Device suitable for carrying on the body of a user to generate vacuum for medical applications

• US 20110040288A1
• Filed: 08/03/2010
• Published: 02/17/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 08/12/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ATMOS MedizinTechnik GmbH & Co., KG, Paul Hartmann AG (SCHWENK Zement GmbH & Co. KG)
• Original Assignee: ATMOS MedizinTechnik GmbH & Co., KG, Paul Hartmann AG (SCHWENK Zement GmbH & Co. KG)
• Inventors: Eckstein, Axel, Wegner, Simon, Moeller, Mario, Hofstetter, Juergen, Heer, Andreas
• Granted Patent: US 8,657,806 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 604/543
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 1/73 comprising sensors or indicators for physical values
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 1/784 by filtering, sterilising or disinfecting the exhaust air, e.g. swellable filter valves
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 1/80 Suction pumps A61M1/64, A61M1/71, A61M60/00 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 1/92 with liquid supply means
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 1/94 with gas supply means
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 1/982 with means for detecting level of collected exudate
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 1/984 portable on the body
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/3379 Masses, volumes, levels of fluids in reservoirs, flow rates
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/35 Communication
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/505 Touch-screens; Virtual keyboard or keypads; Virtual buttons; Soft keys; Mouse touches
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2209/088 on the body

Abstract

A device (2) for carrying on the body of a user to generate a vacuum for medical applications, in particular, for the vacuum therapy of wounds on the human or animal body, has a vacuum-producing device and a vessel (10) that is disposable after use for receiving body fluids, in particular, wound exudates suctioned out of the wound, and with a connection (12) for a suction tube leading to the body for this purpose, wherein the vacuum-producing device is disposed in a first housing part (4) of the device and the vessel (10) forms a second housing part (8) of the device or is disposed in or on the second housing part (8), and the housing parts (4, 8) are separably fixed one against the other, the device (2) having fastening means so that it can be worn and carried on the body of the user. In order to make handling the device more user-friendly, the device is constituted in such a way that the housing parts (4, 8) can be separably fixed to each other by snap-in, latching, or other positive-action locking or back-gripping (34) mechanisms and the locking or back-gripping mechanism (34) can be moved into a release direction by a manually operable operating element (32). The first and/or second housing part (4, 8) is constituted for manual gripping so that the device or the first or second housing part (4, 8) can be gripped in this manner and can be separated from the other housing part, and the manually operable operating element (32) for the locking or back-gripping mechanism (34) is provided in the region of the manual gripping so that a user or caregiver can, with only one hand, release the locking or back-gripping mechanism (34) while gripping the one housing part (8, 4) and release and remove it from the other housing part (4, 8).

Claims

1. An apparatus for carrying on the body of a user to generate a vacuum for medical applications and for vacuum therapy of a wound on a human or animal body, the apparatus comprising:

a first housing part;

a second housing part;

a vacuum-producing device disposed in or on said first housing part;

a vessel for receiving body fluids and for receiving wound exudates suctioned out of the wound, said vessel being disposable after use, wherein said vessel constitutes or is disposed in or on said second housing part;

a connection communicating with said vessel, said connection structured to receive a suction tube leading to the body for transferring the body fluids to said vessel;

a fastening mechanism structured such that the apparatus can be worn by and carried on the body of the user;

a locking or back-gripping mechanism disposed between and communicating with said first and said second housing parts to fix said second housing part to said first housing part in a separable manner through snap-in, latching, or other positive-action; and

