Head-Suspended RPT Blower Layout for Noise and Pressure Stability
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing respiratory pressure therapy (RPT) devices face challenges in comfort, noise, ease of use, efficacy, size, weight, manufacturability, cost, and reliability, particularly in medical applications, with issues such as acoustic noise and inefficient data management.
Innovation Solution
A respiratory pressure therapy system with a single motor and shaft design, a blower configuration that includes impellers and stators, a seal-forming structure for patient interface, and a positioning and stabilizing structure that suspends the blower from the head, along with a control system for closed-loop pressure control and automated management, enhancing patient compliance and comfort.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If a conventional RPT device with separate motor and blower components is used, then the device can provide sufficient therapeutic pressure, but the device generates excessive acoustic noise and vibration
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the motor and blower into a single integrated assembly where the motor drives the blower directly. This merging of components reduces the number of separate parts that can generate noise and vibration, while maintaining the therapeutic pressure delivery capability through optimized airflow path design within the integrated structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent nests the motor within the blower housing structure, with the motor positioned inside the blower assembly. This nested configuration allows the motor to drive the blower impeller directly, reducing mechanical coupling losses and minimizing vibration transmission, thereby reducing acoustic noise while maintaining pressure delivery reliability.
2Ease of operation
If the blower is suspended from the patient's head, then the device portability and ease of use are improved, but the weight and complexity of the patient interface increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the RPT system into a portable patient-worn component (blower suspended from head) and a stationary component (air circuit connection). This segmentation allows the therapeutic function to be delivered portably while the heavier air circuit infrastructure remains stationary, reducing the weight burden on the patient.
Solution Approach 2:
The patient interface is designed with multi-functionality, serving both as the structural support for suspending the blower and as the sealing interface for delivering therapeutic pressure. The head suspension structure integrates with the patient interface components, reducing the need for separate weighting structures and minimizing overall weight while maintaining portability.
3Reliability
If a seal-forming structure is used to maintain therapeutic pressure, then pressure control efficacy is improved, but patient comfort and ease of use deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs dynamic pressure control where the blower adjusts airflow in real-time based on patient respiratory demands. The seal-forming structure works with a feedback control system that modulates pressure delivery, allowing the seal to maintain efficacy while the dynamic adjustments prevent discomfort from excessive or insufficient pressure, thereby improving both pressure control reliability and patient comfort.
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 system improves patient compliance, reduces noise and vibration, enhances ease of use, and provides efficient respiratory therapy with improved manufacturability and cost-effectiveness, while maintaining therapeutic pressure throughout the respiratory cycle.
Implementation Method 1
a blower configured to generate the flow of gas and pressurise the plenum chamber to the therapeutic pressure
Implementation Method 2
The blower may be supported on the patient's head in use by a non-rigid support structure constructed from an elastic support material. The support structure may dampen vibration generated by the blower and/or isolate vibration generated by the blower from the patient's head
Implementation Method 3
a motor, the blower being connected to the plenum chamber such that in use the blower is suspended from the patient's head and an axis of rotation of the motor is generally perpendicular to the patient's sagittal plane
Data Source
AI summary
The present technology is directed to a respiratory pressure therapy system, that includes a plenum chamber pressurisable to a therapeutic pressure above ambient air pressure, a seal-forming structure to form a seal with an entrance to the patient's airways to maintain said therapeutic pressure in the plenum chamber throughout the patient's respiratory cycle in use, a positioning and stabilising structure constructed and arranged to provide an elastic force to hold the seal-forming structure in a therapeutically effective position on the patient's head, a blower configured to generate the flow of air and pressurise the plenum chamber to the therapeutic pressure, the blower having a motor, the blower being connected to the plenum chamber such that the blower is suspended from the patient's head and the axis of rotation of the motor is perpendicular to the patient's sagittal plane, and a power supply configured to provide electrical power to the blower.