Nasal Insert With Pores for Targeted Epistaxis Treatment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing nasal inserts for treating epistaxis lack the ability to apply medicine selectively to specific surfaces within the nasal cavity, particularly 'Little's area, and often have undesirable shapes that lead to inefficient medication distribution.
Innovation Solution
A nasal insert system featuring a permeable, expanding member with a tubular-shaped gauze sleeve and a selectively expanding bladder, allowing for targeted medicine application through a medicine injection apparatus and air injection to create a tamponade effect, with pores positioned to correspond to 'Little's area for enhanced treatment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional nasal packing materials (cotton gauze, sponge, cellulose) are used to treat epistaxis, then hemostasis can be achieved, but the treatment becomes painful and traumatic to the nasal mucosa, and may necessitate hospitalization for several days
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a porous foam material as the nasal insert that can be impregnated with hemostatic agents. The porous structure allows the material to absorb blood and deliver medications while maintaining a less traumatic interface with the nasal mucosa compared to traditional cotton gauze or sponge packing.
Solution Approach 2:
The nasal insert combines foam material with embedded hemostatic agents and medications to create a composite structure that provides both mechanical tamponade and pharmacological treatment, reducing the trauma associated with traditional single-material packing while maintaining hemostasis effectiveness.
2Ease of operation
If expandable balloon devices are used to treat epistaxis, then focused pressure can be applied to the bleeding source, but the devices do not allow for selective application of medicine to particular surfaces and do not allow focused treatment to 'little's area'
Solution Approach 1:
The nasal insert incorporates localized pores or channels in specific regions of the foam material that correspond to Little's area, allowing medications to be delivered selectively to the anterior nasal septum where epistaxis most commonly occurs, rather than uniform distribution throughout the entire nasal cavity.
Solution Approach 2:
The device segments the medication delivery function from the tamponade function, with the foam structure providing mechanical pressure and separate porous regions providing targeted drug delivery to specific anatomical areas, enabling both focused pressure and selective medicine application.
3Productivity
If known balloon devices are used, then expansion within the nasal cavity can be achieved, but the devices are undesirably shaped, which can lead to undesirable application of medicine to nasal surfaces
Solution Approach 1:
The foam-based nasal insert provides dynamic adaptation to the nasal cavity shape, conforming to the patient's specific anatomy rather than imposing a fixed geometric shape. This eliminates the shape accuracy problems of pre-formed balloon devices while maintaining expansion capability through foam compression and rebound.
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
Enables precise and focused treatment of epistaxis by allowing targeted medicine delivery and expansion to inhibit bleeding effectively, reducing the need for prolonged hospitalization and minimizing trauma to nasal mucosa.
Implementation Method 1
a permeable, expanding member configured to house the expanding interior bladder, wherein the permeable, expanding member is configured for selective communication of a medical fluid
Implementation Method 2
selectively expanding bladder, a first expandable member coupled to a first side of the bladder, and a second expandable member coupled to a second side of the bladder
Data Source
AI summary
A nasal insert system for treating epistaxis is disclosed. The nasal insert system includes a selectively expanding interior bladder, and a permeable exterior bladder formed of a first expandable member and a second expandable member, covered by a woven gauze sleeve. In one embodiment, the first and second expandable members comprise a plurality of pores in a top and front position corresponding to “little's area” of the nasal cavity.