Breathing Apparatus Using Nested Volumetric Members for Self-Sustaining Pressure
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current breathing assistance devices for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) require expensive, non-portable equipment and external pressure sources, making them bulky and non-self-sustaining, and often fail to provide effective positive expiratory pressure (PEP) and positive airway pressure during inhalation and exhalation.
Innovation Solution
A breathing apparatus with an inner volumetric member that pressurizes an outer member, providing PEP during exhalation and positive airway pressure during inhalation, using a one-way exhalation valve and inspiratory flow path to assist breathing, while also incorporating filters for air quality improvement and optional warming and humidification of inhalation gases.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If expensive, non-portable equipment such as ventilators, BPAP, and CPAP systems are used to provide positive pressure support, then effective breathing assistance and positive expiratory pressure are achieved, but the device becomes bulky, non-portable, and requires external pressure sources
Solution Approach 1:
The device uses the patient's own exhaled breath to generate the pressure needed for inhalation assistance. The exhalation chamber captures exhaled air, and the biasing members use the pressure from exhalation to compress inhalation gases in the inhalation chamber, eliminating the need for external compressors or pressure sources.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs nested volumetric chambers where the inner volumetric member is surrounded by the outer volumetric member. The inner chamber handles exhalation while the outer chamber stores pressurized inhalation gases, with both chambers sharing a common structure and working in coordination to provide breathing assistance in a compact form.
2Stress or pressure
If external pressure sources such as supplemental oxygen and compressors are used, then positive airway pressure is provided, but the device becomes bulky and non-self-sustaining
Solution Approach 1:
The device uses the patient's own exhaled breath to generate the pressure needed for inhalation assistance. The exhalation chamber captures exhaled air, and the biasing members use the pressure from exhalation to compress inhalation gases in the inhalation chamber, eliminating the need for external compressors or pressure sources.
Solution Approach 2:
The device recovers energy from the patient's exhalation process. Instead of discarding exhaled air, the system captures it in the exhalation chamber and uses the pressure generated during exhalation to drive the biasing members, which then compress the inhalation gases for the next inhalation cycle.
3Stress or pressure
If conventional devices are used to assist inhalation, then positive pressure is provided during inhalation, but positive expiratory pressure is not effectively provided during exhalation
Solution Approach 1:
The device operates in periodic cycles alternating between inhalation and exhalation phases. During exhalation, the exhalation chamber is pressurized by the patient's breath, which activates the first biasing member. During inhalation, the second biasing member delivers the pressurized gas to the patient, ensuring both phases receive appropriate pressure support.
Solution Approach 2:
The breathing apparatus is divided into separate functional chambers: an exhalation chamber for capturing and pressurizing exhaled air, and an inhalation chamber for storing and delivering pressurized inhalation gases. This segmentation allows independent optimization of pressure generation and delivery mechanisms for each phase of breathing.
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 apparatus effectively assists breathing by maintaining open airways and expanding alveoli during exhalation and providing initial inhalation pressure, reducing the need for external equipment and improving air quality, thus enhancing breathing efficiency and comfort for COPD patients.
Implementation Method 1
The inner volumetric member pressurizes the outer volumetric member as the inner volumetric member is pressurized from a first pressure to a second pressure
Implementation Method 2
The first biasing member is moveable from a first position to a second position in response to an exhaust flow from the inlet port of the first variable chamber, such that a volume of the first variable chamber is increased from a first volume to a second volume and a volume of the second variable chamber is decreased from a first volume to a second volume
Implementation Method 3
The second biasing member is moveable from a first position to a second position in response to a pressurized flow from the outlet port of the second variable chamber to the inlet port of the inhalation chamber. A volume of the inhalation chamber is increased from a first volume to a second volume in response to the movement of said second biasing member
Data Source
AI summary
A breathing assistance apparatus includes an inner volumetric member pressurizable from a first pressure to a second pressure and an outer volumetric member surrounding at least a portion of the inner expandable volumetric member. The inner volumetric member pressurizes the outer volumetric member as the inner volumetric member is pressurized from the first pressure to the second pressure. In another embodiment, a breathing assistance apparatus includes exhalation and inhalation chambers with respective biasing members providing for the exhalation chamber to apply a pressure to the inhalation chamber and thereby provide assisted inhalation. Methods for assisting breathing are also provided.