Many of you with breathing difficulties will recognize this Respironics Side Stream Plus nebulizer set. As an asthmatic I have experienced the use of other brands and models upon visits to physicians offices and ERs. As also a retired biomedical engineering tech, I get that this is the only one I'm aware of that doesn't waste the medication vapor constantly produced by the nebulizer to room air between inhalation and exhalation. The others are, literally wasteful! It's also the one I was originally supplied with for home use by Lincare.
Just behind the mouthpiece you can see the top of a silastic valve flapper that stays closed to room air except when the patient is inhaling. Also, on the top of the mouthpiece there is another silastic flapper valve that opens when the patient exhales. At exhalation the internal flapper is held closed. That is exactly how this set uniquely conserves the medicated vapor the nebulizer produces for patient inhalation only!
Here's what mine looks like with their "Mini Elite" nebulizer pump. This one clearly has the battery for cordless operation installed to the underside of the pump. Mine has no battery attached.
I'll be editing this post in the future with description and illustrations of how the pumps work as well as how the sets work. Here's a start:
