Single-Side Patient Ventilation Duct for Airborne Contaminant Capture
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing ventilation devices for collecting medical gases and airborne contaminants from a patient's face are cumbersome, uncomfortable, and interfere with access, often failing to capture gases and contaminants effectively due to opposing flow interference.
Innovation Solution
A ventilation system with an intake duct having a single intake aperture offset to one side of the patient's face, utilizing an exhaust flow rate greater than 200 cubic feet per minute to draw gases and contaminants into the duct, which is adjustable in position and orientation to optimize capture efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If ventilation devices are provided to collect gases from the area surrounding a patient's face, then the accumulation of medical gases and contaminants is reduced, but the devices become cumbersome and interfere with access to the patient's mouth
Solution Approach 1:
The ventilation system is segmented into a remote collection hood positioned away from the mouth and a flexible duct system that can be routed to provide access. This allows gas collection functionality to be separated from the treatment area, reducing interference with patient access while maintaining effective contaminant removal.
Solution Approach 2:
A flexible duct acts as an intermediary element connecting the collection hood to the exhaust system, allowing the hood to be positioned optimally for gas capture without blocking access to the patient's mouth. The duct transmits the captured gases from the remote location to the exhaust pathway.
2Stability of the object's composition
If intake openings are provided at both sides of the patient's face for even gas distribution, then gases are drawn evenly into the ventilation system, but opposing flows interfere with each other and reduce capture ability
Solution Approach 1:
The opposing intake openings are extracted and consolidated into a single intake location. This eliminates the flow interference problem by removing one of the opposing flows, while the single opening is positioned and sized to capture gases effectively from the patient's face area without the negative interaction of counteracting streams.
Solution Approach 2:
The ventilation system transitions from a symmetric dual-opening configuration to an asymmetric single-opening design. The single intake opening is positioned at a specific location and oriented at a specific angle to optimize capture of gases flowing from the patient's face, replacing the symmetric but interfering dual-opening arrangement.
3Productivity
If a single intake location is used to eliminate flow interference, then opposing flows are eliminated, but access to the patient's mouth is improved, the device must be positioned precisely to maintain effectiveness
Solution Approach 1:
The ventilation system incorporates flexible ducting that can be dynamically adjusted and positioned to optimize the intake opening's location and orientation relative to the patient's face. This flexibility allows the single intake opening to be precisely positioned for effective gas capture while adapting to different patient positions and treatment configurations.
Solution Approach 2:
The system allows adjustment of key parameters including the intake opening's position, orientation, and the duct's routing to optimize performance. By making these parameters adjustable rather than fixed, the system maintains effective gas capture across various clinical scenarios without requiring complex rigid positioning mechanisms.
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 system effectively captures medical gases and contaminants by exceeding the forward momentum of expelled gases, ensuring comprehensive collection without interfering with patient access or comfort.
Implementation Method 1
applying an exhaust flow to the gas intake duct at a flow rate through the intake duct greater than 200 cubic feet per minute such that a single flow is drawn across the face of the user and into the intake duct
Implementation Method 2
the velocity of gases and airborne contaminants flowing towards the intake duct for capture exceeds the forward momentum of gases and/or contaminants expelled by the patient so as to capture substantially all medical gases and/or contaminants
Data Source
AI summary
Medical gas or airborne contaminants can be evacuated from a vicinity of a face of a patient using an intake duct defining an intake opening at a single intake location. The single intake opening is supported offset to one side of a face of the patient and an exhaust flow is applied at a flow rate of greater than 200 cubic feet per minute such that a single flow is drawn across the face of the user and into the intake duct. By drawing from only one side of the face of the patient with the prescribed flow rate, the velocity of gases and airborne contaminants flowing towards the intake duct can exceed the forward momentum of gases and/or contaminants expelled by the patient so as to capture substantially all medical gases and/or contaminants in the vicinity of the face of the patient.