Tourniquet cuff with identification apparatus
First Claim
1. A low cost tourniquet cuff with identification apparatus, comprising:
- an outer strip;
an inner strip positioned against the outer strip;
a gas-tight seal joining the inner strip to the outer strip to form a cuff having a physical characteristic wherein the cuff includes an inflatable bladder of a length greater than the circumference of a limb at a selected location; and
a cuff connector carried on the cuff and communicating pneumatically with the bladder for releasably connecting to a tourniquet instrument to establish a gas-tight passageway between the bladder and the instrument, wherein the cuff connector includes identification means indicative of the physical characteristic and detectable by the tourniquet instrument upon establishment of the gas-tight passageway irrespective of whether the gas-tight passageway is pressurized.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A low cost tourniquet cuff with identification apparatus comprises: an outer strip; an inner strip positioned against the outer strip; a gas-tight seal joining the inner strip to the outer strip to form a cuff having a physical characteristic wherein the cuff includes an inflatable bladder of a predetermined length greater than the circumference of a limb at a selected location; and a cuff connector carried on the cuff and communicating pneumatically with the bladder for releasably connecting to a tourniquet instrument to establish a gas-tight passageway between the bladder and the instrument, wherein the cuff connector includes identification means indicative of the physical characteristic and detectable by the tourniquet instrument upon establishment of the gas-tight passageway. The bladder may be formed by first joining an outer strip having varying thickness to an inner strip along the sides of the outer strip and then further joining the outer and inner strips together with gas-tight seals spaced apart by the predetermined length.
181 Citations
17 Claims
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1. A low cost tourniquet cuff with identification apparatus, comprising:
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an outer strip;
an inner strip positioned against the outer strip;
a gas-tight seal joining the inner strip to the outer strip to form a cuff having a physical characteristic wherein the cuff includes an inflatable bladder of a length greater than the circumference of a limb at a selected location; and
a cuff connector carried on the cuff and communicating pneumatically with the bladder for releasably connecting to a tourniquet instrument to establish a gas-tight passageway between the bladder and the instrument, wherein the cuff connector includes identification means indicative of the physical characteristic and detectable by the tourniquet instrument upon establishment of the gas-tight passageway irrespective of whether the gas-tight passageway is pressurized. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
the outer strip has first and second side edges, a first thickness along the outer strip at a first predetermined distance from the first side edge and a second thickness along the outer strip at a second predetermined distance from the first side edge, wherein the second predetermined distance is greater than the first predetermined distance;
the inflatable bladder formed by the gas-tight seal has two bladder ends, two bladder sides and a bladder midline between the two bladder sides; and
wherein at the bladder ends the outer strip has the second thickness at the bladder midline and the first thickness at a location between the bladder midline and a bladder side.
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5. The tourniquet cuff of claim 1 wherein:
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the inner strip has side edges and a side edge surface along each side edge;
the gas-tight seal has an inner perimeter and an outer perimeter, and wherein the inner strip is folded so that the side edge surfaces face toward the bladder midline and are located within the outer perimeter.
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6. A low cost tourniquet cuff with identification apparatus, comprising:
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an outer strip;
an inner strip positioned against the outer strip;
a gas-tight seal joining the inner strip to the outer strip to form a cuff having a physical characteristic wherein the cuff includes an inflatable bladder of a length greater than the circumference of a limb at a selected location;
a cuff connector carried on the cuff and communicating pneumatically with the bladder for releasably connecting to a tourniquet instrument to establish a gas-tight passageway between the bladder and the instrument, wherein the cuff connector includes identification means indicative of the physical characteristic and detectable by the tourniquet instrument upon establishment of the gas-tight passageway; and
a tourniquet instrument responsive to the identification means for producing a signal indicative of the detected physical characteristic after establishment of the gas-tight passageway and wherein the instrument further includes means for supplying gas to the bladder through the passageway at a pressure sufficient to stop arterial blood flow into the limb distal to the cuff. - View Dependent Claims (7)
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8. A low cost tourniquet cuff with identification apparatus, comprising:
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an outer strip;
an inner strip positioned against the outer strip;
a gas-tight seal joining the inner strip to the outer strip to form a cuff having a physical characteristic wherein the cuff includes an inflatable bladder of a length greater than the circumference of a limb at a selected location;
a cuff connector carried on the cuff and communicating pneumatically with the bladder for releasably connecting to a tourniquet instrument to establish a gas-tight passageway between the bladder and the instrument, wherein the cuff connector includes identification means indicative of the physical characteristic and detectable by the tourniquet instrument upon establishment of the gas-tight passageway; and
wherein the physical characteristic identifies the manufacturer of the cuff.
