U.S. patent number 3,841,331 [Application Number 05/307,459] was granted by the patent office on 1974-10-15 for suction-pump assembly for drawing body fluids.
Invention is credited to Maurice S. Kanbar, Joseph R. Wilder.
United States Patent |
3,841,331 |
Wilder , et al. |
October 15, 1974 |
SUCTION-PUMP ASSEMBLY FOR DRAWING BODY FLUIDS
Abstract
A disposable evacuator assembly for drawing fluids from a
surgical site or body orifices. The assembly comprises a standard
syringe in which a piston is slidable within a cylinder whose upper
end is flanged. The lower end of the cylinder is provided with an
outlet that is coupled through a uni-directional relief valve to a
collector bottle which, in turn, is coupled by a drain pipe to the
surgical site. The piston is actuated by a stem terminating in a
flange. The assembly is operatively associated with a driver
provided with a stationary fitting adapted to receive the cylinder
flange and to latch the cylinder thereto, and a movable fitting
adapted to receive the stem flange, the movable fitting being
shifted back and forth relative to the stationary fitting to cause
reciprocation of the piston within the cylinder to create a suction
force drawing fluid into the collector bottle. To dispose of the
assembly after use, the syringe is detached from the fittings.
Inventors: |
Wilder; Joseph R. (New York,
NY), Kanbar; Maurice S. (New York, NY) |
Family
ID: |
23189870 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/307,459 |
Filed: |
November 17, 1972 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
604/152 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A61M
1/80 (20210501) |
Current International
Class: |
A61M
1/00 (20060101); A61m 001/00 (); A61m 005/20 () |
Field of
Search: |
;128/DIG.1,214R,214B,214F,218,230,234,260,276-278 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1,116,972 |
|
Feb 1956 |
|
FR |
|
423,632 |
|
Apr 1911 |
|
FR |
|
Primary Examiner: Gaudet; Richard A.
Assistant Examiner: McGowan; J. C.
Claims
We claim:
1. A disposable pump assembly for evacuating fluid from the body of
a patient or for infusing fluid into said body, said assembly and
the driver therefor comprising:
A. a bottle for containing a fluid to be infused into the body or
for receiving fluid evacuated from the body, said bottle being
provided with first and second inlets, said first inlet
communicating with an air space in said bottle, said second inlet
functioning with respect to infused or evacuated fluid,
B. a pipe connected to said second inlet for coupling said bottle
to said body for infusion or evacuation;
C. a disposable, standard syringe functioning as an air pump and
constituted by a cylinder having an outlet and a movable piston
therein, said piston being actuated by an axial stem connected
thereto,
D. a powered driver having a stationary fitting and a movable
fitting which reciprocates with respect to said stationary fitting,
said fittings including means effecting a detachable coupling to
said cylinder and to said stem whereby said syringe may readily be
coupled to said fittings or withdrawn therefrom, and
E. pipe means having a reversible uni-directional valve interposed
therein coupling the outlet of the syringe to said first inlet,
said assembly being operative in the evacuating mode when said
valve functions in a predetermined direction and being operative in
the infusion mode after the valve setting is reversed when said
valve functions in the reverse direction.
2. An assmebly as set forth in claim 1, wherein said valve is set
for operation in the evacuation mode, whereby in the forward stroke
of said piston air ejected from the cylinder is discharged by said
valve to the atmosphere and in the return stroke air is drawn into
said cylinder from said bottle to produce a suction force
withdrawing fluid from the body.
3. An assembly as set forth in claim 1, wherein said valve is set
for operation in the infusion mode whereby in the forward stroke of
said piston, air is forced into said bottle to force fluid
therefrom through said feed pipe and in the return stroke air is
drawn into said cylinder from the atmosphere.
4. An assembly as set forth in claim 1, wherein said power driver
is constituted by a motor whose armature shaft operates a crank
coupled to said movable fitting.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates generally to surgical evacuators for
withdrawing fluids from the human body, and more particularly to a
motor-driven suction-pump assembly for drawing such fluids, the
assembly being separable from the driver and being disposable.
In post-operative surgical procedures, drains are used whenever an
abnormal collection of fluid is encountered. This fluid may be in
the form of contaminated or infected material, blood, bile or
lymph, exudate or transudate. Ordinary wounds are noramlly drained
for a post-operative period running as long as forty-eight hours.
