U.S. patent application number 12/750243 was filed with the patent office on 2010-09-30 for device to be used in healing processes.
This patent application is currently assigned to KIMBERLY-CLARK WORLDWIDE, INC.. Invention is credited to Lothar GOBEL.
Application Number | 20100249701 12/750243 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 32797341 |
Filed Date | 2010-09-30 |
United States Patent
Application |
20100249701 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
GOBEL; Lothar |
September 30, 2010 |
Device to be used in healing processes
Abstract
A device to be used in healing processes includes a flexible
double-walled inflatable tube segment which encloses a hollow
space.
Inventors: |
GOBEL; Lothar; (Wurzburg,
DE) |
Correspondence
Address: |
DORITY & MANNING, P.A.
POST OFFICE BOX 1449
GREENVILLE
SC
29602-1449
US
|
Assignee: |
KIMBERLY-CLARK WORLDWIDE,
INC.
Neehah
WI
|
Family ID: |
32797341 |
Appl. No.: |
12/750243 |
Filed: |
March 30, 2010 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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10545191 |
Aug 10, 2005 |
7691079 |
|
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PCT/EP04/01139 |
Feb 7, 2004 |
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12750243 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
604/96.01 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A61B 90/39 20160201;
A61B 2017/12004 20130101; A61B 17/1204 20130101; A61B 2017/00907
20130101; A61N 2005/1021 20130101; A61B 17/12136 20130101; A61B
17/3423 20130101; A61B 2017/00557 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
604/96.01 |
International
Class: |
A61M 25/04 20060101
A61M025/04 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Feb 10, 2003 |
DE |
10305553.3 |
Claims
1-3. (canceled)
4. A device for tamponade of body cavities and for mechanical
anchoring of a catheter, the device comprising: a flexible tube
segment having an inner wall and an outer wall that surround an
interior space wherein said tube segment is inflatable to assume a
torus geometry with said inner wall defining an internal area, and
the internal area is configured without through-passing support
bodies so that a displacement of tube wall material between said
inner wall and said outer wall of said tube segment is possible as
inflation proceeds, wherein said tube segment consists of a
transparent material and further comprises: a. two ends, which are
fastened to a same closing element, configured so that a torus
geometry is striven for as said inflatable tube segment is inflated
and b. said closing element is a pipe nipple and said two ends of
said tube segment are joined together fluid-tightly.
5-30. (canceled)
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation application of U.S. Ser.
No. 10/545,191, filed Feb. 7, 2004, which claims priority benefit
to PCT/EP04/001139, filed Feb. 7, 2004, which claims priority
benefit to DE 10305553.3, filed Feb. 10, 2003, each of the
foregoing applications being incorporated herein in its entirety
for all purposes by this reference.
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0002] The invention is concerned with a device to be used in
healing processes to tamponade body cavities or anchor a
catheter.
BACKGROUND
[0003] Devices that serve to tamponade cavities are known in
medical technology. The devices are composed of inflatable elastic
hollow bodies. Various sizes of these hollow bodies are known, so
that they can be used to seal ostia of different sizes. Also used
are devices whose outer contour is shaped so that they are able to
fill a cavity completely when inflated.
[0004] In tamponade, especially of spaces in biological tissue, the
problem arises that the tamponade device may not be fully adapted
to the shape of the cavity and may exert undesirable pressure on
adjacent mucosa. This problem is exacerbated by the fact that the
tamponade balloon is designed without a residual volume and high
restoring forces are present with the wall material used. In
tamponade of the nasal cavities, a further problem is that these
cavities have a strictly centrally controlled, locally
uninfluencable system of nasal conchae, which exhibits periodic
circadian pressure fluctuations that add to the internal pressure
of a tamponade balloon that has no residual volume, thereby
increasing the risk that tamponade will curtail vascular perfusion
of the adjacent tissue. In view of the widely varying size ratios
of the paranasal sinuses and the breadth of interindividual
variation in the spatial configuration and volume of anatomical
spaces, a large number of anatomically preformed devices is needed.
This is very cost-intensive.
[0005] In addition to the known devices for tamponading ostia
and/or cavities, catheters composed of an elastic catheter shaft
and a fillable balloon element mounted thereon are also used in
medical technology. The catheter shaft comprises a filling channel
that opens into the interior of the balloon through a port in the
catheter wall. The balloon element itself serves primarily to
anchor the catheter mechanically in a secure manner. It also often
has a sealing function and prevents, for example, urine from
leaking out of the bladder past the catheter through the urethra.
