Pulmonary Testing Device Using Digital Gas Injectors
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing pulmonary function testing devices are complex, expensive, physically large, and difficult to use, particularly when conducting tests that require precise gas delivery and measurement, and they are not suited for tests during exercise or in various medical settings due to the need for specialized gas cylinders and demand valves.
Innovation Solution
A pulmonary testing device with open ends and no demand valves, using digitally controlled gas injectors to provide varying flow rates and compositions of test gas, stored in small cartridges, allowing for accurate real-time measurements without relying on consistent inspired gas composition, and featuring a low resistance breathing conduit for patient comfort.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If demand valves and pressurized gas cylinders are used for gas delivery, then precise gas composition control is achieved, but device complexity and physical size increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the demand valve mechanism from the gas delivery system, replacing it with a simpler injector-based system. The complex valve assembly including diaphragms, springs, and closure arms is removed, retaining only the essential gas delivery function through digitally controlled injectors.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical demand valve system with a digitally controlled gas injection system. Instead of mechanical diaphragms and springs controlling gas flow, electronically controlled injectors deliver precise gas compositions, substituting mechanical complexity with electronic control.
2Measurement precision
If demand valves and pressurized gas cylinders are used for gas delivery, then precise gas composition control is achieved, but physical size and weight increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the heavy pressurized gas cylinders and demand valve assemblies from the device. By extracting these bulky components and replacing them with compact digitally controlled injectors, the device achieves precise gas composition control with significantly reduced weight.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the operating parameters of gas delivery from high-pressure cylinder storage to digitally controlled injection at lower pressures. This parameter change allows precise gas composition delivery without requiring heavy pressurized storage systems.
3Ease of operation
If demand valves are used in the breathing conduit, then gas flow control is achieved, but breathing resistance increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the demand valve from the breathing conduit, eliminating the mechanical obstruction that created breathing resistance. Gas flow control is maintained through digitally controlled injectors that introduce test gas without creating mechanical resistance to patient breathing.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces digitally controlled gas injectors as intermediaries between the gas source and the patient's breathing pathway. These injectors deliver test gas compositions without creating the mechanical resistance associated with demand valves, facilitating easier breathing.
4Measurement precision
If specialized gas cylinders are used for testing, then accurate pulmonary function measurement is achieved, but logistical complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a universal gas delivery system using digitally controlled injectors that can deliver various test gas compositions without requiring specialized gas cylinders for each test type. The system can be reprogrammed to provide different gas mixtures, eliminating the need for multiple specialized gas storage systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses parameter changes in digital control to vary test gas compositions. Instead of changing physical gas cylinders, the system adjusts injection parameters electronically to deliver different gas mixtures, significantly reducing logistical complexity while maintaining measurement accuracy.
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 device is simple, lightweight, inexpensive, and adaptable for various tests, including stress testing, providing accurate lung function measurements with minimal resistance, suitable for patients with chronic lung conditions and reducing logistical complexities associated with gas cylinders.
Implementation Method 1
A plurality of gas injectors positioned in a test gas introduction inlet of the breathing conduit introduce test gas into the breathing conduit to be inhaled by the patient
Implementation Method 2
A series of gas component sensors denoted by block 152 measure the concentrations of various selected gas components in the inspired and/or expired gas stream(s)
Implementation Method 3
a gas flow measuring device 156 measures the flow rate of the inspired and/or expired gas stream
Implementation Method 4
carbon monoxide and acetylene absorb readily and rapidly into the bloodstream while helium and methane do not
Implementation Method 5
Inside the patient's lungs, some of these gas components become diluted by the gas within the lungs prior to the inhalation and/or by diffusion of the gas components through the alveoli
Data Source
AI summary
A pulmonary testing device and method are provided that measure an inspired volume of a selected gas component. In one configuration, the selected gas component is injected into the device in an airway of the device upstream of a gas analyzer. The device has opposing open ends, one for the patient's mouth and the other for inspiration of air.