Effective drainage is of medical importance, for swelling and
tension are minimized thereby, post-operative pain is reduced, and
the edges of wounds are maintained flat and quiescent. Drainage is
also important in dealing with infections.
It is known to use motor-driven suction pumps for evacuating fluids
in post-operative surgical procedures. Such pumps are adapted to
function in conjunction with a fluid collector coupled to a drain
pipe leading to the wound. In order to maintain sterile conditions,
it is the present practice to discard the collector and the
associated tubing after a single use rather than resterilize the
system.
But existing drainage pump systems present a problem in regard to
the sterility of the motor-driven suction pump, for the cost of
such pumps is relatively high and one cannot afford to discard the
pump after a single use. On the other hand, since the pump is
operatively associated with the fluid collector and tends to
contaminate in the course of operation, the re-sterilization of the
suction pump involves time-consuming and costly procedures and in
some instances requires dismantling and reassembly of the pump
structure. Consequently the pump is rarely sterilized.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
In view of the foregoing, the primary object of this invention is
to provide a motor-driven pump assembly adapted to function as a
surgical evacuator, the assembly being separable from the powered
driver therefor and being disposable.
More specifically, it is an object of this invention to provide a
surgical evacuator assembly which is reliable and efficient in
operation, the assembly including a standard pistontype syringe
functioning as a suction pump, the syringe being detachably coupled
to a driver adapted to reciprocate the piston to produce a suction
force drawing fluid from the wound into a collector bottle.
Among the significant features and advantages of the invention are
the following:
A. The standard syringe, being a mass-produced device, is
commercially available in large quantities at very low unit cost;
hence the total cost of the assembly is such as to make its
disposability feasible.
B. Because the evacuator assembly, which includes the pump, is
separable from the driver and no fluid derived from the site being
evacuated reaches or makes contact with the driver, there is no
need to resterilize the driver after use.
C. Because the syringe is easily and quickly attached to and
detached from the driver, the installation and disposal of the
assembly may be carried out without difficulty.
D. Because the driver need be nothing more than a conventional
electrical motor whose shaft is operatively coupled to a motion
converter to produce a reciprocal action, the driver itself may be
of compact and low-cost design.
Briefly stated, these objects and features are attainable in a
surgical evacuator assembly comprising a standard syringe in which
a piston is slidable within a cylinder whose upper end is flanged
and whose lower end is provided with an outlet that is coupled by a
tube through a uni-directional relief valve to a collector bottle,
which, in turn, is coupled by a drain pipe to the surgical site.
The piston is actuated by an axial stem terminating in a
flange.
The assembly is operatively associated with a powered driver having
a stationary fitting adapted to receive the cylinder flange and to
latch the cylinder thereto, and a movable fitting adapted to
receive the stem flange, the movable fitting being reciprocated
relative to the stationary fitting to cause reciprocation of the
piston within the cylinder. To dispose of the assembly after use,
the syringe is detached from the fittings.
The forward stroke of the piston ejects air from the cylinder
chamber, the ejected air being discharged into the atmosphere
through the uni-directional relief valve. The return stroke of the
piston draws air into the chamber, which air is derived from the
collector bottle to produce a negative pressure or vacuum force
causing fluid to be drawn from the surgical site into the
bottle.
By reversing the setting of the valve the assembly is adapted to
function as an infusion pump to force a therapeutic liquid
contained in the bottle into the patient.
OUTLINE OF DRAWING
For a better understanding of the invention as well as other
objects and further features thereof, reference is made to the
following detailed description to be read in conjunction with the
accompanying drawing, wherein:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a driver and disposable evacuator
assembly in accordance with the invention;
FIG. 2 illustrates the manner in which the syringe of the assembly
is coupled to the driver, and
FIG. 3 shows a dual driver system operating in conjunction with an
evacuator assembly and an infusion assembly.
DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION
Referring now to the drawings, there is shown a disposable
evacuator assembly in accordance with the invention, the main
components of the assembly being a standard syringe, generally
designated by numeral 10, a uni-directional relief valve 11 and a
collector bottle 12. The assembly is operatively associated with a
powered driver, generally designated by numeral 13.
The syringe 10 is constituted by a cylinder 14, made of glass or
suitable transparent plastic material, the upper end of the
cylinder being provided with a winged flange 15, ordinarily
intended to be grasped by the fingers of the user. The lower end of
the cylinder is provided with a tapered outlet 16, normally
intended to be coupled to a hypodermic needle or catheter.