The balloon fastened to the catheter strives to assume a spherical
shape when filled with a fluid. The largest cross section of the
balloon therefore exceeds the cross section of the ostium of the
cavity and thus prevents retraction by conforming to the rim of the
cavity opening. The spherical shape of the balloon is
unsatisfactory for performing the holding and sealing function,
since under tensile stress it has a tendency to assume a spindle
shape and slip into the ostium, causing the securement of the
device and the relatively small sealing contact area between the
balloon wall and the rim of the cavity ostium to be lost. This is a
particularly significant problem in connection with biological
tissues, since the ostia of body cavities usually do not have a
fixed width. For this reason, more or less broad-area retaining
disks of rigid material have been mounted on the catheter shaft,
but owing to their bulky construction they cannot be used with
small ostia in the millimeter range. In addition, the spherical
balloon requires the supporting body that passes through it, i.e.,
the catheter shaft, which can be very troublesome particularly in
tight spaces.
[0006] EP 0 624 349 B1 discloses a device for tamponading and
keeping open body cavities and passages delimited by bone after
surgical manipulation, in which the outer shape of the balloon, in
the fluid-filled state, is adapted to the inner shape of the body
cavity. In this device, the balloon is implemented as a catheter
shaped in anatomically idealized fashion and is adapted, in a wedge
shape, to the human frontal sinus or ethmoid sinus. The chief
disadvantage of this device is the large number of sizes needed due
to the broad variation in shape of these spaces.
BRIEF OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] The object of the invention is to create a device to be used
in healing processes that avoids the disadvantages recited above
and can be used in a versatile manner. The device shall be usable,
insofar as possible, both for tamponading and for catheter
insertion. Finally, it is intended to be as inexpensive as possible
to make and to be usable for both applications with respect to the
naturally occurring sizes of the cavities.
[0008] The set object is achieved according to the invention by
means of the features described below.
[0009] The fashioning of the device as a flexible, double-walled,
inflatable tube segment affords the possibility of a broad field of
application. The device is, in addition, very easy to make.
[0010] In the simplest embodiment, the tube segment is formed by an
inner wall and an outer wall that surround a hollow space, at least
the outer wall being thin-walled and elastically expandable. When a
fluid, i.e. a liquid or a gas, is introduced into the tube segment,
the outer wall of the tube segment unfolds and thereby lies against
the walls of the ostium or the walls of a cavity that is to be
filled. The unfolding and elastic expandability of the outer wall
serve to adapt the outer wall fully to the spatial conditions.
[0011] It is advantageous if the tube segment is made of a
transparent material. Particularly suitable materials that may be
contemplated for this purpose are polyurethane, or a
polyurethane/polyvinyl fluoride-containing mixture or a comparable
polyurethane-based material or a polymer having comparable
expansion and processing characteristics. The tube segment can be
made especially thin-walled with these materials. The desirable
wall thickness is in the micron range, specifically preferably 5 to
15 .mu.m. In addition, a probe can be inserted into the tube
segment from the outside and the cavity observed from the inside.
Such a tube segment can be used both for tamponade of cavities or
ostia and for the reversible, sealing securement of catheters, by
being disposed at the end of a catheter.
[0012] By virtue of its characteristics, the device is particularly
well suited for tamponade of natural or artificially created ostia.
Catheters can also be well secured in hollow organs such as the
urinary bladder, stomach or intestine. The novel securement also
results in better sealing with respect to the opening of the cavity
than would be possible with a spherical balloon, since sealing
contact is made, not with a relatively small area of the cavity
wall immediately adjacent the ostium of the cavity, but rather with
a much larger contact area constituted by the proximal toroidal
bulge provided by the tube segment. When the inflatable tube
segment is filled with the fluid, a longitudinally extending torus
is formed that has especially favorable sealing properties.
