Pressure compensating seal with positive feedback

• US 20090240191A1
• Filed: 11/07/2008
• Published: 09/24/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 11/07/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AOTI, Inc.
• Original Assignee: AOTI, Inc.
• Inventors: Griffiths, Mike, Hovorka, George, Loori, Phillip
• Granted Patent: US 9,211,227 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 604/23
• CPC Class Codes: A61G 10/00 Treatment rooms or enclosures for medical purposes baby incubators, couveuses A61G11/00; devices for gas baths with ozone, hydrogen or the like A61H33/14 ; for isolating individuals from external stimuli A61M21/0094 ; containers or portable cabins for affording breathing protection in general A62B31/00
• CPC Class Codes: A61G 10/04 Oxygen tents ; Oxygen hoods
• CPC Class Codes: A61H 9/0078 with intermittent or alternately inflated bladders or cuffs mattresses for preventing bed-sores with alternated pressurized chambers A61G7/05776

Abstract

A limb wound treatment device is described having a first end, a second end and an interior therebetween for accommodating a treatment gas. The device can include a flexible housing that can be inflated. The first end can include an inflatable cuff seal for hermetically sealing against the limb being treated. The second end can include a closed end or an access port that is releasably sealed with a clamping mechanism. Further, the device can include a controller that can inflate that housing, inflate the cuff seal and provide treatment gas to the interior, in response to pressures within the cuff seal and the housing. Further, the device can accommodate different types of wound treatments, such as hyperbaric therapy, compression therapy or negative pressure therapy.

Claims

1. A wound treatment device, comprising:

a housing for the treatment of a limb of a patient by a gas supplied thereto;

a housing pressure sensor for measuring a pressure in the housing;

an inflatable cuff for sealing the housing against the limb of the patient, the cuff comprising;

a cuff gas inlet valve;

a cuff gas outlet valve; and

a controller for opening and closing the cuff gas inlet and outlet valves, the controller adjusting the supply of gas into the cuff for controlling the cuff pressure based on measurements of the housing pressure as determined by the housing pressure sensor.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the cuff gas inlet valve is in fluid communication with a gas source.

3. The device of claim 1, wherein the device housing is rigid.

4. The device of claim 1, wherein the device housing is flexible.

5. A wound treatment device, comprising:

a housing for treatment of a limb of a patient by a gas supplied thereto;

an inflatable cuff for sealing the housing against the limb of a patient; and

a controller for controlling a cuff pressure by inflating or deflating the cuff responsive to a gas pressure in the housing.

6. The device of claim 5, wherein the cuff includes a first valve for fluidly communicating with an inflating gas source.

7. The device of claim 5, wherein the cuff includes a second valve for releasing gas from the cuff.

8. The device of claim 5, wherein the housing includes a housing pressure sensor coupled to the controller.

9. The device of claim 5, wherein the cuff includes a cuff pressure sensor coupled to the controller.

10. A wound treatment device, comprising:

a housing having an interior;

an interior pressure sensor for measuring a pressure in the interior;

an inflatable cuff for sealing a limb within the interior of the housing, the cuff having a cuff valve in fluid communication with an inflating gas source and a cuff pressure sensor for measuring a gas pressure within the cuff; and

a control system for controlling the pressure in the cuff by operation of the cuff valve responsive to the interior pressure sensor.

11. The device of claim 10, wherein the cuff further comprises a second cuff valve for releasing the gas from the cuff.

12. The device of claim 10, wherein the housing is rigid.

13. The device of claim 12, wherein the inflatable cuff is disposed partially or wholly within the housing.

14. The device of claim 12, wherein the cuff is external to the housing.

15. The device of claim 10, wherein the housing is flexible.

16. The device of claim 15, wherein the inflatable cuff is disposed partially or wholly within the housing.

17. The device of claim 15, wherein the cuff is external to the housing.

18. The device of claim 10, wherein the control system includes a microprocessor.

19. A method for creating a seal about a patient'"'"'s limb in a wound treatment device, comprising:

inflating a cuff seal about the patient'"'"'s limb to a first pressure;

monitoring a gas pressure in the device; and

controlling the gas pressure in the cuff seal responsive to the gas pressure in the device.

20. The method of claim 19, further including obtaining readings of the interior pressure sensor in the device and the cuff.

21. The method of claim 19, further comprising increasing the cuff pressure to a second higher pressure upon determining a pressure loss within the device.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein increasing the cuff pressure includes increasing the supply of gas to the cuff through a cuff inlet valve.

23. The method of claim 19, further comprising decreasing the cuff pressure to a second lower pressure upon determining a pressure increase within the device.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein decreasing the cuff pressure includes exhausting the gas out of the cuff through a cuff outlet valve.

25. The method of claim 19, wherein the step of monitoring includes obtaining readings from a device pressure sensor.