Artificial airway apparatus
First Claim
1. Apparatus for use in establishing an artificial airway in a patient, the apparatus comprising:
- a tube for introduction into the patient'"'"'s trachea for passage of gases to and from the patient'"'"'s lungs;
an inflatable seal disposed on the tube to provide, when inflated, a seal between the tube and the trachea of the patient when the device is in use, the seal thereby defining a lung-side portion of the apparatus and a mouth-side portion of the apparatus; and
a plurality of ports integrally formed in a wall of the tube on the mouth-side portion to facilitate removal of fluid from the mouth-side portion of the apparatus, the ports being circumferentially spaced around the tube, each port opening into a conduit,wherein each conduit is formed integrally in the wall of the tube, each conduit being in fluid communication with a single aperture located outside of the patient when the apparatus is in use such that suction applied to the single aperture causes fluid to pass into each port, along each conduit and out of the aperture.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The invention relates to apparatus (19) for use in establishing an artificial airway in a patient, the apparatus comprising a tube (19a) for introduction into the patient'"'"'s trachea for passage of gases to and from the patient'"'"'s lungs, an inflatable seal (20) disposed upon the tube (19a) to provide, on inflation, a seal between the tube and the trachea of the patient, the seal (20) thereby defining a lung-side portion (19c) of the apparatus and a mouth-side portion (19d) of the apparatus, the apparatus further having the ability to facilitate removal of fluid from at or adjacent the said mouth-side portion (19d) of the apparatus (19).
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Citations
14 Claims
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1. Apparatus for use in establishing an artificial airway in a patient, the apparatus comprising:
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a tube for introduction into the patient'"'"'s trachea for passage of gases to and from the patient'"'"'s lungs; an inflatable seal disposed on the tube to provide, when inflated, a seal between the tube and the trachea of the patient when the device is in use, the seal thereby defining a lung-side portion of the apparatus and a mouth-side portion of the apparatus; and a plurality of ports integrally formed in a wall of the tube on the mouth-side portion to facilitate removal of fluid from the mouth-side portion of the apparatus, the ports being circumferentially spaced around the tube, each port opening into a conduit, wherein each conduit is formed integrally in the wall of the tube, each conduit being in fluid communication with a single aperture located outside of the patient when the apparatus is in use such that suction applied to the single aperture causes fluid to pass into each port, along each conduit and out of the aperture. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method of providing an artificial airway in a patient, the method comprising:
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introducing a tube into an inserted location of the patient'"'"'s trachea for passage of gases to and from the patient'"'"'s lungs, an inflatable seal being disposed on an outer surface of the tube; inflating the seal to provide a seal between the tube and the trachea of the patient when the tube is at the inserted location, the seal thereby defining a lung-side portion of the tube and a mouth-side portion of the tube; and removing fluid from the mouth-side portion of the tube using a plurality of ports integrally formed in a wall of the tube on the mouth-side portion, the ports being circumferentially spaced around the tube, each port opening into a conduit, each conduit being formed integrally in the wall of the tube, each conduit being in fluid communication with a single aperture located to be outside the patient when the tube is in use. - View Dependent Claims (14)
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Specification