[0013] The production of the tube segment takes place in a
particularly favorable manner by the invagination of a
single-walled tube section. A tube section of a set length, for
example 10 cm, is tucked into itself so that the two ends of the
tube section roughly coincide. The ends can then be fastened to a
terminating device in the form of a pipe nipple, or alternatively
to a suitable location on a catheter. A channel for delivering
and/or discharging fluid is inserted into the interior space
produced by the walls of the tube segment formed in this way. If a
fluid is introduced into the interior space of the tube segment,
then the outer wall of the tube segment unfolds and expands and can
be used, as appropriate, for tamponade or for securing a
catheter.
[0014] In order to achieve the particularly good mode of action of
the subject matter of the invention, the tube segment is preformed
as a single-walled tube before being shaped by invagination. This
preforming is preferably executed in such a way that the portion of
the tube forming the outer wall of the tube segment after
invagination forms a torus swollen in the plane of rotation of the
tube segment when inflated. The extent of the preforming can vary,
that is, after preforming and invagination, the outer wall of the
tube segment lies more or less folded against the inner wall
thereof. It is also possible for at least the end wall that adjoins
the outer end of the tube segment and is present after inflation to
be fashioned as thicker in the preforming operation, in order to
achieve an improved sealing action for special cases.
[0015] Quite generally, the preforming of the single-walled tube is
executed in such a way that the portion of the tube that forms the
inner wall of the tube segment after invagination has a smaller
cross section and a greater wall thickness than the tube portion
that forms the outer wall after invagination.
[0016] Quite generally, it is also provided that the device is
shaped so as to have a residual volume relative to the volume of a
body cavity that it is to be tamponaded by it, i.e., the tube
segment in the freely unfolded state has a greater volume than the
body cavity to be tamponaded.
[0017] The wall thickness, at least of the outer wall of the tube
segment, is in the range of a few microns to enable the outer wall
to unfold satisfactorily. The folds formed by excess wall material
when the device is unfolded in a cavity to be tamponaded by it are
capillary-sized. Fluids are thus retained therein by virtue of
adhesion forces.
[0018] The channel opening into the interior of the tube segment is
connected via a flexible connecting tube to a valve disposed
outside the tube segment. The valve can be fashioned as a lip
valve. It is also possible, however, to provide the channel with a
circular cuff made of flexible material, which keeps the fluid from
flowing backward out of the interior space of the tube segment.
[0019] It can be advantageous in some applications if the outer
wall of the tube segment is formed of a polar, slightly
water-permeable material. This material can be a semipermeable
membrane, for example.
[0020] Fashioning the device as a tube segment also makes it
possible to place a pressure sensor in the interior space of the
tube segment to measure transmural pressure during inflation.
Excessive pressures during the inflation of the device can be
detected and avoided in this way.
[0021] So that the fluid does not inadvertently escape from the
interior space of the tube segment, a valve is disposed at a
suitable location in the channel. Various types of construction are
possible here, in terms of both the design of the valve and its
placement location in the channel.
[0022] According to a variant, a clamping closure that has a
longitudinally displaceable sleeve for partially or completely
occluding the channel can be slid onto the tube segment. This
sleeve can, by being displaced, simultaneously define the size of
the tube segment itself.
[0023] Finally, a collar-shaped abutment can be disposed on the
pipe nipple or the catheter shaft for clamping and securing a
cavity wall on the tube segment.
[0024] The tube segment satisfies securing and sealing requirements
by means of the ideal torus geometry that it strives to assume
during inflation. When deflated, the tube segment can be stretched
out longitudinally in folds in a manner that enables it to be
inserted through very narrow openings. The tube segment can, if
necessary, be equipped with a guide rod or a guide tube as a
positioning aid. However, when deflated, the stretched-out double
tube body does have a certain rigidity, due to the close mutual
contact of four wall layers, that alone makes it possible to
position it for most applications. This self-supporting effect can
be enhanced by fashioning the invaginated portion of the tube wall
as thicker-walled than the rest of the tube segment.
[0025] When the proximally or distally united ends of the tube are
inflated along the stretched-out tube segment, a relative movement
of the ends of the tube walls and the tube body occurs. As
inflation proceeds, the material of the tube walls is displaced
between the portions of the tube close to and those remote from the
axis of rotation, which displacement begins at that moment when the
two parts of the tube facing the axis of rotation come into
contact, and is maintained until the united ends of the tube walls
have come as close as they can to the center of rotation of the
unfolded torus and the most energetically favorable geometry for
the inflated tube segment has therefore been assumed.
