Abstract: A self-contained hand held medical aspirating device having a piston-grip type handle for holding in one hand with a standard connector for connecting to a catheter and a vacuum line for connecting to a vacuum source and a removable specimen container for receiving body fluids and a fluid barrier means to prevent body fluids from getting into the suction source.

Abstract: A chest drainage unit having a suction regulator in fluid communication with the suction control chamber for regulating the suction pressure applied to the pleural cavity of the patient wherein the suction regulator includes a valve device which provides a continuous amount of fluid communication between the atmosphere and the suction source in the normally closed position and being movable to an open position in response to the increased negative pressure to allow an increase in the amount of fluid communication between the atmosphere and the suction source.

Abstract: A pressure regulator including high and low pressure chambers separated by a divider having an opening, a closing member biassed to a closing position for closing the opening with a biassing force according to a desired pressure differential between the chambers, and a damping device for damping the resulting force on the closing member. There is also disclosed a fluid drainage system having a suction chamber with a suction regulator, and various arrangements of diaphragms for measuring pressure differentials. An anti-spill device for the draining system is disclosed as well.

Abstract: An autotransfusion device for a chest drainage unit is provided that includes a collapsible blood collection and reinfusion bag assembly that includes a collapsible bag with pliable walls and stiffener members, and a holder which receives the assembly. The holder maintains compressive forces on the sides of the stiffener members so they bow outwardly and, in turn, maintain the bag assembly in an expanded conditions for collecting blood while suction is applied to the bag during drainage operations. The collapsible bag assembly can be removed from the holder for reinfusion of the collected blood.

Abstract: A tubing set, the major portions of which are defined from a trilumen section of tubing, comprises three lines including an inflow line, an outflow line and a pressure sensing line. The inflow line includes a header portion engageable about the rollers of a peristaltic pump, a delivery tube mounting a male luer fitting for engagement with a patient cannula, and a pair of clampable supply tubes with bag spikes for communication with saline bags. The pressure sensing line includes a pressure transmitting elongate tubular diaphragm mounted within a fluid chamber directly adjacent the patient end of the line. The pressure transmitting diaphragm communicates with an elongate dry or air tube which, at the remote end, communicates with an appropriate pump-mounted pressure transducer or the like.

Abstract: A chest cavity evacuation apparatus is provided with an air meter which is capable of directly measuring the volume of removed air. Small volumes of evacuated air are collected and measured, and the volume meter is resettable by tilting of the apparatus.

Abstract: A fast response, tubeless vacuum aspiration collection cassette includes large and small containers defined within a cassette housing adapted to be removably secured to a surgical aspiration machine. A first wall of the cassette housing abutting the machine includes connectors thereto to provide a controlled variable vacuum level to the small container, and a fixed vacuum level to the large container. Valves formed in the first wall are interconnected by flow channels therein extending to the containers, each valve having an actuating stem extending from the wall to be actuated selectively by the machine. A second wall opposed to the first wall includes a connector extending to a surgical probe or cutting instrument. The channels and valves are arranged so that when the containers are isolated by a first valve, the controlled vacuum level may be applied to the surgical probe through a second valve connecting it to the small ontainer volume.

Abstract: This invention relates to a novel and improved chest drainage apparatus characterized by a bottle housing a fluid collection chamber and a fluid inlet connectable to receive fluid and air from a chest cavity to be drained, air inlet and exhaust ports downstream of the fluid inlet open to the atmosphere within the air space above the fluid collected, and a U-tube between the fluid inlet and the air exhaust port capable of collecting and retaining an amount of fluid effective to provide a visual indication of any air flow into the system; a subassembly including an air chamber containing a check valve effective when connected to receive air from the exhaust port of the bottle to prevent backflow thereof into the system; and a negative pressure relief valve connected to the air intake port automatically operative to limit the negative pressure, if any, in the air space above the fluid to a predetermined maximum.

