| abstract |
APPLIANCE TO PROVIDE POSITIVE AIRWAY PRESSURE FOR THE TREATMENT OF SLEEP APNEA, CHRONIC PULMONARY OBSTRUCTION AND snoring. The present invention features a respiratory therapy apparatus (10) that introduces water into the pressurized air applied to a user (12) during various positive airway pressure therapies. The respiratory therapy device can be configured to deliver one or more positive airway pressure therapies, including: continuous positive airway pressure therapy (CPAP), two-level positive airway pressure therapy (BPAP), therapy automatic positive airway pressure (autoPAP), proportional positive airway pressure therapy (PPAP), and / or other positive airway pressure therapies. The respiratory therapy apparatus may include a user interface (40) that defines an interface passage (74) for communicating pressurized air to the user for inhalation and a humidifier (90) that introduces water into the pressurized air, usually in the passage of the interface. |