NASAL EJECTING CATHETER FOR HOME REMEDY OF NASAL IRRIGATION TREATMENT

Abstract

A nasal ejecting catheter for home remedy of nasal irrigation treatment comprises a catheter unit and a connecting unit. The catheter unit comprises an open end, a closed end on the opposite side and a plurality of apertures formed near the closed end. The connection unit comprises a connection portion for connecting the open end of the catheter and an assembling portion for connecting an injection unit. The catheter body is made of silicone, latex, thermoplastic elastomer or other soft material to be operated by the patient. The total area of apertures is smaller than the cross section area of inner lumen of the catheter in order to eject substantially even strength multiple thin spouts.

Claims

1. A nasal ejecting catheter comprises a catheter body and a connector which are connected to an injection unit for home remedy of nasal irrigation treatment, wherein the catheter body is made of silicone, latex, thermoplastic elastomer or other soft and elastic material, comprising a closed end, an open end on the opposite side and a plurality of apertures formed near the closed end, the total area of apertures is smaller than the cross section area of inner lumen of the catheter.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] FIG. 1 is side view of the nasal cavity.

[0018] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a nasal irrigation device disclosed in Taiwan patent no. M418689.

[0019] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a nasal flushing device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

[0020] FIG. 4 is a schematic drawing showing the nasal flushing device of the first embodiment being applied to the nasal cavity.

[0021] FIG. 5 is another schematic frontal view showing the nasal flushing device of the first embodiment being applied to the nasal cavity.

[0022] FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a nasal flushing device showing the TAA smaller than the CSA.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0023] Please refer to FIG. 3. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a nasal flushing device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. The nasal flushing device comprises a catheter unit 3, a connecting unit 4, and an injection unit 5.

[0024] The catheter unit 3 has a catheter body 31 and a plurality of apertures 32 formed on the catheter body 31. The catheter body 31 has an open end 311 and a closed end 312 opposite the open end 311. The closed end 312 can be straight or curved.

[0025] The catheter body 31 from the open end 311 to the closed end 312 is divided into a connecting section 313, a reaching section 314 and a flushing section 315. The connecting section 313 has a length from 1 cm to 5 cm, the reaching section 314 has a length from 1 cm to 5 cm, and the flushing section 315 has a length from 3 cm to 10 cm. The plurality of apertures 32 on the catheter body 31 is disposed on the flushing section 315. The catheter body 31 is made of silicon, latex, thermoplastic elastomer or other soft and elastic material. The consistency of the catheter is so soft that it cannot sustain its own weight on upright position. The soft consistency renders the catheter to be easily navigated along the tortuous nasal cavity without hurting the patient. Since average nasal meatus of patient with chronic sinusitis is not wider than 3 mm, the diameter of the catheter body 31 is not larger than 3 mm.

[0026] The connecting unit 4 has a connecting portion 41 and an assembling portion 42. The connecting tube 411 of the connecting portion 41 is for connecting the open end 311 of the catheter, while the assembling portion 42 is for connecting the injection unit.

[0027] The injection unit 5 has a detachable syringe 51 and a plunger 52 provided in the syringe 51. The syringe 51 and the plunger 52 are used for compressing the fluid for ejecting spouts.

[0028] Please refer to FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 together. As showing the drawings, the nasal cavity on each side has a nasal vestibule E, a upper turbinate F, a middle turbinate G, an inferior turbinate H, an upper nasal meatus F1, a middle nasal meatus G1 and a lower nasal meatus H1. The nasal vestibule usually is about 3 cm long, the upper nasal meatus F1, the middle nasal meatus G1 and the lower nasal meatus H1 are usually about 5 cm in length. Therefore, in the first embodiment, a length of the flushing section 315 of the catheter body 31 is 5 cm, the plurality of apertures 32 are arranged apart every 0.1 cm to 1 cm circumferentially around the surface of the catheter body 31. A total length of the catheter body 31 is about 10 cm to 17 cm, the length of the flushing section 315 is 3 cm to 7 cm, the length of the reaching section 314 in the nasal vestibule E is 2 cm to 5 cm, the remaining length of the connecting section 313 is 3 cm to 5 cm, which can be held by the user and provide further reaching length. The length of 17 cm is for reaching nasopharynx for cleansing the mucus or crust.

[0029] For actual application, the patient inserts the flushing section 315 of the catheter body 31 into the upper nasal meatus F1 or the middle nasal meatus G1, connects the catheter to a syringe 51 pre-filled with flushing fluid, then pushes the plunger 52 to push the flushing fluid in the syringe 51, so that multiple thin spouts with ejecting angles nearly perpendicular to the catheter body 31 spur out from the aperture 32 on the flushing section 315 of the catheter body 31. With ejecting angles nearly perpendicular to the catheter body 31, the catheter body 31 is free from counterforce movement so that it can maintain in a stable location during the injection and ensures the irrigation effect.