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9. A low cost tourniquet system with identification apparatus, comprising:
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a tourniquet cuff having an inflatable bladder of a length sufficient for encircling a limb at a selected location;
a connector carried on the cuff and communicating pneumatically with the bladder for releasably connecting the cuff to a tourniquet instrument to establish a gas-tight passageway between the bladder and the instrument, wherein the connector includes identification means indicative of a physical characteristic of the cuff; and
a tourniquet instrument for supplying pressurized gas to the bladder through the gas-tight passageway established by the connector, wherein the instrument includes detection means responsive to the identification means after establishment of the gas-tight passageway and, irrespective of whether pressurized gas is supplied through the gas-tight passageway, for producing a signal indicative of the physical characteristic.
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10. A low cost tourniquet cuff, comprising:
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an outer strip having first and second side edges, a first thickness along the outer strip at a first predetermined distance from the first side edge and a second thickness along the outer strip at a second predetermined distance from the first side edge, wherein the second predetermined distance is greater than the first predetermined distance such that the outer strip is thickened away for the first and second side edges;
an inner strip positioned against the outer strip;
a gas-tight seal joining the outer strip to the inner strip to form an inflatable bladder having two bladder ends, a bladder length between the two ends greater than the circumference of a limb at a selected location, two bladder sides and a bladder midline between the two bladder sides; and
wherein at the bladder ends the outer strip has the second thickness at the bladder midline and the first thickness at a location between the bladder midline and a bladder side. - View Dependent Claims (11)
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12. A low cost tourniquet cuff, comprising:
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an outer strip having first and second side edges, a first thickness along the outer strip at a first predetermined distance from the first side edge and a second thickness along the outer strip at a second predetermined distance from the first side edge, wherein the second predetermined distance is greater than the first predetermined distance such that the outer strip is thickened away for the first and second side edges;
an inner strip positioned against the outer strip;
a gas-tight seal joining the outer strip to the inner strip to form an inflatable bladder having two bladder ends, a bladder length between the two ends greater than the circumference of a limb at a selected location, two bladder sides and a bladder midline between the two bladder sides;
wherein at the bladder ends the outer strip has the second thickness at the bladder midline and the first thickness at a location between the bladder midline and a bladder side and wherein the inner strip has side edges and side edge surfaces along each side edge;
the gas-tight seal has an inner perimeter and an outer perimeter, and wherein the inner strip is folded so that the side edge surfaces face toward the bladder midline and are located within the outer perimeter.
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13. A low cost tourniquet cuff for stopping blood flow into a patient'"'"'s limb, comprising:
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a first strip having first and second side edges, a midline equidistant from the first and second side edges, and a first side edge surface along the first side edge;
a second strip positioned against the first strip;
a gas-tight seal having an inner perimeter and an outer perimeter and joining the first and second strips to form an inflatable bladder having a length greater than the circumference of a limb at a selected location;
wherein the first strip is folded so that the first side edge surface faces toward the midline and is located within the outer perimeter;
whereinthe second strip has a first side edge and a first stiffness along the first side edge, and a second stiffness along the strip at a predetermined distance from the first side edge that is greater than the first stiffness;
the inflatable bladder has two ends, a length between the two ends greater than the circumference of a limb at a selected location, two sides and a bladder midline between the two sides; and
wherein at the bladder ends the second strip has the second stiffness at the bladder midline and the first stiffness at a location between the bladder midline and a bladder side. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16)
the first strip has a top surface, a bottom surface, and a first width; the second strip has a top surface, a bottom surface positioned against the top surface of the first strip and has a second width narrower than the first width;
the first strip is folded over the second strip so that the top surface of the first strip is in contact with the top surface of the second strip, and the seal joins the top surface of the first strip to the top surface of the second strip.
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15. The tourniquet cuff of claim 14 wherein the seal further joins the top surface of the first strip to the bottom surface of the second strip.
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16. The tourniquet cuff of claim 13 and including a connector communicating pneumatically with the bladder for releasably connecting the cuff to a tourniquet instrument to establish a gas-tight passageway between the bladder and the instrument, wherein the connector includes identification means for indicating a physical characteristic of the cuff before the gas-tight passageway is pressurized by the tourniquet instrument.
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17. A method of making a low cost tourniquet cuff comprising the steps of
positioning an inner strip against an outer strip, the outer strip having first and second side edges, a first thickness along the first side edge and a second thickness along the strip at a predetermined distance from the first side edge, the second thickness being greater than the first thickness; -
joining the outer and inner strips near the first and second side edges with gas-tight seals, thereby forming the sides of an inflatable bladder with a bladder midline equidistant from the bladder sides; and
further joining the outer and inner strips together with gas-tight seals spaced apart by a predetermined length greater than the circumference of a limb at a selected location, thereby forming the ends of the inflatable bladder, wherein at the bladder ends the thickness of the outer strip is greater at the bladder midline than at a bladder side.
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Specification