Medical valve and method to monitor intra-abdominal pressure

• US 7,726,328 B2
• Filed: 08/26/2009
• Issued: 06/01/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 03/04/2003
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Convatec Technologies, Inc. (ConvaTec Group Plc)
• Original Assignee: Wolfe TORY Medical Incorporated
• Inventors: Croll, Perry W., Denton, Marshall T., Kimball, Edward J., Christensen, Mark A., Wolfe, Timothy R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Fristoe, Jr.; John K
• Application Number:
  US12/583,823
• Publication Number:
  US 20090314973A1
• Time in Patent Office: 279 Days
• Field of Search: 251/33, 251/45, 137/107
• US Class Current: 137/107
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/036 by means introduced into body tracts A61B5/032 and A61B5/035 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/205 Determining bladder or urethral pressure
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/412 Detecting or monitoring sepsis
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 25/0017 specially adapted for long-term hygiene care, e.g. urethral or indwelling catheters to prevent infections
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 39/223 Multiway valves
• CPC Class Codes: F16K 7/126 the seat being formed on a rib perpendicular to the fluid line
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 137/2557 Waste responsive to flow stoppage
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 137/7722 Line condition change responsive valves

Abstract

An apparatus for monitoring the intra-abdominal pressure of a hospitalized patient includes a urinary catheter connected to a urine valve providing selectable communication between a discharge end of the urinary catheter and either a drain or a fluid source. Preferably, the urine valve is adapted for remote actuation and has a housing adapted to resist patient discomfort from leg-valve contact. Plumbing structure desirably maintains fluid supply and drain conduits in a substantially parallel arrangement to assist routing those conduits between a patient'"'"'s legs. When the urine valve is oriented to permit communication with the fluid source, an infusion pump may be used to infuse a known quantity of fluid through the urine valve and into the patient'"'"'s bladder. A pressure transducer desirably is connected in-circuit to indicate the fluid'"'"'s pressure. To facilitate the infusion process, an automatic flow control device may be included in a fluid supply path and arranged to permit repetitive operation of a syringe to inject a bolus of fluid into the patient'"'"'s bladder. Subsequent to a period of time in which to make a pressure measurement, preferred embodiments of the urine valve automatically return to a bladder draining position.

Claims

1. A normally open, hydraulically actuated valve, comprising:

a control port, an entrance port, and a drain port, said valve being operable to resist draining fluid flow along a normally open first flow path between said entrance port and said drain port;

an expansion chamber disposed in fluid communication between said entrance port and said drain port, said expansion chamber carrying valve-closing seal structure on a fixed wall; and

a membrane arranged to receive fluid communication from said control port effective to cause a traveling wall to collapse a cross-section of said first flow path and create, in cooperation with said valve-closing seal structure, a blockage of said first flow path, said membrane being biased toward a valve-open position,

wherein the expansion chamber comprises one or more timing chambers arranged in association with the membrane to accommodate inflation of the membrane, by timing fluid, beyond a first valve-closed position.

2. The normally open, hydraulically actuated valve of claim 1, further comprising:

a bleed-down port configured and arranged to permit discharge of timing fluid confined by said membrane effective to cause a time-delay prior to removal of said blockage.

3. The hydraulically actuated valve of claim 1, wherein:

a sealing perimeter defined as a wetted boundary formed by contact of said membrane onto seal structure associated with said expansion chamber, when said membrane is displaced to a valve first-closed configuration, is noncircular.

4. The hydraulically actuated valve of claim 3, wherein said sealing perimeter is a three-dimensional entity.

5. The hydraulically actuated valve of claim 1, wherein:

said membrane is self-biased from a valve-closed position toward a valve-open position.

6. A hydraulically actuated valve comprising:

a housing configured and arranged to permit fluid communication between an entrance port, a control port, and a drain port;

a seal member arranged inside the housing for hydraulic actuation between a valve-open position and a valve-closed position, the valve-open position permitting draining fluid flow between the entrance port and the drain port, and the valve-closed position resisting said draining fluid flow;

a fluid-flow restriction valve disposed in a first fluid path along which control fluid may flow in a first direction from the control port towards the entrance port, the fluid-flow restriction valve structured to generate a back-pressure responsive to a flow of the control fluid in the first direction, the back-pressure being effective to urge flow of actuation fluid toward the seal member; and

a bleed-down port configured and arranged to permit evacuation, as bleed-down fluid, of actuation fluid confined by the seal member.

7. The hydraulically actuated valve of claim 6, wherein:

flow of said actuation fluid under said back-pressure is effective to actuate said seal member toward a closed configuration.