Slidable within cylinder 14 is a piston 17, which is attached to
one end of an axial stem 18, the other end of the stem terminating
in a disc-shaped flange 19. In normal use, an operator, by means of
the cylinder flange 15, holds the cylinder in one hand, and by
means of the stem flange 19, pulls piston 17 up the cylinder to
draw liquid into the cylinder chamber. Thereafter, by pushing
piston 17 down the cylinder, the liquid contained therein is
ejected from the chamber. But in the present invention, the
syringe, as will now be explained, functions in conjunction with
the driver and the relief valve as an air suction pump.
Cylinder outlet 16 is coupled by a pipe 20 to a collector bottle
12, the end portion of the pipe passing through the bottle stopper
21. Interposed in pipe 20 is the uni-directional relief valve 11,
which is arranged to exhaust air into the atmosphere when piston 17
is pushed down the cylinder (forward stroke) to eject air from the
cylinder chamber, and to conduct air from bottle 12 into the
cylinder chamber when the piston is pulled up the cylinder (return
stroke).
Bottle 12 is coupled to the surgical site by means of a drain pipe
22. Hence when air from bottle 12 is drawn into the cylinder
chamber during the return stroke, a suction force is created to
draw fluid from the surgical site into the bottle.
The syringe is operated by means of powered driver 13 which is
provided with an electrically energized motor 23 (or equivalent
means) whose armature shaft 24 is likened by a crank 25 to a
movable fitting 26 which is slidable along a linear slot 27 toward
and away from a stationary fitting 28 mounted on the top wall of
the driver casing.
Stationary fitting 28 is provided with a pair of parallel vertical
plates 28A and 28B, which are sufficiently spaced apart to snugly
accommodate cylinder 14 of the syringe, the plates having slots
therein adapted to receive the winged flange 15 and thereby prevent
axial displacement of the cylinder. To securely latch the cylinder
in the stationary fitting, a latching strip 29 is provided which
slides into loops 30A and 30B mounted on the top edge of the plates
28A and 28B.
Movable fitting 26 is provided with a rectangular socket adapted to
receive stem flange 19. Thus when cylinder 14 is seated within
stationary fitting 28 and is latched thereto, and stem flange 19 is
received within movable fitting 26, the reciprocal motion of the
movable fitting causes reciprocation of piston 17 to produce a
suction force during each return stroke of the piston.
The amount of suction generated may be controlled by varying the
length of the stroke or the rate of reciprocation. In practice a
variable speed motor may be used in order to adjust the rate of
evacuation to the needs of the patient.
In the course of operation, the collector bottle fills with body
fluid, and the syringe, because it draws air from the bottle,
becomes contaminated. However, contaminants contained in the
syringe are isolated from the driver. When the bottle is filled,
the entire assembly may be discarded, after first detaching the
syringe from the driver fittings.
It will be appreciated that the syringe behaves as a positive
displacement pump when the operative direction of valve 11 is
reversed, so that now in the forward stroke of the piston, air is
ejected from the cylinder and discharged into the bottle, while
during the return stroke air is drawn from the atmosphere into the
cylinder. This is useful when one desires to infuse a liquid into
the patient.
In some instances it may be necessary to carry out fluid evacuation
and fluid infusion concurrently. This may be accomplished as shown
in FIG. 3 by means of a dual-driver 31 having a pair of stationary
and movable fittings operating in conjunction with two disposable
assemblies, generally designated by numerals 32 and 33.
Assembly 32 is provided with a valve 34 which is set with respect
to syringe 35 to produce a suction force drawing liquid into a
collector bottle 36 from a surgical site. The second assembly is
provided with a valve 37 which is set with respect to syringe 38 to
produce a positive displacement force, pushing air into a liquid
supply bottle 39 and causing liquid from the bottle to flow through
a pipe feeding liquid to the patient. The nature of this liquid
will of course depend on the liquid indicated by the patient's
condition.
Thus with the arrangement shown in FIG. 3 the parallel pump systems
are essentially identical, save for the setting of the valves, one
system functioning to draw liquid from a surgical site and the
other to infuse a therapeutic liquid into the patient.
While there has been shown and described a preferred embodiment of
the invention, it will be appreciated that many changes and
modifications may be made therein without, however, departing from
the essential spirit of the invention.
* * * * *