Breathing Circuit Water Trap with Pressure Port
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Solution Overview
Problem
Double lumen breathing circuits lack a water trap mechanism, leading to fluid accumulation and resistance issues, and are not suitable for intensive care units or long-duration anesthesia operations, while conventional water traps cannot be used due to design incompatibility, and lung pressure measurement is not possible in these circuits.
Innovation Solution
A closed system water trap with a lung pressure measurement port is integrated into double lumen and coaxial breathing circuits, allowing for fluid drainage via a needleless injector and inkwell-shaped drainage port, enabling fluid retention and discharge without opening the system, and accommodating both luer and conventional stopper connections.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional water traps are installed at the tube coupling point, then fluid accumulation is prevented, but the design is incompatible with double lumen breathing circuits and cannot drain from the mid section where fluid accumulates most
Solution Approach 1:
The water trap is integrated within the breathing circuit system itself, with the trap chamber formed inside the tube structure. The leg part contains an internal water collection chamber that nests within the breathing circuit geometry, allowing the water trap to be self-contained within the existing double lumen circuit design rather than requiring external attachment.
Solution Approach 2:
The water trap utilizes the vertical dimension by creating a downward-sloping path from the mid section of the tube to a collection chamber at the bottom. Fluid accumulates in the lower chamber while air flows through the upper portion, separating the fluid collection function from the air passage in the vertical dimension.
2Device complexity
If double lumen breathing circuits are used without water trap mechanism, then the circuit design is simplified, but fluid accumulation causes resistance against air flow and infection risks
Solution Approach 1:
The water trap function is merged with the existing breathing circuit components. The leg part of the double lumen circuit is designed to incorporate both air passage and fluid collection functions, combining what would traditionally be separate elements (breathing tube and external water trap) into a single integrated structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The water trap automatically collects and contains fluid through gravity-driven flow to the lower chamber, and can be drained by simply inverting the device without requiring external pumps, valves, or complex drainage systems. The design serves itself by using the natural properties of fluid flow and gravity.
3Ease of operation
If the water trap bottle is opened manually for drainage, then fluid can be discharged, but the system remains open to external environment causing infection risks to nurse and patient
Solution Approach 1:
The manual opening mechanism is replaced with a needleless injector system that punctures a sealed closure. Instead of mechanically opening a wide bottle cap, a needleless device creates a small controlled access point through the seal, allowing drainage while maintaining overall system closure and preventing environmental contamination.
Solution Approach 2:
The needleless injector acts as an intermediary between the sealed water trap chamber and the external drainage container. It provides a controlled interface that allows fluid transfer without direct exposure of the main system to the external environment, thus preventing infection pathways.
4Quantity of substance
If conventional water traps are used in double lumen circuits, then fluid retention is possible, but they cannot be attached due to design of the leg part
Solution Approach 1:
The leg part is designed with multi-functionality, serving both as the connection interface for the breathing circuit and as the housing for the water trap chamber. The same structural elements that provide circuit connectivity also provide fluid collection capacity, eliminating the need for separate attachment mechanisms.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution eliminates airflow resistance, reduces infection risks by preventing fluid leakage, and allows for lung pressure measurement, enabling safe and effective use in intensive care and anesthesia settings without extra costs or infection risks.
Implementation Method 1
condensation of the water vapour, fluids that may have infection risks are collected at the expiratory side of the tubes
Implementation Method 2
the inkwell-shaped water trap that has been collected by the connector and the luer, connected to an injector, can be discharged
Implementation Method 3
a needleless injector apparatus that has been placed into the port; the inkwell-shaped water trap that has been collected by the connector and the luer, connected to an injector, can be discharged
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to providing novel functions to the double lumen breathing circuits and coaxial breathing circuits which at present do not comprise water traps, by adding a closed system water trap designed to have an inkwell shape and a lung pressure measurement port to said circuits wherein the fluid collected in the bottle section can be discharged without having to open the bottle by means of a drainage luer port located at the base of the bottle and a needleless apparatus that has been inserted into the port, and an injector.