Wearable Respiratory Pressure Interface With Integrated Blower Noise Isolation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current respiratory pressure therapy (RPT) devices for treating respiratory disorders face challenges such as comfort, noise, ease of use, size, weight, manufacturability, cost, and reliability, particularly in delivering effective and comfortable positive air pressure therapy while minimizing acoustic noise and optimizing patient interface design.
Innovation Solution
The development of a self-contained RPT system that integrates a blower within the patient interface, featuring a clamshell design with separable housing portions, a heat and moisture exchanger, and a vent assembly that allows exhalation through the blower inlet, reducing the need for external air circuits and enhancing comfort and noise reduction through elastic deformable materials and vibration isolation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Weight of moving object
If a traditional RPT device with external air circuit is used, then therapeutic pressure can be delivered, but the device size and weight are large, reducing patient comfort and mobility
Solution Approach 1:
The patent integrates the blower, plenum chamber, and patient interface into a single self-contained unit. The blower is positioned within the plenum chamber housing, eliminating the need for external air circuits and reducing overall device size and weight while maintaining therapeutic pressure delivery capability
Solution Approach 2:
The blower is nested within the plenum chamber housing structure. The plenum chamber is formed within the housing that also contains the blower, creating a compact nested arrangement that reduces device footprint while preserving all necessary therapeutic functions
2Object-affected harmful factors
If a sealed patient interface is used to deliver positive pressure, then therapeutic effect is improved, but acoustic noise from the blower is transmitted to the patient, reducing comfort
Solution Approach 1:
An elastic deformable material is introduced as an intermediary between the blower and the patient's head. This material forms part of the seal-forming structure and acts as a vibration isolator, attenuating acoustic noise and mechanical vibrations from the blower while maintaining the necessary seal for therapeutic pressure delivery
Solution Approach 2:
The seal-forming structure incorporates an elastic deformable material that is less rigid than the plenum chamber housing. This flexible material conforms to the patient's face to create an effective seal while simultaneously isolating the patient from blower vibrations and noise
3Productivity
If the blower inlet is positioned away from the patient, then device design is simplified, but exhalation flow path length increases, reducing therapy efficiency
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of positioning the blower inlet away from the patient, the patent inverts the conventional arrangement by placing the blower inlet in direct communication with the patient's airways. Exhalation flows directly from the patient's mouth through the blower inlet, creating an efficient short flow path and improving therapy productivity
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 provides improved comfort, reduced noise, and enhanced usability by allowing the entire RPT system to be worn by the patient, offering efficient and effective respiratory therapy with reduced size and weight, while maintaining therapeutic pressure and humidity levels.
Implementation Method 1
the seal-forming structure may be shaped and dimensioned and the elastically deformable material of the seal-forming structure may be selected to at least partially isolate the patient's head from vibration and dampen sound generated by the blower in use
Implementation Method 2
a heat and moisture exchanger
Data Source
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AI summary
The present technology is directed to a respiratory pressure therapy system, that includes a plenum chamber pressurisable to a therapeutic pressure above ambient air pressure, a seal-forming structure to form a seal with an entrance to the patient's airways to maintain said therapeutic pressure in the plenum chamber throughout the patient's respiratory cycle in use, a positioning and stabilising structure constructed and arranged to provide an elastic force to hold the seal-forming structure in a therapeutically effective position on the patient's head, a blower configured to generate the flow of air and pressurise the plenum chamber to the therapeutic pressure, the blower having a motor, the blower being connected to the plenum chamber such that the blower is suspended from the patient's head and the axis of rotation of the motor is perpendicular to the patient's sagittal plane, and a power supply configured to provide electrical power to the blower.