[0026] If the two united ends of the tube are then secured outside
the wall of the cavity, the tube segment with its annular bulge
conforms to the wall of the cavity and presses the wall against the
collar-shaped abutment. The tube segment is held in position for as
long as the internal pressure is maintained.
[0027] If the tube segment is stretched out proximally in the
deflated state, then inflation results in a distal movement of the
tube segment that is suitable for unfolding the tube segment into a
cavity. The tube segment is also suitable for expelling substances
from a cavity in this way.
[0028] Because of its thin-walled and residual-volume design that
spares a through-passing support body, the tube segment is suitable
in particular for tamponading structurally complex spaces or spaces
containing a pressure-sensitive mucosa, such as, for example, the
nasal cavity and the paranasal sinuses. It therefore lends itself
to general applications in which the internal pressure must be
transmitted directly to the wall of the body cavity, without the
addition of any retraction force of the wall material of the tube
segment, so that in this way the pressure exerted directly on the
surrounding tissue can be measured by means of a manometer
connected externally to the channel to make certain that the
vascular perfusion pressure of the adjacent tissue is not exceeded
by the tamponade. The toroidal shape of the tube segment further
makes it possible to place a pressure sensor in the interior space
between the tube portions of the double-tube body that are near the
axis of rotation without thereby exerting a disruptive effect on
the interface with the surrounding tissue. Given the residual
volume of the tube segment, the pressure measured at that location
corresponds to the pressure transmitted to the surrounding tissue
via the tube portions remote from the axis.
[0029] If the tube segment is equipped with a thin wall of
polyurethane through which water "leaks" in small quantities, the
tube segment can also be used to drain cavities or alternatively
for the prolonged delivery of polar drug active ingredients, such
as for example N.sub.20, through the wall from inside to outside.
It is, of course, equally feasible to utilize such effects in the
opposite direction.
[0030] The inventive combination of residual dimensioning of the
balloon, microthin-walled construction for the balloon envelope,
and the shaftless and catheterless tamponade tube makes the device
according to the invention also suitable for the introduction of
radiating media in a manner that is tolerated by the blood
circulation and does not inhibit perfusion, for example to
obliterate proliferating tissue in chronic inflammatory processes
or for preoperative tumor reduction. The tamponade body enables
even complexly shaped, bony cavities, such as for example the
paranasal sinuses, to be completely filled with a radiating medium
in a manner that is tolerated by the tissues, and in which the
transmural force exerted on all surfaces of the cavity is nearly
homogeneous and causes no significant impairment of tissue
perfusion and the medium can subsequently be removed conveniently
and completely from the cavity. Whereas heretofore such media were
introduced freely into the body cavity and usually could not be
retrieved completely after treatment, the present tube tamponade
device thus enables the radioactive substance to be removed
completely by evacuating the tamponade device and then simply
withdrawing the entire body thereof. Its use in nuclear medicine
can additionally be contemplated, in the long-term,
perfusion-compatible irradiation of tumor tissue in the brain,
breast, intestine, intraabdominal and intrathoracic organs, and, of
course, surgically opened or created body spaces. To avoid
inadvertent exposure of tissue outside the area to be treated, the
tamponade device can be protected by suitable partial sheathing
and/or by shielding with a material that is opaque to the
radiation. The material can be a metal and can be implemented as a
separate layer or as a direct component of the tube segment, for
example in the form of a metallic layer vapor-deposited
thereon.
[0031] In addition to the ability of the tube tamponade device to
be used in radiation therapy and nuclear medicine, radiodiagnostic
use thereof can also be contemplated. Instead of a radioactive
substance, radiopaque contrast media can be introduced into the
tamponade body in order to visualize body cavities or organs in
toto and to avoid exposing the tissue directly to the substance and
preclude systemic uptake of the substance by the organism.
[0032] If it is equipped with an internal valve mechanism, the tube
segment can be detached from the fluid feed after inflation. This
makes it possible to disconnect the tube segment from bothersome
delivery lines when it is in the inflated state, e.g. when the
tamponade device is inserted in the nasal cavity, and to secure the
proximal end of the closure externally, on the surface of the body.