Abstract: A medical underwater seal, chest drainage apparatus is provided which includes a catheter having a main lumen and an auxiliary lumen for insertion into a chest cavity to be drained of body fluid. The main lumen is connected to a drainage collection device and the auxiliary lumen is adapted to be connected to a variable setting venting valve so that an adjustable flow rate of air from the atmosphere can flow into the auxiliary lumen for venting the cavity.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for filling an underwater drainage device is provided with a rotatable funnel and cap which is positioned between the manometer chamber and water seal chamber in a pleural drainage device. In use the cap may be removed and the funnel positioned to fill the manometer chamber to the desired level and the funnel may then be rotated to fill the underwater seal chamber to the desired level. A positive pressure relief valve is provided in the cap.

Abstract: This invention relates to an improved chest fluid drainage bottle of the type having a fluid collection chamber connectable to receive fluid sucked from the patient's chest, the improvement consisting of an improved air leak detection system characterized by a fluid filled U-tube downstream of the air space overlying the fluid collecting chamber cooperating therewith to define an air leak detector substantially insensitive to small intermittent variations in upstream pressure while, at the same time, providing an observer with a reliable visual indication of a continuous upstream leak. The improvement also encompasses an anti-splash baffle adjacent the outlet of the U-tube effective to prevent the fluid therein from leaving same and, perhaps, entering the vacuum system upon the application of larger than normal intermittent upstream positive pressure surges.

Abstract: A drainage device has a collection chamber for receiving liquids and gases from the body of a patient, an underwater seal chamber and a one-way outflow valve. A partition extending across a portion of the device forms the underwater seal chamber, which prevents the flow of atmospheric air from the device into the pleural cavity of the patient, above the partition and the collection chamber below it. The underwater seal is created at the lower end of an extension connected to the inlet to the device by liquids drained from the patient. The one-way outflow valve communicates with a trap chamber for collecting liquids inadvertently conducted toward the valve. The trap chamber is closed off from the underwater seal chamber but is connected to the collection chamber by means of a passageway through a wall separating the trap and collection chambers.

Abstract: A prebubble detector is provided for an underwater drainage apparatus. A series of sensors and detectors are disposed along the small arm of the underwater seal in a drainage device and means is provided for detecting the least degree of negativity reached during each breathing cycle. This information is fed to a logic circuit, timer and display so that the physician can readily see what the least degree of negativity reached is and how long a period of time has elapsed since the least degree of negativity has not decreased. A continuing trend of the least degree of negativity toward zero would indicate an air leak in the pleural cavity whereas stability of the least degree of negativity would indicate no air leak in the pleural cavity.

Abstract: Apparatus for drainage of a body cavity includes a housing body defining an inlet chamber and a discharge chamber, with the former having a catheter mounted to one wall thereof and communicating with the inlet chamber, and a one-way elongated valve of the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,463,159, and commonly known as the Heimlich valve, in fluid communication between the inlet chamber and the drainage chamber. An inlet port is provided in another wall of the housing body defining the inlet chamber which is adapted to reversibly receive a trocar and enable at least a portion of the trocar to pass through the inlet chamber and the catheter to enable the insertion of the catheter into the body cavity to be drained. In one embodiment, a collar is provided to support the open, inlet end of the sleeve of the one-way valve and a bellows-shaped member is provided to support the collar, valve and discharge chamber in spaced relation to the body housing portion defining the inlet chamber.

Abstract: An apparatus for the autotransfusion of blood or similar body fluid. The apparatus includes a container which is an evacuable, vacuum-stable container having a bottom part and a cover part. The container also includes an inlet opening for the body fluid arranged in the cover part. An outlet opening for the body fluid is arranged in the cover part with a screen covering the outlet opening. An opening is arranged in the bottom part for the production of a gas flow connection to a chamber with a gas pressure different from that of the inside of the container. A membrane deformable by pressure, and through which the body fluid cannot pass is held at the edge between the bottom and the cover parts. The membrane divides the container into a gas-filled bottom chamber and a cover chamber sealed off from the latter to receive the body fluid. A float seals off the outlet opening.

