FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[001] The subject invention generally relates to a biomedical device and, more
particularly, to an improved system for controlling and monitoring the pressure of a cuff
of an endotracheal tube, by using an externally connected devices.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[002] The present exposure relates by and large to the biomedical device and,
all the more especially, to tracheal tubes that incorporate controlled-pressure cuffs. This
area is expected to acquaint the peruser with different parts of the art that might be
identified with various aspects of the present invention, which are portrayed and
additionally guaranteed underneath. This discussion is accepted to be useful in
furnishing the peruser with foundation data to encourage a superior comprehension of
the different parts of the present invention. As needs be, it ought to be comprehended
that these statements are to be perused in this light, and not as confirmations of earlier
prior-art. Throughout treating a patient, a tracheal tube (e.g., endotracheal,
nasotracheal, or transtracheal gadget) might be utilized to control the stream of gases
into the trachea of a patient. Often, a seal between the outside of the tube and the
interior wall of the tracheal lumen is required, considering the age of positive
intrathoracic pressure distal to the seal and counteractive action of entrance of strong or
fluid issue into the lungs from proximal to the seal. The seal might be given by utilizing a
cuff circumferentially arranged about a tube or lumen of the tracheal tube. The cuff
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might be inflated to a size appropriate for adjoining against the patient's airway, thus
sealing the airway. It is useful to accommodate enhanced cuffs that all the more
sealingly connect to the patient's airways.
[003] Various ideas have been implemented which monitor and control the
pressure of the cuff of the endotracheal tube and a few of them have been discussed
below:
[004] US 20160038699 A1 relates to a cuff pressure controller device. The
device is connected to a foregoing cuff via an air supply tube. The cuff pressure
controller device includes a controller unit, a cuff pressure detector unit, a driver circuit,
a piezoelectric pump, a check valve, and a release valve. The cuff pressure detector
unit detects the cuff pressure of the cuff. The driver circuit drives the piezoelectric pump
at a drive frequency of 20 kHz or higher. The controller unit controls the cuff pressure
detector unit, the driver circuit, and the release valve in such a way that the cuff
pressure stays within a predetermined range based on detection results of the cuff
pressure detector unit and the like.
[005] US 5235973 A discloses a tracheal tube is equipped with two air lines to
the inflatable cuff, one for monitoring cuff pressure and another of larger diameter for
inflating the cuff. Intracuff pressure monitored via the smaller diameter line is
continuously displayed. A cuff pressure control system allows independent adjustment
of cuff pressure via the larger diameter line from high pressure during inspiration to low
pressure during expiration. The switchover point is determined by a detecting pressure
monitor in the mechanical ventilator inspiration line. The circuit also adjusts
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automatically to changes in the baseline expiration pressure. The output of a
bidirectional mass flow sensor tracks airflow in the cuff inflation line and is integrated to
indicate volume. Volume into the cuff is then compared to volume out of the cuff to
detect cuff leakage.
[006] US 4159722 A describes an improved pressure regulator for an inflatable
cuff on an endotracheal tube or the like. The system includes a housing which contains
a valve assembly and a pressure regulating chamber. The housing is adapted to be
connected to an inflatable cuff so that the pressure regulating chamber communicates
with the cuff through the valve assembly. The valve assembly permits slow increases in
air pressure in the cuff to be transferred into the pressure regulating chamber, thereby
preventing over-inflation of the cuff, and closes in response to relatively rapid pressure
changes in the cuff to prevent collapsing of the cuff when the pressure of the air or other
gas delivered through the endotracheal tube (e.g., by a respirator) is relatively high. A
spring-biased piston is disposed in the pressure regulating chamber for regulating the
pressure in an inflatable cuff to which the regulator housing is connected, and a rolling
diaphragm covers the piston. The housing is constructed of a transparent material so as
to provide attending personnel with a visual indication of the pressure in the pressure
regulating chamber and a cuff to which the housing is connected.
[007] The conventional system and devices suffer the drawback that they don’t
have any display device for demonstrating the output values on a portable device,
rather than on the wire connected display unit. Further, the utilization of costly weight
sensors, eventually that makes the production costs high without any portability. The
pressure sensor could not detect the minor change of pressure in the cuff, where the
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practitioner required moderately the exceptionally delicate information. Numerous
research efforts have investigated for sensing the pressure of the cuff of the
endotracheal tube ETT and arrived at a similar conclusion, however the past
expressions do exclude a diaphragm pumping chamber that is activated by an actuator
on receiving the input from the microcontroller for inflating the cuff of the ETTs.