This can be done by means of the clamping closure with its two
longitudinal slits, the closure being wholly or partially retracted
and spread over the terminating device during this retraction, if
the clamping closure is designed so that it is not split over its
entire length, but distally comprises a closed tube portion that
surrounds the still folded-together material of the tube wall, and
if proximally its displaceability relative to the tube portion that
is disposed beneath it and is not unfolded can be set in any
desired position by means of a sleeve.
[0033] For the special case of nasal tamponade after a nasal septum
operation, the tube segment can be used by equipping it in its
central lumen with a brace that gathers the unfolded, cylindrical,
double-tube body together at one end and thus permits a planar
bearing surface in the nature of a splint for the nasal septum, the
splinting being maintained by tamponading the remaining space of
the nasal cavity with the now cushion-like opposite portion of the
tube segment. The leg of the U-shaped splint that is in contact
with the nasal septum can additionally serve as a carrier for
therapeutic agents and be secured to the terminating device to
maintain the gathering of the tube wall material.
[0034] The inventive relative movement between the inflated
tamponade tube and the pipe nipple for securing the tube makes it
possible to use the present tube tamponade in a particular manner
to seal the anus in patients with rectal incontinence syndrome. The
annular bulge that forms when the tamponade body is filled conforms
to the rectal sphincter from the inside and seats on it like a
sealing cap. If the nipple securing the ends of the tube is placed
outside the body and there connected to an abutment that holds the
securing nipple in the anal fold and keeps the nipple from slipping
into the rectum or anus, the contrary movements of the unfolded
tamponade tube and of the extracorporeal securing element result in
compressive sealing of the balloon body on the floor of the rectum
and thereby counteracts incontinence.
[0035] The abutment can be implemented in the form of an
anchor-like tube element or rod element disposed substantially at
right angles to the balloon body, or as an independent balloon that
seats on the securing nipple and, as a possible variant embodiment,
is supplied concomitantly via the filling lumen of the inner
balloon. A draining or feeding catheter can in turn be inserted
through the free, open lumen of the tucked-in tamponade balloon and
a suitably shaped securing nipple.
[0036] The tube segment can also serve to bring substances or
bodies affixed to its surface into direct contact with the body
cavity in order to focus therapeutic effects on the site to be
treated. It is, as shown schematically in FIGS. 1 and 2 for
example, possible to attach outwardly conducted electrodes 25 via
leads 26 to the surface of the tube segment in order to stimulate
body tissue with an electrical voltage or pick up and measure
voltages that are present there. The electrodes 25 are made of
metal, per standard practice. They can be adhesive-bonded or
vapor-deposited.
[0037] It is further possible for one or more bodies such as
receptacles or carriers containing radioactive or chemotherapeutic
agents to be fastened to the tube segment. Such receptacles or
carriers can be pressed directly against the site to be treated,
which facilitates targeted treatment and makes it easier to prevent
inadvertent secondary injury to surrounding healthy tissue.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0038] The invention is described in further detail below with
reference to several exemplary embodiments.
[0039] In the drawing:
[0040] FIG. 1 is a schematic depiction of a preformed tube
section,
[0041] FIG. 2 shows the preformed tube section of FIG. 1, shaped
into the tube segment by invagination,
[0042] FIG. 3 is a longitudinal section of an inflated tube
segment,
[0043] FIG. 4 is a schematic longitudinal section through another
embodiment of a tube segment on a catheter,
[0044] FIG. 5 is a longitudinal section of a tube segment with a
brace inserted, and
[0045] FIG. 6 illustrates a tube segment with a clamping closure
slid thereonto.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS
[0046] Illustrated in FIG. 1 is a tube section 1 preformed for
making a tube segment 2. Tube portion 3, which forms the subsequent
inner wall 4 of tube segment 2, is unchanged as to wall thickness
and inner and outer diameter. By contrast, tube portion 5, which
forms the subsequent outer wall 6 of tube segment 2, is
considerably widened, whereby the wall thickness has diminished
greatly. Tube end 7 adjacent this tube portion 5 is also partially
widened. This preforming is carried out in heatable forming
installations. A transparent polyurethane is used as the material
of tube section 1 and thus tube segment 2.
[0047] To form tube segment 2, the relatively stable tube portion 3
is pressed into the interior space of tube portion 5 and tube end 7
is rolled over, thereby producing the shape illustrated in FIG.
2.
