Patent application number | Description | Published |
20090090365 | BALLOON CUFF TRACHEOSTOMY TUBE WITH GREATER EASE OF INSERTION - There is provided a balloon cuffed tracheostomy tube with a balloon designed so as to enhance the tube's anchorability without sealing the tracheal stoma and to allow for an easier insertion into the trachea than a comparable tube with a thicker balloon. The tracheostomy tube device includes a conventional hollow tube having a proximal end portion, a distal end portion, and a bend region intermediate of the end portions. The distal end portion of the tube is arranged for insertion through a patient's throat and tracheal stoma and into the tracheal lumen. The device further includes an inflatable balloon enveloping a portion of the tube. More particularly, the balloon is equal to or less than 30 microns in thickness, allowing for a greater ease of insertion and insertion through a smaller stoma opening, than a comparable tube with a balloon having a thickness greater than 30 microns. | 04-09-2009 |
20090090366 | BALLOON CUFF TRACHEOSTOMY TUBE - There is provided a balloon cuffed tracheostomy tube with a balloon designed so as to enhance the tube's anchorability without sealing the tracheal stoma. The tracheostomy tube device includes a conventional curved hollow tube. The distal end of the tube is adapted for insertion through a tracheal stoma and into the tracheal lumen of a patient's throat. The device further includes an inflatable balloon enveloping a portion of the tube. The balloon has a distal portion substantially centered about and attached to the distal end portion of the tube. The balloon also has a proximal portion attached to the bend region of the tube and positioned substantially off-center relative to the proximal portion of the tube and about the bend region below the proximal plane of the device. Upon inflation, this configuration provides for expansion of the balloon around the distal end portion of the tube and the proximal end portion of the tube below the proximal plane of the device to seal the trachea below the tracheal stoma and to avoid sealing the trachea above the tracheal stoma. This configuration of the balloon should allow secretions to exit the stoma so that they do not accumulate and become a possible source of ventilator acquired pneumonia. | 04-09-2009 |
20090209908 | TUBULAR WORKPIECE FOR PRODUCING AN IMPROVED BALLOON CUFF TRACHEOSTOMY TUBE - There is provided a tubular workpiece for blow-molding into an inflatable balloon component. The tubular workpiece is a raw tube having a lumen and composed of a thermoplastic polymer, the tube having an asymmetric wall thickness such that when the tube is preheated in a mold to a temperature sufficient to soften the material of the tube and inflated with a gas to generally uniformly stretch the material of the tube, the tube forms a balloon component. The balloon may be non-uniform in wall thickness depending on the type of mold used. The balloon may be attached according to conventional means to a hollow tube to produce a tracheostomy device. | 08-20-2009 |
20100300448 | Tracheostomy Tube - There is provided an improved tracheostomy tube having a distal section that over-molds a proximal section. The distal section is desirably made from a more flexible polymer than the proximal section to reduce trauma should the distal section contact the tracheal wall. The insertion of the tracheal tube in the trachea results in large forces being exerted on the tube. Forces acting on the tube after installation can also be rather large. Over-molding of the proximal section by the distal section results in a stronger bond than if the parts are butt-welded. The sections are desirably made from the same polymer and are desirably substantially transparent or clear to visible light so that cameras or other observation means may be used to inspect the tracheal walls through the tracheostomy tube without removing it from the patient. | 12-02-2010 |
20100300449 | Position Indicator for Tracheostomy Tube - There is provided an improved tracheostomy tube having a proximal section over-molded by a distal section, where the sections have a differential in the degree of radio-opacity. The radio-opaque material allows a medical professional to determine the location of the tube in the trachea non-invasively, using an x-ray or similar device. In addition, aligning the top (proximal end) of the balloon with the transition between the distal and proximal sections of the tube allows a medical professional to know the exact location of the balloon. The length of the proximal section may be set so that the balloon is place in a pre-determined position so that the transition point between the distal and proximal sections may be used as a position indicator. | 12-02-2010 |
20100300451 | Punch Dilator - There is provided a device for performing an initial piercing and dilating of a patient's trachea. The device has a needle within and extending beyond a sheath which in turn is within and extends beyond an introducer dilator. After the needle is used to pierce the trachea, it may be removed and a guide wire (J-wire) inserted through the introducer dilator and sheath in its place. The sheath is slidable within the introducer dilator once the needle is removed. The introducer dilator is then moved forward, into the site of the initial piercing to expand it. As the introducer dilator is moved forward, the sheath may remain stationary, sliding within the introducer dilator and thus reducing trauma to the stoma site. | 12-02-2010 |
20110098687 | Cam Action Detachment for Tracheostomy Tube - There is provided a mechanism for gently detaching a loading catheter from a tracheostomy tube once the tube is placed in the trachea of a patient. After dilating the trachea, a loading catheter is inserted into a tracheostomy tube with which it desirably engages. Once the loading catheter and tracheostomy tube are attached to each other, the entire unit is passed through the stoma until the flange of the tracheostomy tube is in contact with the throat. The loading catheter may then be removed by rotating or twisting the loading catheter handle. The loading catheter and tracheostomy tube have a cam-action mechanism that gently forces the two parts apart as they are rotated relative to each other. This “cam action” disengagement allows for the removal of the loading catheter without subjecting the trachea or throat to undue pressure or forces that might cause trauma or increase recovery time. Other accessories like cannulas and obturators may attach and detach from the tracheostomy tube in a like manner. | 04-28-2011 |
20140004370 | Branching Core-Pin Assembly and System for Forming Branching Channels | 01-02-2014 |
20140018741 | Feeding Tube Tip Reinforcement - A feeding tube assembly having an improved feeding tube body composed of a tube wall having an external tube surface and an internal tube surface, a proximal end, a distal end separated from the proximal end by a length, and a distal tip region. The internal tube surface defines a feeding passageway extending the proximal end to the distal tip region. The tube body has a first cross-sectional profile from the proximal end to the distal end and at least a second cross-sectional profile from the distal end to the distal tip region. In the first cross-sectional profile, the external tube surface defines an external circumference and the internal tube surface defines a generally non-circular internal perimeter dividing the tube wall into one thin-walled portions and thick-walled portions. In the second cross-section profile, the external tube surface defines an external circumference and the internal tube surface defines an internal circumference. | 01-16-2014 |