[008] It is alluring to provide a system, i.e. an endotracheal tube with a
controlled pressure cuff, having a portable user interface UI, which is more basic and
economical in planning and development when contrasted with earlier inventions, and
further which is simpler to work and keep up. Such a system for keeping up the
pressure of the cuff of the ETT should likewise be equipped for demonstrating the
information and data esteems on the user mobile device with no physical link
association, and the earlier arts based devices are restricted in their interfacing
capacities. It would in this way be attractive to give a propelled device, which isn't just
basic in its method of task, however, which can likewise provide the mobile user
interface and work from that mobile user interface.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
[009] Some of the objects of the present invention satisfied by at least one
embodiment of the present invention are as follows:
[010] An object of the present invention is to provide an endotracheal tube with
a controlled pressure cuff, having a portable user interface UI.
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[011] Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a detachable
assembly, which can be placed on the upper outlet part of an inflation tube of the
endotracheal tube ETT.
[012] Another object of the present invention is to provide a portable device with
a user interface UI, which directly display the output on the screen of the portable
device.
[013] Still another object of the present invention is to provide a simple
mechanism for maintaining the pressure of a cuff of the endotracheal tube ETT.
[014] These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will
become more apparent from the following description, when read with the
accompanying figures of drawing, which are however not intended to limit the scope of
the present invention in any way.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[015] In the view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of
endotracheal tube with controlled-pressure cuff, which use various electronics modules
such as, but not limited to, a controller unit, a cuff pressure detector unit, a driver circuit, a
piezoelectric pump, a check valve, and a release valve, now present in the prior art, the
present invention provides a simple system for maintaining a pressure of a cuff of an
endotracheal tube ETT and tracking related vital parameters. As such, the general
purpose of the present invention to provide an assembly, which is connected to the
portable device and having a user friendly interface, where the user interface is
implemented on the portable device and further the portable device and the tracheal tube
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assembly are connected through an Ad-hoc network, which will be described
subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a new and improved, which has all the
advantages of the prior art and none of the disadvantages.
[016] An object of the invention is to provide the assembly, which incorporates
two sorts of valves helpful in limiting or releasing of the inflated gas in the cuff of the
endotracheal tube ETT.
[017] Another object of the present invention to provide the diaphragm pump unit,
that is turn on or off after a coveted time, which is controlled by a microcontroller for
making a pressure-controlled cuff system.
[018] Another object of the present invention to provide the assembly, which
expands the cuff at a coveted pressure, the diaphragm pump unit may enhance a seal
between the outside of the tube and the interior wall of the patient's tracheal lumen,
subsequently accommodating enhanced respiratory help and conveyance of therapeutic
liquids.
[019] Another object of the present invention to provide the user interface on the
portable device, which helps the user to demonstrate the output data values for the
pressure of the cuff of the endotracheal tube ETT and related vital parameters with their
requisite graphical presentation.
[020] Another object of the present invention to provide the portable device,
which receives cautions and related voice warnings as indications the status of the
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pressure of the cuff of the endotracheal tube ETT and related vital parameters to the
user.
[021] Another object of the present invention to provide the assembly, which is
straightforward and doesn't have any sort of bacterial contamination while utilizing the
regular endotracheal tube ETT onto the patient in light of the fact that the entire assembly
play out all activity through a remotely found separable bit of electronic segments in a
single assembly and no electronic part goes inside the patient's tracheal lumen.
[022] In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention
in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the
details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the
following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other
embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be
understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of
description and should not be regarded as limiting.
[023] These together with other objects of the invention, along with the various
features of novelty which characterize the invention, are pointed out with particularity in
the disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and
the specific objects attained by its uses, reference should be had to the accompanying
drawings and descriptive matter in which there are illustrated preferred embodiments of
the invention.
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BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[024] The invention will be better understood and objects other than those set
forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed
description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:
[025] FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram showing the working of an assembly of an
endotracheal tube with a controlled pressure cuff in accordance with an embodiment of
the present invention;
[026] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the tracheal tube assembly with the regular
endotracheal tube in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention;
[027] FIG. 3 depicts a portable device interacting with the tracheal tube assembly
in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention;
[028] FIG. 4 depicts a data flow diagram between the tracheal tube assembly and
the portable device in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[029] In the following detailed description, reference is made to the
accompanying drawings which form a part hereof, and in which is shown by way of
illustration specific embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. These
embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice
the invention, and it is to be understood that the embodiments may be combined, or that
other embodiments may be utilized and that structural and logical changes may be made
without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. The following
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detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the
present invention is defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.
