Inflatable Drive-Through Tunnel Positive Pressure Booth
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing medical diagnostic and treatment procedures face challenges in maintaining a sterile environment when administering tests or treatments to patients in their vehicles, as contaminants can enter the testing area through air currents when medical personnel enter and exit.
Innovation Solution
An inflatable drive-through tunnel system with a positive pressure booth that prevents external contaminants from entering by maintaining a higher air pressure inside the booth than outside, using a combination of inflatable structures and air vents with filters to ensure a controlled environment for medical sampling and treatment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If medical personnel enter and exit the testing area, then they can perform medical procedures, but contaminants can enter through air currents
Solution Approach 1:
An inflatable tunnel structure serves as an intermediary barrier between the contaminated external environment and the sterile testing area. The tunnel allows medical personnel to pass through while maintaining separation between clean and dirty zones, preventing direct air current exchange between the two environments.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses positive pressure ventilation within the testing area to create a pressure gradient that prevents contaminated air from entering. The inflatable tunnel is equipped with air vents and filtration systems that maintain higher pressure inside the testing area, causing air to flow outward rather than inward, thus blocking contaminant entry.
2Ease of manufacture
If an inflatable tunnel structure is used, then portability and ease of setup are improved, but maintaining a sterile environment becomes more challenging
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs an inflatable tunnel made of flexible material that can be easily deployed and configured. This flexible shell structure provides a portable yet effective barrier that can be inflated to create the required sterile environment, combining ease of setup with functional reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The inflatable tunnel incorporates integrated air vents and positive pressure ventilation systems that actively maintain the sterile environment. The pneumatic system ensures continuous air filtration and pressure control, reliably preventing contaminant entry despite the temporary nature of the inflatable structure.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If a positive pressure booth is implemented, then contaminant prevention is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the inflatable tunnel structure with the positive pressure booth into an integrated system. The tunnel and booth work together as a unified barrier system, where the tunnel provides the physical separation and the booth provides the pressurized sterile environment, achieving effective contaminant prevention through combined functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The positive pressure booth creates an inert-like protected environment by maintaining higher pressure and filtered air flow. This inert atmosphere approach prevents contaminated air from entering the sterile zone, effectively isolating the medical procedures area from external contaminants.
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 effectively reduces contamination risks during medical procedures by maintaining a sterile environment within the booth, allowing medical personnel to collect samples and administer treatments without exposing patients or staff to airborne particulates, while being portable and easy to set up.
Implementation Method 1
The positive pressure ensures that outside contaminants are not brought into the booth through the air when the personnel enter and leave the booth
Implementation Method 2
using a combination of inflatable structures and air vents with filters to ensure a controlled environment for medical sampling and treatment
Data Source
AI summary
An inflatable drive through tunnel system comprised of an inflatable main tunnel and an inflatable positive pressure booth area for performing simple medical diagnostic tests or the like. A patient can drive into the inflatable tunnel. Medical personnel can take samples from patients who remain in their vehicles. The medical personnel can then store the samples in the positive pressure booth area. The positive pressure ensures that outside contaminants are not brought into the booth through the air when the personnel enter and leave the booth.