Physical Lung Model With Mechanical Stop Lever
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current lung simulators, especially high-fidelity ones, are expensive, large, and often impractical for widespread use in training medical professionals, particularly for simulating neonatal lungs. They also suffer from issues like frictional forces affecting feedback control and the need for costly sensors and actuators.
Innovation Solution
A physical lung model (PLM) is developed that includes an enlargeable and reducible piston with a mechanical stop and lever system, allowing for simulation of reduced lung compliance and non-linear lung mechanics without the need for feedback control. This design is compact, cost-effective, and suitable for training with both adult and neonatal simulators.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If high-fidelity lung simulators are used to achieve realistic training scenarios, then training immersion and physiological accuracy are improved, but cost and device size increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a simplified mechanical copy of lung behavior using a compliance chamber with elastic membrane and spring mechanism. This copy reproduces the essential pressure-volume relationship of real lungs without requiring complex sensors, actuators, or control systems, thereby achieving realistic training scenarios at lower cost.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the physical parameters of the simulation system by using passive mechanical elements (elastic membrane, springs, weights) to directly simulate lung compliance characteristics. This eliminates the need for active control systems and expensive sensors while maintaining physiological accuracy in the pressure-volume relationship.
2Reliability
If high-fidelity lung simulators are used to achieve realistic training scenarios, then training immersion and physiological accuracy are improved, but device size and portability worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a simplified mechanical copy of lung behavior using a compliance chamber with elastic membrane and spring mechanism. This copy reproduces the essential pressure-volume relationship of real lungs without requiring complex sensors, actuators, or control systems, thereby achieving realistic training scenarios at lower cost.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the physical parameters of the simulation system by using passive mechanical elements (elastic membrane, springs, weights) to directly simulate lung compliance characteristics. This eliminates the need for active control systems and expensive sensors while maintaining physiological accuracy in the pressure-volume relationship.
3Measurement precision
If feedback control systems are used in lung simulators, then physiological response accuracy is improved, but frictional forces and system complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a self-service mechanism where the elastic membrane and spring system automatically generate the physiological response without external control. The system self-regulates the pressure-volume relationship through its inherent mechanical properties, eliminating the need for feedback control systems and their associated complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the essential physiological function (pressure-volume relationship) from the complex feedback control system. By isolating and implementing only the core compliance behavior through passive mechanical elements, the system removes the unnecessary complexity of sensors, actuators, and control algorithms while maintaining measurement precision.
4Measurement precision
If expensive sensors and actuators are used in lung simulators, then physiological measurement and control accuracy are improved, but cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a simplified mechanical copy of lung behavior using a compliance chamber with elastic membrane and spring mechanism. This copy reproduces the essential pressure-volume relationship of real lungs without requiring complex sensors, actuators, or control systems, thereby achieving realistic training scenarios at lower cost.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the physical parameters of the simulation system by using passive mechanical elements (elastic membrane, springs, weights) to directly simulate lung compliance characteristics. This eliminates the need for active control systems and expensive sensors while maintaining physiological accuracy in the pressure-volume relationship.
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 PLM provides a realistic, immersive, and cost-effective training experience for medical professionals, allowing for simulation of various lung conditions and responses to treatment without the drawbacks of expensive and bulky high-fidelity simulators.
Implementation Method 1
a lung compartment which is delimited by an enlargeable and reducible piston for enlarging and reducing the volume of the lung compartment
Implementation Method 2
a mechanical stop is attached to the piston and partitions the piston into a first enlargeable and reducible section and a second enlargeable and reducible section, the mechanical stop describing a path of movement during the enlargement of the lung compartment, and a lever is installed for blocking the movement of the stop at a predefined point on the path of movement
Data Source
AI summary
A physical lung model (PLM) for training and teaching comprising a lung compartment which is delimited by an enlargeable and reducible piston for enlarging and reducing the volume of the lung compartment, a lid sealing a first end of the piston, a support body carrying the piston in that a second end of the piston is sealingly attached to the support body; and an airway leading from the lung compartment to an airway opening.A mechanical stop is attached to the piston and partitions the piston into a first enlargeable and reducible section and a second enlargeable and reducible section, the mechanical stop describing a path of movement during the enlargement of the lung compartment. A lever, is installed for blocking the movement of the stop at a predefined point on the path of movement during enlargement of the lung compartment and restricting the enlargement of the lung compartment.