[0048] FIG. 2 illustrates the shape of a tube segment 2 when
unfolded. For this purpose, a fluid is filled into the interior
space 8 bounded by inner wall 4 and outer wall 6. When the interior
space is emptied, outer wall 6 lies in the folded-up state against
inner wall 4.
[0049] FIG. 3 shows a practical exemplary embodiment of tube
segment 2 that can be used for tamponading. Both ends 7 and 9 of
tube segment 2 are grasped fluid-tightly by terminating device 10.
Terminating device 10 is fashioned in the form of a pipe nipple.
Opening 11 in the center of pipe nipple 10 can be occluded with a
stopper 12. It is also possible, however, to insert a catheter
shaft into opening 11. Interior space 8 of tube segment 2 is
connected to a channel 13 provided for the delivery and/or
discharge of a fluid. Tube segment 2 is shown inflated and greatly
enlarged. Installed in channel 13 is a valve 14 that prevents the
inadvertent outflow of fluid from interior space 8. In the example,
valve 14 is formed by a lip valve that is known per se, with valve
lips that lie against each other elastically. As schematically
shown in FIG. 3, a pressure sensor 24 can be placed in the interior
space 8 between the tube portions of the double-tube body that are
near the axis of rotation without thereby exerting a disruptive
effect on the interface with the surrounding tissue.
[0050] Affixed locally to the surface of tube segment 2 is a body
23 containing a chemotherapeutic or radioactive substance. When the
tube segment is in the inflated state, said body is pressed
together with the body site to be treated, thus making it possible
to develop an especially concentrated efficacy locally while
avoiding injury to surrounding healthy tissue.
[0051] FIG. 4 shows an exemplary embodiment in which tube segment 2
is placed on the end of a catheter 15. The ends 7, 9 of tube
segment 2 are connected, one surrounding the other, to catheter
tube 15. Channel 13 leads into interior space 8 of tube segment 2.
The example shows the placement of tube segment 2 in a cavity that
is not delineated in more detail. In this case, an annular abutment
16 can be placed like a collar on catheter shaft 15, so that, for
example, the skin 17 at the opening to the cavity can be clamped
sealingly between abutment 16 and outer wall 6 of tube segment 2.
Such an implementation makes it possible, for example, to flush out
a body cavity with a liquid in a controlled manner.
[0052] Contamination of the environment is prevented by the annular
abutment lying sealingly against the skin.
[0053] FIG. 5 shows the use of tube segment 2 with the simultaneous
application of a brace 18. Brace 18 is made of rigid material and
is pushed by its one leg 19 into the free space 20 of tube portion
3. By means of brace 18, tube segment 2 can be provided with a
rigid portion on a desired side. It can also be used to carry
substances or bodies 23 affixed to its surface and to place them in
a body cavity in a targeted manner and use them for chemical or
therapeutic treatment. In this context, the gentle pressing
together with the body caused by the tube segment applied to the
back and inflated during use is of crucial importance for the
success of the treatment. Correct and precise positioning of the
body in the cavity is particularly easy to achieve.
[0054] FIG. 6 shows a form of use of tube segment 2 in which a
clamping closure 21 is slid onto tube segment 2. The size of the
inflated portion of tube segment 2 can be defined by displacing
clamping closure 21 along tube segment 2. The farther damping
closure 21 is slid to the left as seen in the drawing, the larger
the released portion of tube segment 2 becomes. Clamping closure 21
is intended to be secured by means of a sleeve 22 that can also be
displaced longitudinally. Clamping closure 21 is split over almost
its entire length and is so selected with respect to its wall
thickness that displacing the sleeve along damping closure 21
results in stronger or weaker closure of tube segment 2 and channel
13. To shield against radioactive media, clamping closure 21 can,
in an embodiment of the kind shown in FIG. 6, be made of film-like,
radiation-shielding material, for example of a polymer material
with a metal vapor-deposited on one or both sides, or entirely of
metal.
[0055] The novel tube segment can be used in a versatile manner, as
the examples show. It also permits improved access for visual
probes, manometers and the like into the interiors of cavities. The
tube segment even makes it possible to remove fluid or solid
fractions from the cavity without the use of special instruments,
by causing the interiorly disposed bulge in tube segment 2 to form
a sort of lip-like closure merely by pulling on inner wall 4 while
simultaneously bracing outer wall 6.
* * * * *