Sterile Basin Drape Venting and Alignment for Uniform Fluid Warming
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing fluid warming systems for sterile liquids in surgical procedures face issues with temperature gradients and hot spots due to air gaps under the drape, leading to potential drape punctures and contamination risks, as well as misalignment and rough handling of the drape, which can compromise sterility.
Innovation Solution
A dual-layer drape system with a low-friction bottom layer for easy positioning and a non-slip top layer to maintain alignment, combined with air gap detectors to prevent temperature excursions, ensures uniform heat transfer and maintains sterility by reducing air pockets and preventing overheating.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a flexible drape is used to cover the heating basin, then the sterile fluid can be maintained as sterile, but air gaps form under the drape causing hot spots and temperature gradients
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a flexible drape made of thin film material to cover the heating basin. This flexible shell conformally fits the basin surface, eliminating air gaps while maintaining sterility. The drape's flexibility allows it to adapt to the basin contours, ensuring direct thermal contact between the heating element and the fluid without creating hot spots.
2Productivity
If the drape is positioned quickly without careful alignment, then the process is faster, but the drape becomes misaligned and may be punctured
Solution Approach 1:
The drape is pre-formed with a basin-specific contour and includes alignment features such as a flange or rim that fits over the basin edge. This preliminary configuration allows the drape to be quickly positioned and automatically aligned with the basin, eliminating the need for careful manual alignment while preventing misalignment and punctures.
3Productivity
If the heating element provides high heat to quickly warm the fluid, then the warming efficiency increases, but temperature gradients and hot spots are exacerbated
Solution Approach 1:
The heating element is designed with variable heat distribution, providing higher heat intensity in regions where the drape makes better contact and lower heat intensity in regions prone to air gaps. This localized quality adjustment ensures uniform temperature distribution across the fluid while maintaining high overall warming efficiency.
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 solution effectively reduces temperature gradients, prevents drape punctures, and ensures accurate alignment, thereby maintaining the sterility of the fluid warming process and preventing contamination, while ensuring efficient and uniform heating of sterile liquids.
Implementation Method 1
The basin layer having a coefficient of film-to-film kinetic friction of less than 0.20 to allow the drape to slip into place on the basin bottom
Implementation Method 2
the device layer having a coefficient of film-to-film kinetic friction of more than 0.50 to help prevent unintended movement of the drape relative to the fluid heating device
Implementation Method 3
Heat was transferred from a heating element below the basin, through the basin, and ultimately through the drape adjacent to the basin to the sterile liquid
Implementation Method 4
a temperature sensor 108 indicated a temperature of the basin 102
Data Source
AI summary
Drapes for covering fluid heating devices having basins. Some drapes have a set of at least one positioning component trapped between the drape basin layer and the drape device layer by a set of bonds. The positioning component aligns the drape with the basin bottom. Optionally, the drape may have a low-slip film for basin contact and a non-slip film for at least a portion of the drape beyond the basin. Alternatively, a single layer drape may have a set of at least one positioning component bonded to the drape. Some drapes have basin-shaped sterile vented barrier with vents to allow the sterile vented barrier to be inserted into the basin and to vent air out of the basin. The heating system for the fluid heating device may interrupt electricity provided to a heating element when a temperature sensed at an air gap detector exceeds a high temperature setpoint.