[030] Referring now to the drawings, there is illustrated, in FIG. 1, showing a
block diagram of a tracheal tube assembly 200 with an endotracheal tube 100. The whole
tracheal tube assembly 200 includes a pressure sensing unit 210, a diaphragm pump unit
220, an electronic pressure release valve 215, an emergency pressure release valve
225, and a microcontroller 205 for receiving input and controlling the pressure of a cuff of
an endotracheal tube 100.
[031] In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the pressure
sensing unit 210 is configured to measure a pressure of the cuff of an endotracheal tube
100. The pressure sensor unit 210 is placed inside the tracheal tube assembly 200 in
conjunction with the analog to digital converter ADC 230, enabling the microcontroller
205 to receive the digital form of the data related to the pressure of the cuff of the
endotracheal tube 100.
[032] In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the diaphragm
pump unit 220 is used for inflating the cuff of the endotracheal tube 100 under a
controlled mechanism. Further, the control mechanism is accomplished by the
microcontroller 205 through processing of the controlled information about the inflating
the cuff to the diaphragm pump unit 220 via a pump driving unit 240.
[033] In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the electronic
pressure release valve 215 deflates the cuff of the endotracheal tube 100 under the
controlled mechanism. There might be a condition when the user/physician needs to
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decrease the air/gas from the cuff of the endotracheal tube 100, all things considered, the
electronic pressure release valve 215 consequently deflates the cuff with the pined
pressure and the required volume of the air/gas.
[034] The electronic pressure release valve 215 receives input from the
microcontroller 205 via a valve driving unit 235, the valve driving unit 235 is used for
accomplishing the controlled mechanism, which determines the electronic pressure
release valve 215, when should be activated and deactivated.
[035] In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the emergency
pressure release valve 225 is additionally placed on the assembly for deflating the cuff in
the event of failure of the controlled mechanism, unless the microcontroller 205 receives
the esteemed input values from the related electronic components.
[036] Referring to FIG. 2, illustrates a perspective view of the working of the
tracheal tube assembly 200 for providing the endotracheal tube 100 with the controlled
pressure cuff 105 in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention.
[037] In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, the
tracheal tube assembly 200 is placed on an upper outlet part of an inflation tube 110 of
the endotracheal tube 100 by utilizing a detachable connector 250. Thusly, the tracheal
tube assembly 200 turns into a different separate detachable module from the ordinary
endotracheal tube and functioning admirably in a unique hardware producer OEM
environment.
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[038] In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, the
tracheal tube assembly 200 is having a monitoring screen 245 mounted on it, which helps
the user/physician to observe the output data values of the pressure of the cuff 105 of the
endotracheal tube 100. Preferably, the output data values are, but not limited to,
displayed as graphical representations. These representations and charts demonstrate
all related vitals required for maintaining the pressure of the cuff 105 of the endotracheal
tube 100.
[039] In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, the
tracheal tube assembly 200 is configured to store a multiple light emitting diodes LEDs
255 for providing lighting effects that help the user/physician for observing a
predetermined status of the cuff 105 of the endotracheal tube ETT 100 in a simple way.
The predetermined status to a user of the tracheal tube assembly 200 includes a
pressure of a cuff 105 of an endotracheal tube 100 and related vital parameters.
[040] The tracheal tube assembly 200 is fundamentally utilized for coordinating all
the electronic parts to make a versatile system, which further stores a rechargeable
battery and a sound system for producing a sound alert to the user/physician.
[041] FIG. 3 depicts a portable device 300 for connecting the tracheal tube
assembly 200 in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention. The
portable device 300 for connecting the tracheal tube assembly 200 includes a user
interface 305, a display unit 310, an ad-hoc wireless network module 315, and a voice
notification or the like feature.
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[042] In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, the user
interface 305 is programmed for interacting with the microcontroller 205 of the tracheal
tube assembly 200 without direct physical involvement with the tracheal tube assembly
200. The user interface 305 might be programmed in a requisite programming language,
although, it can further alter as indicated by the accessibility of the programming
environment.
[043] In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, the
display unit 310 is designed to append a set of input values through the user interface
305 and exhibiting a set of output values provided by the microcontroller 205 of the
tracheal tube assembly 200.
