Disclosed is a chest drainage system which reduces or eliminates pooling of blood/liquid and/or clogging/clotting in the drainage tube. Generally, the chest drainage system continuously monitors chest tube status and clears pooled liquid when necessary to restore negative pressure to the chest. The system may include a valve device which is located between the patient's chest tube and drainage tube and may be used with any standard chest tube. The chest drainage system also includes a controller for monitoring the pressure at or near the valve device and/or at or near the suction device, and possibly a pump for assisting in clearance of pooled liquid and/or clots. The controller may also control the valve device and/or suction device in response to pressure signals.

An apparatus for managing fluid buildup in an internal cavity that may allow automated or semi-automated management of fluid at the treatment site. The apparatus may include a drain fluidly coupled to a negative-pressure source and a vent valve. The may further include a control system configured to operate the negative-pressure source to manage fluid buildup at the treatment site. The apparatus may be particularly advantageous for management of fluid buildup in serous cavities, such as pleural effusion or ascites.

An improved method and device are provided for forming and/or maintaining a percutaneous access pathway. The device generally comprises at least one of three type of components: access pathway, insertion device, and attachment device. In one embodiment, the device is used to form and/or maintain a percutaneous access pathway into the pleural cavity (i.e. tube thoracostomy). The provided assembly substantially reduces the possibility of iatrogenic infection while accessing and/or re-accessing a body space.

The invention relates to a chest drainage system (100) for creating and maintaining a sub-atmospheric pressure within the pleural cavity and/or the mediastinum of a patient (P). The system has a chest drainage unit (CDU, 10) with an internal cavity (C) having a first chamber part (C1, 11) and a second chamber part (C2, 12) with an air outlet from the CDU, and a liquid seal chamber (LSC, 13). The second chamber part (C2, 12) of the chest drainage unit is connected to a carbon dioxide sensor (CO2S, 15) for detecting carbon dioxide in any air passing through the liquid seal chamber (LSC, 13), the carbon dioxide sensor being capable of detecting carbon dioxide by a visible color change from a chemical reaction occurring in the carbon dioxide sensor between carbon dioxide and a detector reactant (DC) positioned in the carbon dioxide sensor. Preliminary test performed by the inventor have demonstrated that the present invention is very effective in determine whether, or not, carbon dioxide is present in the air passing through the chest drainage unit, this information being highly important in the subsequent decision of continuing the treatment with the chest drainage system.

A device for clearing obstructions from a medical tube, such as a chest tube, is disclosed in various embodiments. In embodiments, the device features a clearance member that is formed to match a cross-section of a medical tube. Still further, the clearance member can have a plurality of branches, each branch configured to clear a respective lumen in a partitioned region of a medical tube. In this manner, the clearance member may clear obstructions from individual lumens of the partitioned region of the medical tube. Device for actuating a clearance member to clear obstructions within a medical tube are also disclosed. Methods of clearing a medical tube of obstructions are also disclosed.

The present invention relates to a system comprising a flexible bag (8) for storing the drained secretion with an anti-collapse device (9), being connected on one side to a “T” valve (10) which is provided with protective lid (21) and, on the other side, to the flow control backflow preventer valve (1) consisting of a one-piece circular core (2) of elastomeric material which is secured to the housing (3), said core (2) containing a central plug (4) connected by radial rods (5) to the borderline (6) of the circular body thereof, so that said core (2) is used in two-way housings, an inlet (7) and an outlet (7′), said valve (1) composed of a one-way valve. Said system further comprising within the housing (3) a clot fractioning device (25) at the inlet and an anti-clogging device (26) from the maximum opening point of the core (2).

A connector for use with a pleural catheter that connects securely a drainage tube to a valve of the plural catheter. A system including a fluid receptacle having a negative fluid pressure, a plural catheter having an end designed for implantation into a pleural space of a subject, and an opposite second end having a valve feature, a drainage tube having an end connected to the fluid receptacle and another end having a connector that securely connects the drainage tube to the valve feature of the catheter.

A chest drainage system including a collection device configured to receive fluid from the pleural cavity of a patient. A sensor is included to detect a pressure differential in the fluid. A display is configured to display a trend in occurrences of changes in pressure of the fluid over time in predetermined time increments based on a number of detections of pressure differentials that exceed a predetermined pressure differential during each of the predetermined time increments. The trend is correlative to the percentage of time that the patient is deemed to have an air leak in the pleural cavity in the predetermined time increments. The trend is derived from a ratio of the quantity of respiratory cycles of the patient for which the predetermined pressure differential is detected (QRC.sub.leak) in the predetermined time increments to the total quantity of respiratory cycles of the patient in respective predetermined time increments (QRC.sub.total).

The described invention provides a blood collection and autotransfusion container, which provides fast, efficient, safe blood collection and blood or blood products transfusion.

A chest tube introducer is disclosed. In some embodiments, the introducer includes a tubular shaft adapted for insertion into a pleural cavity and through which a chest tube can be threaded, and a gripping mechanism that is coupled to a proximal end of the shaft and adapted for positioning the chest tube introducer upon insertion of the shaft into the pleural cavity. The introducer can also include an obturator removably coupled to a distal end of the shaft such that the obturator can be removed from the shaft after insertion thereof into the pleural cavity, and an outer flange that is coupled to the obturator and adapted to remove the obturator from the shaft.