Abstract: A suction drainage system for body cavities includes a suction collection container, and a disposable suction control chamber through which an essentially constant level of suction is applied to a body cavity. Drained fluids flow into the suction collection container, into the suction control chamber through an elastomeric check valve which precludes backflow of fluids to the patient. A pressure monitoring tube in the suction control chamber has a lower end communicating with ambient pressure and an upper end communicating with the interior of the suction control chamber. A ball in the tube rises to a level which is proportional to the negative pressure inside the suction control chamber. The suction control chamber can be removably mounted to the collection container.

Abstract: A chest drainage apparatus for draining fluid from a patient includes a collection chamber for collecting the fluid. An inlet port is in fluid communication with the collection chamber for receiving the fluid. A one-way valve is in fluid communication with the collection chamber for preventing air from entering the patient from the inlet port. A vacuum control chamber has a lower end and an upper end in fluid communication with the one-way valve. A flexible conduit has a first end fluid communication with the exterior of the apparatus and a second end movably positioned within the vacuum control chamber. Elevation adjustment apparatus connected to the flexible conduit is provided for moving the second end of the flexible conduit upwardly and downwardly to various positions within the vacuum control chamber and is activatable from the exterior of the chest drainage apparatus. A suction outlet port for communicating with a source of vacuum is in fluid communication with the vacuum control chamber.

Abstract: An air leak detection chamber is provided which is adapted to be attached to a conventional pleural drainage device. The air leak detection chamber has a pair of passageways which are connected in series in the passageway of the pleural drainage device leading from the underwater seal or from the oneway valves disposed in the passageway leading from the collection chamber to the suction source of the pleural drainage device. The detection chamber has a water filled tube therein and any air passing from the pleural drainage device will displace the water within the tube. Thus, a physician may readily observe the volume of air passing from the pleural cavity of a patient and determine the extent of any air leak in the pleural cavity.

Abstract: A shallow collection vessel with liquid sensors and a resilient lip allows air around the genital-urinary area when not activated. Liquid urine in the vessel causes the sensors to activate a vacuum pump drawing the lip against the body of the user for a liquid tight seal and pumping the urine from the vessel through a tube and one-way valve to a temporary storage tank. Close and random spacing of the sensors creates a very sensitive device activated when the device is in any spacial orientation which might cause urine to contact the body by a minimal amount of urine, effecting the vacuum pump to remain active evaporating the urine within the vessel until the vessel is substantially dry. Paired electrical contacts or paired fibre optic elements are alternate liquid sensor means. Liquid level indicators within the tank signal a desired level for emptying and cause the pump to shut off upon reaching a dangerously full level. A condensation collecting trap keeps liquid out of the pump.

Abstract: A detector and counter for drainage devices is provided which will detect the passage of air through an underwater seal chamber. A signal is transmitted as a result of the detection of the presence of air or a bubble within an underwater seal chamber and an output circuit responsive to these signals measures the time interval between bubbles. In addition, a counter counts the total number of bubbles passing through the underwater seal over a selected period of time. The bubble detector when used with a pleural drainage device provides a diagnostic tool for a physican in determining the condition of a patient with a pleural air leak by indicating the elapsed time between bubbles and the total volume of air leak over the selected period of time.

Abstract: A chest drainage device is provided for draining fluid from a chest cavity. The drainage device has three chambers; a collection chamber, a liquid seal chamber, and a pressure regulating manometer chamber. The pressure regulating chamber includes a first column which has its upper end adapted to be open to communicate with the atmosphere, and a second column, which has a substantially larger cross-sectional area than the first column. A passage connects the bottom ends of the first and second columns to each other, so that the pressure regulating chamber is substantially U-shaped. In operation, air bubbles up through a body of liquid in the larger second column which produces a disturbing sound. The present invention provides a means for muffling this sound. The muffling means includes an elongated tube inside of and extending along the length of the first column of the pressure regulating chamber.

