Rotatable Nasal Adapters for Adjustable Airway Simulator
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current medical devices lack an effective means to simulate patient airways for testing and training non-invasive patient interfaces with mechanical ventilators, which is crucial for ensuring proper functioning and safety.
Innovation Solution
An airway simulator system comprising a fixture body with rotatable nasal adapters of varying sizes and materials, designed to simulate patient airways by adjusting septal distances and incorporating measurement and leak ports, allowing for realistic simulation of breathing gases flow and patient anatomy.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a test fixture is used to simulate patient airways, then testing and training can be performed without patients, but the ability to accurately simulate different patient anatomies and conditions is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The nasal adapters are designed to be rotatable on the tubes, allowing dynamic adjustment of the septal distance between adapters. This enables the simulation of different patient anatomies and nasal passage configurations, transforming a static fixture into an adaptable simulation system that can represent various patient conditions.
Solution Approach 2:
The airway simulator is divided into separate modular components including tubes, rotatable nasal adapters, and interchangeable test objects. This segmentation allows individual components to be adjusted or replaced to simulate different anatomical variations and testing scenarios, enhancing both accuracy and versatility.
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple nasal adapters of different sizes are used to simulate different patient anatomies, then adaptability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Each nasal adapter is designed with universal features including a rotatable mounting mechanism on standard tubes and consistent connection interfaces. This allows a single adapter design to serve multiple functions by adjusting rotation position to simulate different septal distances, reducing the need for numerous specialized components.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of using multiple fixed-size adapters, the system changes the effective parameters by rotating the adapters to different positions, thereby altering the septal distance parameter. This approach achieves anatomical variation through positional parameter change rather than through multiple physical components.
3Reliability
If the nasal adapters are made from flexible material to better simulate patient tissue, then realism of simulation is improved, but manufacturing precision and consistency become more difficult to maintain
Solution Approach 1:
The nasal adapters are constructed with different material properties in different regions: flexible material where patient tissue contact and deformation occur, and more rigid material for structural portions requiring dimensional consistency. This local differentiation maintains manufacturing precision for critical dimensions while providing realistic flexibility where needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The adapters utilize composite construction combining flexible and rigid materials to achieve both tissue-like realism and manufacturing consistency. The composite structure allows precise control of flexible portions for anatomical simulation while maintaining stable, precisely-manufactured connection interfaces and structural elements.
Data Source
AI summary
An adjustable airway simulator that allows for different sizes of nasal cannulas to be connected. The simulator may include a fixture body that has a first tube and a second tube at a first end of the body. The second end of the body includes connector to connect a lung simulator. The simulator also includes a first nasal adapter and a second nasal adapter. Each nasal adapter comprising an open cylinder to be rotatably mounted to the first tube or the second tube. Each nasal adapter also includes a port to connect to a prong of a nasal cannula. When one or both of the nasal adapters are rotated, a septal distance between the ports of the first and second nasal adapters changes, which allows for connection to different sized cannulas. Differently sized nasal adapters may also be included to further augment the simulators adaptability to different nasal cannulas.