Textile Patient Interface Seal for Pressure Fit and Comfort
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing patient interfaces for respiratory therapy are often uncomfortable, difficult to use, and poorly fitting, leading to reduced patient compliance and ineffective therapy delivery due to issues with seal-forming structures and stabilization mechanisms.
Innovation Solution
A patient interface with a plenum chamber, a seal-forming structure comprising nasal and oral textile portions curved around different axes, a vent system, and a positioning and stabilizing structure, designed to maintain therapeutic pressure and allow ambient breathing, enhancing comfort and effectiveness.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a seal-forming structure is used to maintain therapeutic pressure, then therapy efficacy is improved, but patient comfort deteriorates due to poor fitting and discomfort
Solution Approach 1:
The seal-forming structure is divided into multiple segments including a nasal pillow portion, a bridge portion, and a cheek cushion portion. Each segment can be independently adjusted or replaced to optimize fit and comfort for different patient facial geometries, maintaining therapy efficacy while improving comfort.
Solution Approach 2:
The patient interface incorporates adjustable positioning and stabilizing structures that allow dynamic adaptation to different patient faces. The system can be adjusted during fitting to achieve optimal seal and comfort, transforming a static poor-fitting interface into a dynamic well-fitting one.
2Ease of operation
If a complex positioning and stabilizing structure is used to improve fit, then patient compliance is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The positioning and stabilizing structures are segmented into distinct functional components that can be independently adjusted. This modular approach allows clinicians to activate only the necessary positioning elements for each patient, improving compliance without requiring all components to be complex.
Solution Approach 2:
The patient interface includes self-adjusting features that automatically adapt to patient movement and facial geometry changes during therapy, reducing the need for complex manual positioning systems while maintaining high compliance.
3Ease of operation
If textile portions are curved around different axes to improve fit, then comfort is improved, but manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The nasal pillow portion is curved around a first axis and the bridge portion is curved around a second axis that is different from the first axis. This multi-axial curvature design accommodates the three-dimensional geometry of the human face, improving comfort by distributing pressure more evenly across different facial regions.
Solution Approach 2:
The manufacturing process incorporates variable curvature parameters across different portions of the seal-forming structure. By changing the curvature radius and axis for different segments (nasal pillow vs. bridge vs. cheek cushion), the design achieves superior fit and comfort while the parameters are optimized for manufacturability.
Data Source
Figure 1A
Figure 1B
Figure 1C
AI summary
A patient interface is disclosed that includes: a plenum chamber pressurisable to a therapeutic pressure; a seal-forming structure joined to the plenum chamber and comprising a nasal portion, an oral portion, and at least one hole configured to deliver a flow of air at said therapeutic pressure to at least the patient's nares in use, the seal-forming structure constructed and arranged to maintain said therapeutic pressure in the plenum chamber throughout the patient's respiratory cycle in use; a vent comprising a plurality of holes configured to allow a continuous vent flow from an interior of the plenum chamber to ambient; a positioning and stabilising structure comprising at least one tie and being configured to hold the seal-forming structure in a therapeutically effective position on the patient's head in use; and a textile portion configured to contact the patient's face.