Patient Interface Seal With Decoupled Nasal-Oral Movement
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional face masks for positive pressure respiratory therapy experience instability and seal leaks due to hose pull forces, particularly around the nasal area, which varies significantly among users, leading to discomfort and inefficiency.
Innovation Solution
The mask assembly is designed with a decoupling feature between the nasal and oral portions, allowing relative movement and incorporating a bellows feature to accommodate facial geometry variations, while a movement limiting arrangement maintains seal integrity under pressure.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the mask seal is made rigid to maintain seal integrity, then seal reliability is improved, but the mask becomes unstable and causes discomfort due to inability to accommodate facial geometry variations
Solution Approach 1:
The mask seal is divided into multiple independent sealing elements (nasal pillows, oral seal, cheek seals) that can move and deform independently relative to each other. This segmentation allows each element to adapt to the user's facial geometry while maintaining overall seal integrity, resolving the contradiction between rigidity for reliability and flexibility for comfort.
Solution Approach 2:
The mask seal incorporates dynamic elements including a flexible bellows structure and movable sealing components that can adapt their position and shape in response to facial geometry variations and hose pull forces. This dynamic capability enables the seal to maintain contact and integrity without requiring rigid construction, thereby improving both reliability and comfort.
2Reliability
If the mask seal is designed to fit tightly around the nose and mouth, then sealing effectiveness is improved, but the mask becomes sensitive to hose pull forces causing instability and leaks
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing system is segmented into multiple independent elements distributed across the face (nasal pillows, oral seal, cheek seals), with the nasal portion being decoupled from the oral portion. This segmentation allows the seal to maintain tight contact for effectiveness while distributing hose pull forces across multiple attachment points, preventing instability at any single location.
Solution Approach 2:
A flexible bellows structure serves as an intermediary element between the rigid mask frame and the flexible seal components. This bellows absorbs and accommodates hose pull forces, acting as a mediator that protects the seal from direct transmission of mechanical stresses while maintaining sealing effectiveness.
3Area of stationary object
If the mask seal contacts the facial surfaces extensively, then seal coverage is improved, but the mask becomes unstable due to variation in facial geometries from user to user
Solution Approach 1:
The extensive seal coverage is achieved through multiple segmented sealing elements positioned at different locations (nasal pillows at the nares, oral seal at the mouth, cheek seals laterally). Each segment can independently adapt to the user's facial geometry, allowing the system to maintain comprehensive coverage across diverse facial shapes while preserving adaptability.
Solution Approach 2:
Different portions of the mask seal are designed with locally optimized properties - the nasal pillows are soft and compliant for the nares, the oral seal provides a firm barrier at the mouth, and the cheek seals are positioned to contact the cheeks. This local quality differentiation enables each region to adapt optimally to the user's specific facial anatomy while maintaining overall coverage.
Data Source
AI summary
A mask assembly or interface with a mask assembly includes a mask seal and a mask shell that supports the mask seal. In some configurations, the mask assembly is configured to be fully positioned lower than a bridge of a nose of a face of a user and to provide an exposed bridge of the nose of the user. The mask seal includes one or more features that decouple movement of the nasal portion and the oral portion to allow relative movement therebetween at least about a longitudinal axis extending in the front to back direction of the mask seal. In some configurations, an interface assembly includes a movement limiting arrangement that limits movement of the upper portion of the mask seal.