Abstract: An autotransfusion apparatus for blood or a similar body fluid, comprising(a) an evacuatable vacuum-resistant container (5) having a bottom part (4) and a cover part (3), with(a1) an inlet opening (20) for the body fluid arranged in the cover part,(a2) an outlet opening (24) for the body fluid having a screen (25) covering the outlet opening, and(a3) an opening (9) for producing a gas-flow connection to a space having a gas pressure which differs from the inside of the container.

Abstract: This invention relates to an improved chest fluid drainage bottle of the type having a fluid collection chamber connectable to receive fluid sucked from the patient's chest, the improvement consisting of an improved air leak detection system characterized by a fluid filled U-tube downstream of the air space overlying the fluid collecting chamber cooperating therewith to define an air leak detector substantially insensitive to small intermittent variations in upstream pressure while, at the same time, providing an observer with a reliable visual indication of a continuous upstream leak. The improvement also encompasses an anti-splash baffle adjacent the outlet of the U-tube effective to prevent the fluid therein from leaving same and, perhaps, entering the vacuum system upon the application of larger than normal intermittent upstream positive pressure surges.

Abstract: A modular drainage apparatus has a plurality of preformed plastic bodies supported by a header. One of the bodies includes a collection chamber connected to the pleural cavity of a patient and connected to a first passage formed in the header. A second body includes a U-shaped liquid seal chamber having one end connected to the first passage and its other end connected to a second passage formed in the header. The second passage is connected to a vacuum pump, which creates a suction within the collection chamber through the liquid seal chamber. A third body includes a U-shaped chamber to regulate the negative pressure produced by the vacuum pump to a desired negative pressure. The second body also includes a second U-shaped chamber having one end connected to the atmosphere and its other end connected to the liquid seal chamber adjacent its connection to the first passage.

Abstract: A dry type discharge liquid extraction apparatus is provided with a fluid collection chamber, a coupling for introducing a vacuum into the fluid collection chamber, and a pressure control valve for regulating the flow of air from the collection chamber to the coupling. Also provided is a one-way check valve between the fluid collection chamber and the pressure control valve and a vacuum pressure stabilizing valve which is vented to atmosphere and interposed between the pressure control valve and the coupling for selectively passing air at atmospheric pressure to stabilize the introduced vacuum.

Abstract: Aspirator apparatus including a jar and a bung for closing the mouth of the jar, the bung comprising a domed thermoplastic top provided with a peripheral skirt within the jar mouth and having an annular slot housing an O-ring providing a primary seal with the jar, the thermoplastic material of the bung being resilient to permit depression of the domed top with reduced pressure in the jar with resulting expansion of the skirt to provide a secondary seal between the inner end of the skirt and the jar.

Abstract: A method is provided for relieving excess negativity in a surgical underwater drainage device. The method comprises the steps of delivering a premeasured or metered amount of air directly to the thoractomy tube which is connected to the inlet of the drainage device. The metered amount of air is provided by an air chamber connected to the thoracotomy tube, the air chamber having a depressable plunger mounted therein. When the plunger is depressed the air within the chamber is delivered directly to the thoracotomy tube and when the plunger is released the air chamber is refilled with a metered amount of air. At no time is the thoracotomy tube open directly to the outside atmosphere.

Abstract: A surgical underwater drainage device for draining fluids from the body of a patient which is provided with an automatic negative pressure relief system is disclosed. The underwater drainage device includes a collection chamber, an underwater seal chamber and/or its equivalent, and a suction control chamber. In one embodiment a negative pressure relief valve is normally closed and provides a bypass around the liquid seal and/or its equivalent of the underwater seal chamber. When excess negativity occurs in the collection chamber and/or the thoracotomy tube, the relief valve opens automatically to slowly relieve the excess negativity. The relief valve also prevents flow to the collection chamber and/or the thoracotomy tube when the pressure in the collection chamber is equal to or greater than a predetermined minimum below the pressure on the opposite side of the seal of the underwater seal chamber or its equivalent.

