Digestive tract hemorrhage control tube (Li - Van Thiel Tube)

Abstract

This medical device (Li-VanThiel tube) is designed to add 21st century technologies to a 20th century device in order to ease application and increase safety. The current Shengstaken-Blakemore tube is very difficult to use and dangerous to deploy. The Li-VanThiel tube utilizes guided tube insertion, inflates by using a pressure regulated pre-charged air canister, It has a smaller pre-deployment diameter and a variable stiffness tube feature to overcome the short comings of the old design.

Claims

1. The Li-VanThiel tube is safer to use than the SBT.

2. The Li-VanThiel tube is easier to insert than the SBT.

3. The Li-VanThiel tube is more versatile than the outdated SBT design.

Description

DEVICE DESCRIPTION

[0050] This device has 2 ports. One port is for the guide-wire to ease insertion into the stomach. The second port is to inflate the distal balloon.

[0051] The device is designed to be inserted into the patient through the mouth. The tube can be guided using an endoscope by a guide-wire/loop string or by using realtime x-ray imaging to visualize the radio-opaque markings every 10 cm. Alternatively, it can be inserted like an oral-gastric tube and guided by a hand-held magnetometer because of an embedded N50 neodymium magnet at the tip.

[0052] Once the distal tube has reached beyond the lower esophageal sphincter, the balloon will be inflated to 10 cm and pulled back against the gastro-esophageal junction to tamponade the bleeding varix. The tube then is secured onto a proprietary bite block with grooves that can lock this device while exerting pressure against the GE-junction by the inflated balloon.