A cuff pressure management device (10) for a tracheal breathing tube (54) with an inflatable cuff (90), comprises a volume displacement subsystem (36), a pressure transducer (44), a compliance determination circuit (34), and a cuff pressure controller (24). The volume displacement subsystem provides (i) a measured volume of pressurized gas to and from the cuff and (ii) a cuff gas volume signal. The pressure transducer provides a cuff gas pressure signal. The compliance determination circuit is configured to calculate cuff compliance and an estimated tracheal airway compliance based on the gas volume signal and the gas pressure signal. The cuff pressure controller is in controlling communication with the volume displacement subsystem and the compliance determination circuit to maintain cuff pressure based on the calculated cuff compliance.

Many pneumonia diseases and lung malfunctions can be quickly repaired using an improved lung lavage technique where the patient is rotated in specific 3D orientations to increase the efficiency of the lavage procedure. The process involves filling and emptying the lungs with fluid and rotating the patient makes this process natural and effective. Supplementary, a hydro-pneumatic system facilitates the operations with the patient sustained in various positions such as being immersed in water and having various control mechanisms such as variable pressures, temperatures, and performing assisted breathing. Additionally, immersed devices are implanted that shake-up of alveolar wall and other devices perform ultrasound imaging with a 0.1 mm resolution, a resolution in competition with stereoscopic X-ray. The bio-medical data acquisition system allows physicians to completely assess patient status in real time and guide the treatment to ensure optimum patient care, under quality assurance procedures.

The invention relates to a medical device (1) for trachea pressure measurement comprising a tracheal tube defining an inner surface (12a) and an outer surface (12b) and having a proximal end (1a) and a distal end (1b), configured to be inserted at least partially into the trachea of a subject or animal to deliver respiratory gases to the subject.

The medical device comprises at least one capacitive pressure sensor (20) arranged at said distal end (1b).

In an alerting and controlling system, there is a measuring device and a controller. The measuring device is connectable to an endotracheal tube associated with a cuff inflatable below the vocal cords of a subject, for measuring at least one measure being indicative of the presence of leakage of secretions from above the cuff to the lungs of the subject. The controller adjusts inflation of the cuff responsively to the level of the at least one measure such as to reduce or prevent leakage of secretions from above the cuff to the lungs, and alerts that the endotracheal tube is malpositioned in the airway of the subject if an inflation pressure of the cuff exceeds a predetermined threshold.

A cuff pressure controller device (100) is connected to a foregoing cuff (10) via an air supply tube (125). The cuff pressure controller device (100) includes a controller unit (111), a cuff pressure detector unit (113), a driver circuit (119), a piezoelectric pump (101), a check valve (121), and a release valve (122). The cuff pressure detector unit (113) detects the cuff pressure of the cuff (10). The driver circuit (119) drives the piezoelectric pump (101) at a drive frequency of 20 kHz or higher. The controller unit (111) controls the cuff pressure detector unit (113), the driver circuit (119), and the release valve (122) in such a way that the cuff pressure stays within a predetermined range based on detection results of the cuff pressure detector unit (113) and the like.

A syringe assembly or inflation device that includes a detachable housing. A pressure-sensing syringe assembly or inflation device can include both a syringe barrel and a housing that is coupled to the syringe barrel in a locked configuration. The inflation device can transition from the locked configuration to the unlocked configuration in which the housing is separable from the syringe barrel. Related methods are also disclosed.

The body has a fluid inlet port for receiving pressurized fluid and a fluid outlet port connected to the retention balloon. A first passage connects the fluid inlet port and the fluid outlet port, A second passage in the body is connected to the balloon fluid return path and is at the pressure of the retention balloon. A valve prevents fluid flow through the first passage when actuated. The valve includes a pressure-responsive member movable to a position to obstruct fluid flow in response to fluid pressure in the second passage exceeding the predetermined level. Flexible means such as a membrane defines a normally open portion of the first fluid passage, which is closed by the moveable means bearing on the membrane when pressure exceeding the predetermined level actuates the valve.

A laryngeal mask airway (LMA) device includes a backplate, an inflatable balloon, an airway tube, and a non-inflatable skeleton, which extends anteriorly from the backplate, and which is shaped so as to define a skeleton anterior side that has a pre-formed shape. A distal end of an inflation tube is coupled in fluid communication with (i) an interior of the inflatable balloon for supplying air to the inflatable balloon, and (ii) at least a portion of the skeleton anterior side. The inflatable balloon is shaped so as to define an inflatable annular cuff which (a) covers at least a portion of the skeleton anterior side, and (b) has a cuff anterior side that is configured to form a seal around a laryngeal inlet of a patient when the inflatable annular cuff is disposed at an LMA-insertion location within a throat of the patient. Other embodiments are also described.

A pressure adjustment apparatus including a pump, a selector valve coupled to the pump, and a chamber in selective fluid communication with the pump through the selector valve is disclosed. The pump includes a pump body that defines a variable volume therein, the pump body further defining a first aperture and a second aperture therethrough. The selector valve includes a first check valve disposed in a first fluid channel of a plurality of fluid channels, the first check valve being oriented to permit flow through the first fluid channel only in a first flow direction, the first flow direction being a flow direction out of the variable volume, and a second check valve disposed in a second fluid channel of the plurality of fluid channels, the second check valve being oriented to permit flow through the second fluid channel only in a second flow direction.

The present invention provides improved medical devices equipped with a visualization device for intubation, extubation, ventilation, drug delivery, feeding and continuous remote monitoring of a patient. The present invention also provides methods for rapid and accurate placement of a medical device in a patient and continuous real time monitoring, including a remote monitoring, of the patient after the placement.