Textile CPAP Seal Structure for Comfort and Pressure Stability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing respiratory treatment systems, such as CPAP therapy, face challenges with patient compliance due to discomfort, poor fit, and difficulty in use, leading to ineffective treatment of respiratory disorders like Obstructive Sleep Apnea and other conditions.
Innovation Solution
A patient interface with a textile-based seal-forming structure and frame that maintains therapeutic pressure during the respiratory cycle, incorporating a compliant portion, rigidizing elements, and a textile seal member to enhance comfort and stability, along with a positioning and stabilizing structure for improved fit and efficacy.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional seal-forming structures are used in patient interfaces, then sealing function is achieved, but patient comfort and compliance deteriorate due to poor fit and discomfort
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies a textile seal member that functions as a flexible thin film structure. The textile material provides both sealing capability and comfort through its inherent flexibility and conformability to facial contours, replacing traditional rigid or less comfortable seal materials.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs composite construction by combining textile materials with rigidizing elements and compliant portions. This composite approach integrates the advantages of different materials: textile for comfort and flexibility, rigidizing elements for structural support, and compliant portions for adaptation to facial variations, thereby achieving both reliable sealing and patient comfort.
2Stability of the object's composition
If rigid frame structures are used to maintain therapeutic pressure, then pressure delivery stability is improved, but patient comfort and adaptability worsen due to poor fit
Solution Approach 1:
The frame is segmented into distinct functional zones: rigid portions for structural support and pressure maintenance, and compliant portions for adaptation to facial contours. This segmentation allows each zone to perform its specific function optimally without compromising the other.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the frame possess different mechanical properties tailored to their specific functions. The rigid portions provide structural stability for pressure delivery, while the compliant portions provide local adaptation to facial variations, achieving both pressure stability and comfort through spatially varying material properties.
3Ease of operation
If textile materials are used for the frame and seal member, then patient comfort is improved, but structural strength and pressure maintenance capability worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The textile frame is reinforced with rigidizing elements embedded within or attached to the textile structure. This composite construction allows the textile to provide comfort and flexibility while the rigidizing elements supply the necessary structural strength to maintain therapeutic pressure.
Solution Approach 2:
The textile frame incorporates strategically placed rigidizing elements in regions requiring structural support for pressure maintenance, while leaving other regions as pure textile to maximize comfort. This localized reinforcement approach balances comfort and structural requirements.
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 textile-based patient interface improves patient compliance by providing enhanced comfort and stability, ensuring effective therapeutic pressure delivery and reducing leakage, thereby improving treatment outcomes for respiratory disorders.
Implementation Method 1
maintain therapeutic pressure in the plenum chamber throughout the patient's respiratory cycle
Implementation Method 2
a rigidizing element provided within the compliant portion
Implementation Method 3
the frame and the seal member are at least partially constructed from a textile material
Data Source
AI summary
A patient interface may have a frame and a seal-forming structure. The frame may at least partially form a plenum chamber pressurisable to a therapeutic pressure. The seal-forming structure may be constructed and arranged to form a seal with a region of the patient's face surrounding an entrance to the patient's airways, said seal-forming structure having a hole therein such that the flow of air at said therapeutic pressure is delivered to at least an entrance to the patient's nares, the seal-forming structure constructed and arranged to maintain said therapeutic pressure in the plenum chamber throughout the patient's respiratory cycle in use. The seal-forming structure may comprise a textile seal member adapted to sealingly engage the patient's face in use