an operating element cooperating with said locking or back-gripping mechanism, wherein said locking or back-gripping mechanism can be moved into a release direction by manual operation of said operating element, said first and/or second housing part having a manual gripping region structured for manual gripping of the apparatus by the user, wherein said operating element for said locking or back-gripping means is disposed proximate to said manual gripping region so that a user or a caregiver can, with only one hand, release said locking or back-gripping means while gripping one of said first and said second housing parts to mutually separate said first and said second housing parts from another.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said first and/or said second housing part has a grip cavity or a grip recess.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein said grip cavity is formed right through said first and/or said second housing part.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said manual gripping region has a gripping cavity or a gripping recess disposed in an upper region of said first and/or second housing part and inclined away from the body.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein said manual gripping region is disposed on a side of said second housing part facing the body.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said locking or back-gripping mechanism projects from a separation plane of one of said first and said second housing parts and can be deflected transversely with respect to the joining direction of said first and said second housing parts during joining thereof for placement into a back-gripping position.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said manually operable operating element is provided on a top side of the device or as a button that can be pressed in.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said first housing part faces away from the body when the apparatus is carried on the body of the user during mobile operation thereof and the second housing part faces the body.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein both said first and said second housing parts are substantially disk-shaped and can lie one against an other at an essentially vertically oriented separation plane.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said second housing part has a concave shape toward the body of the user in at least one plane or in at least one horizontal plane on a side thereof facing the body of the user.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein at least sections of said concave shape have a radius of curvature of 300-500 mm or of 300-400 mm.

12. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein at least regions of said second housing part are of concave shape toward the body of the user in a horizontal plane and in a vertical plane on a side thereof facing the body of the user.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein at least sections of said concave shape have a radius of curvature of 500-900 mm, 600-800 mm or 700-800 mm.

14. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said second housing part on a side facing the body of the user and in a region facing away from a standing side of the apparatus has a bevel facing away from the body of the user towards said first housing part.

15. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said second housing part is formed with a bevel on a side thereof facing the body in a transition to side walls of said second housing part or to side walls of said first housing part.

16. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said first and said second housing parts have centering means on sides thereof facing each other.

17. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said first and said second housing parts can be joined one against an other, essentially transversely with respect to a separation plane.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein one of said first and said second housing parts can be placed on a contact surface of an other one of said first and said second housing part with a slightly upward inclination with respect to a vertical and can then be pivoted into contact with said other housing part essentially transversely with respect to said separation plane.

19. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein, on joining said first and said second housing parts, vacuum communication is also established between said vessel and said vacuum-producing device.

20. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein a center of gravity of the apparatus is in a lower half thereof.

21. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein a ratio of a standing surface of the apparatus to a height thereof is 4.0-6.0 cm²/cm or 4.5-5.5 cm²/cm.

22. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein a standing surface of the apparatus is constituted by said first housing part.

23. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said first housing part covers said second housing part when viewed onto a visible side of said first housing part facing away from the body, thereby concealing at least 90% of a visible surface in that viewing direction or it completely concealing said visible surface.

24. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of second housing parts, each with a vessel, wherein said second housing parts and said vessels have different sizes or have different sizes in a depth direction thereof.

25. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a filter disposed between said vessel and said vacuum-producing device, said filter being disposable after use or being disposable together with said vessel.

26. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a filling level indicator for said vessel.

27. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein a monitoring facility outputs an alarm depending on a filling level reached in said vessel.

28. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein operating elements and display elements for said vacuum-producing device are provided on a visible side of said first housing part facing away from the body.

29. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein said operating elements are constituted by a touchscreen.

30. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising an inclination sensor disposed on said first housing part to cause a display on a display element to rotate through 180°

at a defined inclination of said first housing part with respect to a vertical by means of a control device so that said display can be read by the user from above.

31. The apparatus of claim 1, where substantially an entire visible side of said first housing part facing away from the body is constituted or overlapped by a large-surface cover so that dirt-trapping joints in a region of said operating elements are avoided.

32. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said first housing part has an interface for data exchange or a USB interface disposed at a separation plane with respect to said second housing part and is thereby covered and protected against soiling by said second housing part.

33. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said fastening mechanism comprise a flexible strip-shaped section or a plurality of such sections that can be releasably fastened on opposite sides of said first and/or said second housing part.

34. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said fastening mechanism are releasably disposed between said first and said second housing parts, lying one against the other or pluggable into a plug slot between said first and said second housing parts, lying one against the other.

35. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein, in a joined condition of the apparatus, said first and said second housing parts do not have any back-grippable components on an outer side, with an exception of said connection for the suction tube or a measuring or rinsing duct and any grip cavity or grip recess.