Components for medical circuits

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9468733-B2
Application number	US-201113805640-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 16, 2011
Priority date	Jun 22, 2010
Publication date	Oct 18, 2016
Grant date	Oct 18, 2016

Abstract

Condensation or “rain-out” is a problem in medical circuits and previous attempts to manage and/or prevent rain-out have resulted in relatively expensive and/or difficult to manufacture medical circuit components. The subject patent provides an improved medical circuit component for managing rain-out. In particular the component may be an improved breathing tube, or insufflation system limb comprising a helically corrugated tube preferably incorporating a heater wire.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A component comprising:
a helically corrugated tube wherein the corrugation profile comprises alternating outer crests and inner troughs,
a heater wire associated with said outer crests,
wherein each said outer crest comprises a peak region, and the peak regions include local troughs comprising a small inward dip, and
said heater wire associated with said outer crests is located within said dip.

2. A component as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said tube has a substantially uniform wall thickness.

3. A component as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said tube has a maximum wall thickness not exceeding 3 times the minimum wall thickness.

4. A component as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said outer crests correspond to a location of maximum inner radius and maximum outer radius of said tube, and said inner troughs correspond to a location of minimum inner radius and minimum outer radius of said tube.

5. A component as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said tube includes an outer sheath supported on said outer crests.

6. A component as claimed in claim 5 , wherein said outer sheath traps air between adjacent outer crests.

7. A component as claimed in claim 5 , wherein said outer sheath restrains said heater wire associated with said outer crests in said local trough.

8. A component as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said helically corrugated tube includes multiple helix corrugations.

9. A component as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said component further comprises a heater wire associated with said inner troughs.

10. A component as claimed in claim 9 , wherein said heater wire associated with said inner troughs has a different heating density than said heater wire associated with said outer crests.

11. A component as claimed in claim 10 , wherein said heater wire associated with said inner troughs has a lower heating density than said heater wire associated with said outer crests.

12. A component as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said helically corrugated tube has a varying helix pitch.

13. A component as claimed in claim 12 , wherein said helically corrugated tube has a continuously variable helix pitch.

14. A component as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said component is one of:
a conduit for use in at least part of the exhaust arm of an insufflation system,
a breathing tube for use in a breathing circuit and
a catheter mount or tube for connection to a patient interface.

15. A medical circuit tube as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said tube is flexible as defined by passing the test for increase in flow resistance with bending according to ISO 5367.

16. A component as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said tube is an extruded corrugated tube.

17. A component as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said tube is a breathing tube and is terminated by a first connector at an inlet and a second connector at an outlet, and wherein only one gases passageway is provided the length between said inlet connector and said outlet connector.

18. A component as claimed in claim 1 , wherein at least at one end of said tube is a corrugation transition region wherein said helical corrugations transition to a substantially annular corrugation.

19. A component as claimed in claim 18 , wherein each end of said tube includes a corrugation transition region where said helical corrugations transition to a substantially annular corrugation.

20. A component as claimed in claim 1 , wherein an inner surface of the outer crest and an inner surface of the peak region are in contact with gases within the corrugated tube.

21. A method of forming a component comprising:
extruding a tube,
passing said extruded tube into a corrugator and forming corrugations in said extruded tube having a corrugation profile comprising alternating outer crests and inner troughs, and
wherein each said outer crest comprises a peak region, and the peak regions include local troughs comprising a small inward dip,
wherein said corrugations are helical, and
wherein said method further comprises a step of winding at least one heater wire into said local trough.

22. A method of forming a component as claimed in claim 21 , wherein said method further comprises applying an outer sheath over said component.

23. A method of forming a component as claimed in claim 22 , wherein said step of applying said sheath comprises extruding a sheath over said component.

24. A method of forming a component as claimed in claim 21 , wherein said extruded tube has a substantially uniform wall thickness at the time of corrugating.

25. A method of forming a component as claimed in claim 21 , wherein said outer crests correspond to a location of maximum inner radius and maximum outer radius of said component, and said inner troughs correspond to a location of minimum inner radius and minimum outer radius of said component.

26. A method of forming a component as claimed in claim 21 , wherein said helically corrugated component includes multiple helix corrugations.

27. A method of forming a component as claimed in claim 21 , wherein said method further comprises a step of winding at least one heater wire into said inner troughs.

28. A method of forming a component as claimed in claim 27 , wherein said heater wire associated with said inner troughs has a different heating density than said heater wire associated with said outer crests.

29. A method of forming a component as claimed in claim 28 , wherein said heater wire associated with said inner troughs has a lower heating density than said heater wire associated with said outer crests.

30. A method of forming a component as claimed in claim 21 , wherein said helically corrugated component has a varying helix pitch.

31. A method of forming a component as claimed in claim 30 , wherein said helically corrugated component has a continuously variable helix pitch.

32. A method of forming a component as claimed in claim 21 , wherein said tube is flexible as defined by passing the test for increase in flow resistance with bending according to ISO 5367.

33. A method of forming a component as claimed in claim 21 , wherein said method further comprises terminating a first end with a first connector, and terminating a second end with a second connector, and wherein only one gases passageway is formed between said first connector and said second connector.

34. A method of forming a component as claimed in claim 33 , wherein said step of forming said corrugations includes forming a transition region at each end of said component, and wherein said helical corrugations transition to a substantially annular corrugation in the vicinity of said first and second connector respectively.

Assignees

• Graham Peter Kenneth
• Garcia Enrico Alvarez
• Sims David John
• Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Ltd

Inventors

• Graham Peter Kenneth
• Garcia Enrico Alvarez
• Sims David John

Classifications

• F16L11/118

  having arrangements for particular purposes, e.g. electrically conducting · CPC title

• A61M13/00

  Insufflators for therapeutic or disinfectant purposes {, i.e. devices for blowing a gas, powder or vapour into the body (hand-held units in which gas flow is produced by muscular energy at the moment of use B05B11/062)} · CPC title

• A61M13/003

  Blowing gases other than for carrying powders, e.g. for inflating, dilating or rinsing · CPC title

• Y10T29/49002

  Electrical device making · CPC title

• F16L53/008

  Mechanical Engineering · mapped topic