[044] In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, the adhoc
wireless network module 315 connects the microcontroller 205 of the tracheal tube
assembly 200. Although, the tracheal tube assembly 200 likewise has its wireless
networking module, and the user interface 305 through both wireless networking modules
produces a unique pairing code between the portable device and the tracheal tube
assembly 200. Through this unique pairing code, the single user interface 305 can
interact with more than one tracheal tube assembly 200.
[045] In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, the voice
notification is received on the portable device 300 from the tracheal tube assembly 200
for reporting the predetermined status to a user of the tracheal tube assembly 200.
Although, the notification is not constrained to just voice notification, it can likewise be as
text content and so forth.
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[046] Referring now to FIG. 4, a data flow diagram between the tracheal tube
assembly 200 and the portable device 300 in accordance with another embodiment of the
present invention.
[047] In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, firstly, the
tracheal tube assembly 200 is attached with the regular endotracheal tube 100 through
the detachable connector 250 and further activated for performing its functions by
pressing the power button of the tracheal tube assembly 200.
[048] In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, the
portable device 300, (i.e. A handheld device) connects with the tracheal tube assembly
200 through the ad-hoc wireless network module 315. The user/physician can easily
analyse the condition and status of the cuff of the endotracheal tube 100 on the portable
device 300 and further can operate all the electronic parts according to the necessity, like
for increasing or decreasing the pressure of the cuff of the endotracheal tube 100.
[049] It is to be understood that the above description is intended to be illustrative, and
not restrictive. For example, the above-discussed embodiments may be used in
combination with each other. Many other embodiments will be apparent to those of skill
in the art upon reviewing the above description.
[050] The benefits and advantages which may be provided by the present invention
have been described above with regard to specific embodiments. These benefits and
advantages, and any elements or limitations that may cause them to occur or to
become more pronounced are not to be construed as critical, required, or essential
features of any or all of the embodiments.
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[051] While the present invention has been described with reference to particular
embodiments, it should be understood that the embodiments are illustrative and that the
scope of the invention is not limited to these embodiments. Many variations,
modifications, additions and improvements to the embodiments described above are
possible. It is contemplated that these variations, modifications, additions and
improvements fall within the scope of the invention

We claim:
1. A tracheal tube assembly 200, comprising:
a pressure sensing unit 210 for measuring a pressure of a cuff 105 of an
endotracheal tube 100;
a diaphragm pump unit 220 for inflating the cuff 105 of the endotracheal tube 100
under a controlled mechanism;
an electronic pressure release valve 215 for deflating the cuff 105 of the
endotracheal tube 100 under the controlled mechanism;
an emergency pressure release valve 225 for deflating the cuff in case of a failure of
the controlled mechanism;
a microcontroller 205 for controlling the controlled mechanism and receiving input
from the pressure sensing unit via an analog to digital converter ADC 230; and
a lighting effect for reporting a predetermined status to a user of the tracheal tube
assembly 200.
2. The assembly 200 as claimed in claim 1, wherein the tracheal tube assembly 200 is
placed on an upper outlet part of an inflation tube 110 of the endotracheal tube 100.
3. The assembly 200 as claimed in claim 1, wherein the tracheal tube assembly 200 is
placed on an upper outlet part of the inflation tube 110 of the endotracheal tube 100 by
using a detachable connector 250.
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4. The assembly 200 as claimed in claim 1, wherein the predetermined status to a user
of the tracheal tube assembly 200 includes a pressure of the cuff of the endotracheal
tube 100 and related vital parameters.
5. The assembly 200 as claimed in claim 1, wherein the diaphragm pump unit 220 is
driven by a pump driving unit 240.
6. The assembly 200 as claimed in claim 1, wherein the electronic pressure release
valve 215 is driven by a valve driving unit 235.
7. The assembly 200 as claimed in claim 1, wherein the tracheal tube assembly 200 is
having a rechargeable battery unit for providing power to the whole components.
8. A portable device 300 for connecting a tracheal tube assembly 200, comprising:
a user interface 305 for interacting with a microcontroller 205 of the tracheal tube
assembly 200;
a display unit 310 for providing a set of input values through the user interface 305
and demonstrating a set of output values provided by the microcontroller 205 of the
tracheal tube assembly 200;
an ad-hoc wireless network module 315 for connecting the microcontroller 205 of the
tracheal tube assembly 200; and
a voice notification for reporting the predetermined status to a user of the tracheal
tube assembly 200.
9. The portable device 300 as claimed in claim 7, wherein the predetermined status to
a user of the tracheal tube assembly 200 includes a pressure of a cuff of an
endotracheal tube 100 and related vital parameters.