Abstract: A surgical drainage unit is provided for draining fluids from the body of a patient wherein the suction pressure, applied through a suction inlet of the unit to draw fluids into the unit, is incrementally controlled and a direct indication of the applied suction pressure is afforded. A device which contracts responsive to an increase in suction in a collection chamber of the unit is equipped with an indicator vane that cooperates with a fixed scale to indicate the amount of movement of the bellows and hence indicate the suction within the collection chamber. A manually adjustable control valve incrementally controls the amount of air admitted to a suction line within the unit to thereby control the applied suction. A negative pressure relief valve is also provided so that excess negativity within the inlet tube can be manually relieved.

Abstract: A drainage apparatus has a collection chamber connected to the pleural cavity of a patient with a vacuum pump connected through a water seal chamber to the collection chamber. A pressure regulating chamber maintains the negative pressure created by the vacuum pump in the water seal chamber at a desired negative pressure. When there is an increase in negative pressure within the pleural cavity of the patient, atmospheric pressure is transmitted through a liquid at a selected level in an excess negativity chamber to the collection chamber to reduce the negative pressure in the collection chamber and the pleural cavity of the patient connected thereto to a selected maximum above the negative pressure maintained in the collection chamber by the vacuum pump and regulated by the pressure regulating chamber.

Abstract: A drainage device is provided with a collection chamber, an underwater seal chamber, and a separate flow chamber. The underwater seal chamber which prevents the flow of atmospheric air from the device into the pleural cavity of the patient is formed by a recessed portion in a partition separating the underwater seal chamber from the collection chamber. A passageway from the underwater seal chamber into the collection chamber is located in the partition separating the chambers and a baffle is formed around the opening to prevent excessive loss of fluid from the underwater seal chamber into the collection chamber when the device is inadvertently tilted. The flow chamber is closed off from the collection chamber and is connected with the underwater seal chamber by means of a tubular passageway adjacent the upper wall of the drainage apparatus so as to prevent fluid from passing from the underwater seal chamber into the outlet passageway.

Abstract: A system for draining pleural cavities. A container having a plurality of cavities is employed with a vacuum source and an inlet from the patient. In the first cavity, a port is defined to limit the liquid contained therein. This port opens into a second cavity for collection of drained fluids. A vacuum regulator mechanism is incorporated at one end of the container to prevent injury to the patient. Thus, a water seal is defined about the inlet tube. A separate cavity collects drained fluids and a third area provides vacuum control.

Abstract: A tip-safe chest drainage unit provides liquid sealed chest drainage. The unit has an enclosure of unitary form constructed of synthetic resin material, defining various chambers including a liquid seal chamber, a drain fluid collection chamber, manometric chambers and various equilibration and relief chambers. A chest drainage tube extends into the seal chamber, which is configured for being normally substantially filled with liquid for submerging the end of the drain tube to provide atmospheric sealing thereof. The fluid collection chamber communicates with the seal chamber for receiving fluids via the seal chamber resulting from chest drainage through the drain tube. The equilibration chambers and various baffles in the enclosure preserve fluid content upon tipping of the unit to maintain the drain tube end submerged in fluid at all times.

Abstract: A two-chambered underwater drainage apparatus is provided which is adapted to be connected with the pleural cavity of a patient by means of a thorocotomy tube. The underwater seal which prevents the flow of atmospheric air from the device to the pleural cavity of the patient is formed at the lower end of the thorocotomy tube and the secretions from the body cavity form the liquid in the seal. A oneway valve is provided at the outlet from the device to prevent backflow of air from the atmosphere into the device, but, permits outflow of air from within the device when the air pressure within the device is higher than atmospheric pressure or when the device is used with a suction pump. A hanger attachment is provided which permits the device to stand on the floor or be hooked onto the bedside.

Abstract: A surgical underwater drainage device is provided for draining fluids from the body of a patient through an inlet tube. A metered air pump is fluidly connected to the inlet tube so as to deliver a metered amount of air to the inlet tube when excess negativity occurs there. A spring biased closed one-way valve in the metered air pump prevents atmospheric air from entering the inlet tube except during actuation of the metered air pump.