system is one of a plurality of host systems, each host system of the plurality of host systems including varying configurations and/or functions, and wherein the controller is interchangeably coupleable to each of the plurality of host systems via the bus cable and bus plug.

17. A method for generating aerosol via a nebulizer head, comprising:
delivering power and a plurality of control signals from a host system to a controller via a universal bus cable and a universal bus plug, wherein the plurality of control signals include two or more of a nebulization flow rate signal, a nebulization pulse rate signal, or an inspiratory/expiratory signal to enable phased nebulization;
generating a plurality of nebulizer head drive signals based on the plurality of control signals via the controller, wherein the plurality of nebulizer head drive signals includes two or more of a wet/dry state of the nebulizer head, a nebulizer disconnect status, a cable disconnect status, an error or fault status, or a nebulization duration and time of nebulization;
delivering the plurality of nebulizer head drive signals to the nebulizer head via a head cable having a proprietary head plug, wherein the host system, universal bus plug, universal bus cable, controller, head cable, proprietary head plug, and nebulizer head form an in-line arrangement; and
generating aerosol via the nebulizer head according to the plurality of nebulizer head drive signals.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the controller is interchangeably coupleable to a plurality of host systems of varying configurations and/or functions via the bus plug and bus cable.

19. The method of claim 17 , further including:
downloading control instructions from and/or uploading nebulizer data to a remote server.

20. The method of claim 17 , wherein the generating the nebulizer head drive signal is at least partially based on a patient dosing regime.

Assignees

• Stamford Devices Ltd

Inventors

• Casey Michael
• Grehan Joseph
• Hyland Kieran
• Power John

Classifications

• A61M11/005 Primary

  using ultrasonics (spraying or atomising liquids using ultrasonic vibrations in general B05B17/06) · CPC title

• B05B17/0646

  Vibrating plates, i.e. plates being directly subjected to the vibrations, e.g. having a piezoelectric transducer attached thereto · CPC title

• A61M2205/70

  with testing or calibration facilities · CPC title

• A61M2205/502

  User interfaces, e.g. screens or keyboards · CPC title

• A61M2205/52

  with memories providing a history of measured variating parameters of apparatus or patient · CPC title