[0030] Since the flushing section 315 is configured to be disposed in the upper nasal meatus F1 of the nasal cavity, the flushing fluid can directly rinse the mucus or crust built up in the upper nasal meatus F1. Similarly, when the flushing section 315 is configured to be disposed in the middle nasal meatus G1 or the lower nasal meatus H1 the flushing fluid can directly rinse the mucus or crust built up in the middle nasal meatus G1 and the lower nasal meatus H1.

[0031] Moreover, since the catheter can eject multiple thin spouts up to 90 cm in length, even though the catheter body 3 is not inserted into roof of the upper nasal meatus F1, the spouts are capable of rinsing most area of upper meatus. The spouts might be strong enough to pass through thin gap into deeper area for a better cleaning result. Worth of mention, the pressure is averaged by the numerous spouts so that they would not damage the mucosa.

[0032] Please refer to FIG. 6, the total area of apertures 32 is represented as TAA, and the cross section area of inner lumen of catheter body 31 is represented as CSA. Substantially even strength of multiple thin spouts is very important for good efficiency in cleansing the mucus and crust in nasal cavity and nasopharynx. Substantially even strength of multiple thin spouts can be carried out by a special design of smaller TAA than CSA of the catheter which can be explained as following:

[0033] In a catheter body 31 with a closed distal end and multiple apertures 32, the flow rate through the inner lumen is determined by the cross section area of inner lumen of the catheter body 31; while the flow rate through the apertures 32 is determined by the total area of apertures 32.

[0034] If the total area of apertures 32 is larger than the cross section area of catheter body 31, during injection of fluid, the flow rate through the inner lumen is smaller than the flow rate through the whole apertures, the pressure within the lumen would be released from the apertures 32. The pressure is higher in the proximal portion and lower in the distal portion of catheter body 31 due to resistance of the catheter lumen and release of pressure from the proximal apertures 32. When the injected fluid passes to the first aperture 32 and if the intraluminal pressure is higher than that outside of the catheter body 31, the injected fluid would pass out from the first proximal aperture 32 to produce a spout; the intraluminal pressure becomes lower distal to the first aperture 32 due to release of some pressure from the first aperture 32, if the intraluminal pressure is still higher than the pressure outside of the catheter body 31, the injected fluid would pass out from second apertures 32 to produce a second spout weaker than the first spout. As the injected fluid passes toward distal end of the catheter body 31, the intraluminal pressure becomes lower and lower due to the resistance of lumen of catheter body 31 and release of pressure from the proximal apertures 32, the spouts from the distal apertures 32 becomes weaker and weaker. The resulting multiple spouts are uneven in strength, stronger proximally and weaker distally. This condition happens in all conventional catheters having fluid delivery, suction or drainage function.

[0035] The function of fluid delivery is defined as the flow rate from the lumen through the apertures 32 to outside of the catheter within the body; the function of suction or drainage is defined as the flow rate from outside of the catheter within the body through the apertures into the lumen of the catheter by force (suction) or spontaneously (drainage). Since the flow rate through the lumen of catheter body 31 is limited by the cross section area of the catheter body 31, the only way to improve function of fluid delivery, suction or drainage is to increase the total area of apertures 32. Therefore, these catheters all have larger total area of apertures 32 than the cross section area of catheter body 31 according to the design concept for better function, the larger the total area of apertures 32, the better the desired function. For ensuring the function of fluid delivery, suction or drainage, the total area of apertures 32 should not be smaller than the cross section area of inner lumen of catheter body 31.

[0036] On the other hand, if the total area of apertures 32 is smaller than the cross section area of inner lumen of catheter body 31, the flow rate of catheter lumen would be larger than the flow rate through all the apertures 32; during injection, the inflow is larger than the outflow of fluid, the injected fluid can easily reach the distal closed end and reflect back to cause the so called back pressure, repeated reflecting back of pressure would cause intraluminal pressure accumulation and resulting in high pressure evenly distributed throughout the lumen, therefore substantially even strength multiple thin spouts can be produced. The more difference between cross section area of inner lumen and total area of apertures 32 of catheter body 31, the higher the accumulated pressure and the stronger the multiple thin spouts. The back pressure and accumulation of intraluminal pressure cannot happen in conventional catheters.

[0037] It is of course to be understood that the embodiments described herein is merely illustrative of the principles of the invention and that a wide variety of modifications thereto may be effected by persons skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims.