EP3821170B1

EP3821170B1 - Ventilating lamp

Info

Publication number: EP3821170B1
Application number: EP19761962.0A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Carmelo MUSCO
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2018-07-13
Filing date: 2019-07-15
Publication date: 2023-08-30
Anticipated expiration: 2039-07-15
Also published as: EP3821170A1; WO2020012451A1; EP3821170C0

Description

INTRODUCTION

This invention concerns the dental field and in particular the equipment that is usually used in a dental practice and/or in the operating room in general.
One of the fundamental aspects of dental care is undoubtedly the management of the patient to be treated when he or she is sitting on the dental chair for the appropriate treatments. Similar problems can occur in the operating room, especially when the patient is conscious.
As it is known, both to the technicians in the field and, and more directly to patients, undergoing dental treatment is for many a problem essentially attributable to psychological and psychosomatic reasons. The anxiety and fear of having to face a dental operation, even a trivial one, very often involves in a large number of individuals inconveniences, sometimes even difficult to manage and which often lead to the need for the patient to renounce to the same treatments.
Tension, anticipation anxiety, fear and pre-conceived ideas are an obstacle to treatment that can become insurmountable, and often these psychological states can be further accentuated by pre-existing conditions such as stress, disease but also simply menopause and menstruation. A state of anxiety or fear can frequently produce functional disorders on the patient, ranging from minor illness to more serious physical problems. In particular, small ailments, i.e. those that are resolved spontaneously by the interruption of dental care in the chair, can find a distinction based on the adult subject and a pediatric subject.
The minor ailments of an adult subject are usually caused either by the use of the drill or by the injection of the anesthetic and can be traced back to:

more or less generalized muscular tension which, after treatment and even in the following days, produces muscular pains such as those following a demanding session in the gym. Beyond muscular pains, the experience is lived negatively and the patient tends not to continue the treatment.
Sense of nausea accompanied by a sense of missing. The patient is pale and sweaty and, if he or she has a strong character, stops the dentist telling him or her they feel sick. Many patients are ashamed and even if they feel bad they don't say anything until they faint. These are the symptoms of the vagal syndrome: it is needed to stop, to stretch out the patient and wait for him or her to recover.
Pure fear: As soon as the dentist approaches with a drill, the patient stops him or her. If the dentist is able to start the treatments they will be marked by frequent request for suspension.
Excessive sensitivity to pain with anesthesia that "does not kick in". Again, with considerable difficulties and delays in time.
Nausea and vomiting stimulus easily induced even for delicate maneuvers.

In the child, in addition to what has already been said, weeping and the refusal to be cured are added.

STATE OF THE ART

At present, to try to solve the problems mentioned, pharmacological solutions are generally used: the first case is represented by the oral or intravenous administration of anxiolytic drugs (e.g. benzodiazepines) or even, even in conjunction with these anxiolytic drugs, by means of the administration during the dental session, of nitrous oxide whose analgesic-sedative properties are known. Although the benefits of these solutions are certainly effective, it is equally true that it concerns always a pharmacological administration often assisted even by an anesthetist.
The patient who therefore finds himself experiencing these problems, will be "forced" to a more or less strong pharmacological sedation also to be able to carry out a simple operation and this implies, in addition to possible collateral and/or side effects, also an increase in the cost of the operation.
NOTE: with a dental unit group, from now on a unit group, it is intended an assembly consisting of a support frame for a chair, on which the patient sits, and other parts connected to that frame also by means of articulated elements that serve as support for other parts such as a lamp to illuminate the area of intervention, a handpiece holder, a screen, etc..
Again, in a further implementation variant, in particular, in this case we refer to a further problem that is decidedly current and felt in the field of health in general and that mainly concerns dental practices and the dental care sector.
The problem that it is intended to further address is that of bacterial and microbiological contamination of the patient (fungi and viruses) in environments where health care is provided and, more specifically, in those environments where care is provided in the oral cavity with dental instruments, where he or she is therefore particularly disadvantaged in terms of exposure to any infection and where this leads to the release of particles into the aerial environment of the office.
One of these areas, therefore, is certainly the dental practice, where in the case of surgery to the teeth, or even simple dental hygiene sessions, often the patient can bleed and certainly exposes their mucous membranes to bacterial contamination being forced to keep the mouth open for a long time.
In the known art there have been described and proposed various solutions to address this pressing problem, many of which are specifically designed for operating theaters or rooms, which are designed to minimize if not to solve the problem of microbiological contaminants dispersed in the air, which can be transported by the chaotic air flows in the dental room and may end up for example on the sterile operating field, and/or the surgical instruments or other sensitive areas that must be kept as little contaminated as possible.
For example, in operating theatres, this problem has been partly alleviated by the introduction of ceiling ventilation elements including laminar flow ventilation systems (LAR: laminar air flow). These systems essentially treat the air to be pushed at a low forward speed (typically from 0.3 to 0.7 m/s) and purified with filters preferably such as HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air) which reduce the bacterial load in the air by 99%. The laminar flow thus substantially becomes sterile with at least three advantages:

being directed to the surgical site prevents air turbulence loaded with microbiological agents from contaminating surgical wounds by reducing infections;
be directed, for example, to the table where the sterile surgical instruments are placed, preventing them from being reached by airborne microbiological contaminants, while maintaining their sterility;
by filtering the ambient air, contributes to maintaining the healthiness of the air.

For the reasons mentioned above, laminar flow has been adopted with considerable positive effects not only in hospitals but also in small surgery and ophthalmic surgeries, exploiting the advantages mentioned above also thanks to mobile or hanging structures that allow - by displacing or moving the device - to direct laminar flow where it is necessary.
In particular, a graph is attached below:
The laminar flow to date ISO 5, is necessary for operating rooms of prosthetic surgery and/or for example in cardiac surgery, transplantation, orthopedics, neurosurgery and vascular surgery. In these areas, it is clear that the bacterial load must be low in order to reduce the post-operative infection risk as much as possible. In this case, the unidirectional laminar flow must cover the operating field and the instrument's table.
It should be noted that even a dental implantology operation can be considered to all intents and purposes a prosthetic and orthopedic operation, but unfortunately currently no legislation regulates the activities and cleaning of the air.
Therefore, returning now to the field of interest of this invention, the application of this technology has not yet been proposed for dental practices and surgeries, where instead the use of laminar flow for sanitizing purposes would be highly desirable considering that the quality of air (Indoor Air Quality - IAQ) is the worst compared to any health profession.
To make the problem of indoor air quality even more severe in dental surgeries, there is also the fact that the salivary aspirator redirects airborne microbiological contaminants even more easily in the oral cavity.
Among other things, this problem is currently exacerbated by antibiotic resistance, which makes dangerous infections that were once easy to treat.
However, disadvantageously, this system has not been diffused to date due to functional limitations of the devices that emit this type of aeration, this also for reasons of space, as much of the dental office is occupied by the dental group itself and it would be neither convenient nor easy to introduce an additional cumbersome ventilation system in a dental practice.
Furthermore, such a system would not be convenient, because unlike an operating room, the dentist often works alone or at most with an assistant, he or she would have to adjust various equipment before starting the work, which would cost considerable time, since it is known that the interventions by the dentist are subject to precise schedules, given the number of patients, so a further waste of time would soon be able to dispose of such an aid for reasons of convenience.
Still, in a further disadvantageous way, an additional aid would be poorly ergonomic, this deconcentrating the dentist while performing his work if in addition to having to adjust the light he or she must also adjust the airflow.
However, the possibility of introducing a clean and substantially sterile flow of air into a dental practice, and in particular the possibility of directing it to sensitive areas such as those where instruments come into contact with the patient's mouth and the area surrounding the patient's mouth, is considered of paramount importance.
In fact, consider that a dental practice is a place subject to many different presences every day, including the number of patients, chair assistants, etc.. potentially spreading bacteria in the air, fragments of skin, etc..
Also, consider the aerosol effect generated by rotating or ultrasonic instruments used for dental cleaning and surgery, and/or bicarbonate air-polishing. Consider that on average in 1 g of bacterial plaque up to 150 billion bacteria have been found and in 1 ml of saliva up to 6 billion bacteria. This bacterial potential is then enriched with other microbiological agents from any oral bleeding.
This has serious repercussions on the quality of dental care on which the spectrum of potential infections falls. In fact, as a rule, the environmental ventilation system of a room such as the dental clinic, however built, exhibits a chaotic and multidirectional air movement capable of transporting microparticles of bacterial air dispersed in every point of it and in everything in it, including the mouth of patients. This necessarily implies that any therapeutic intervention that takes place in the mouth there will always be a contamination of the same with bacterial particles. Moreover, all surgical operations (dental extractions, implants, etc.), dental examinations, routine treatments, orthodontic treatments, etc. are carried out with the indispensable help of a salivary or surgical aspirator which, in addition to sucking in the saliva, causes a depression in the mouth with a redirection in it of ambient air charged with airborne microbiological contaminants.
Document EP 2 679 213 A2 discloses a boom assembly configured to movably secure equipment to a ceiling or plenum extending from the ceiling. The assembly may include an arm sub-assembly secured to the ceiling, equipment secured to an end of the arm sub-assembly, and an air delivery member extending through the arm sub-assembly. The air delivery member may include a first end in communication with an air delivery chamber within the ceiling or plenum, and a second end in communication with air passages formed through the equipment. Airflow is directed from the air delivery chamber out through the air passages formed through the equipment towards a target location.
For what has just been said, among the purposes of this invention, which aims to describe variations and possible improvements of the innovative ventilating lamp suitable for dental units just mentioned, there is that of providing a flow of clean air able to create a shield against microbiological contaminants airborne thanks to the innovative lamp itself.
One of the purposes of this invention is to describe a ventilating lamp device that provides clean air without the need to introduce inconvenient additional aids into the dental practice.
Furthermore, one of the aims of this invention is to provide the user with a device that simplifies the management of lighting, ventilation and correct direction of the air flow(s) supplied for simple use of the same.
Furthermore, one of the aims of the present invention is to provide an all-in-one device that is advantageous in terms of solving a number of known art problems and that is economically advantageous for the purchaser.
Furthermore, the device will be advantageously versatile in the direction of air flows and in the choice of air flows to be delivered or not.
Furthermore, the device will be versatile and useful for the patient, the operator and for the general sanitation/management of the dental surgical field, the management of instruments and equipment in general in this sector. Furthermore, it is intended to provide the dentist with an aid that is not bulky, versatile and immediate to use.
One purpose of this invention is to describe a device that can reduce the psychophysical discomfort of patients during dental sessions.
Another purpose is to facilitate dentists in treating patients with difficulty to endure dental care.

SHORT DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The above mentioned purposes are achieved by a ventilating lamp having the features of claim 1. Preferred embodiments are subject of the dependent claims.
In some variants, it must be connected by means of articulated arms, for example, to the frame of a united group and characterized by the fact that it comprises at least one source of forced air suitable for directing a jet of forced air in a direction substantially parallel to the beam of light emitted by the lamp itself.
In particular, advantageously, said jet of forced air is suitable to reach the face and/or other parts of the patient's body. This air source can be fed by any means suitable for the purpose and convey simple ambient air or treated air as better explained below.
In an even more advantageous way, the air jet can be directed by means of special adjustable nozzles that in some forms of realization can also be extensible or placed in any part of the lamp.
In particular, these nozzles may also be equipped with variable opening shutters located in the nozzles themselves. These shutters can be opened manually (mechanical opening and adjustment wheel or similar) or by means of known electronic controls connected there (remote control or similar).
The innovative lamp particularly suitable for dental units comprises at least one moving or fixed head according to what is already present in known art but it will be further and innovatively equipped with one or more sources of forced air advantageously directionable and modular according to the forms of realization: it has been noted in fact that very often the patient in care on the chair requires air, obtaining psychological benefit in perceiving a "wavering" on the body and in particular on the face, this probably because the air in the face may represent an element of distraction and/or suggest a greater sense of freedom or however evoke more tranquilizing thoughts, this probably because the air in the face may represent an element of distraction and/or suggest a greater sense of freedom. In a completely new way, therefore, since the lamp is the element of the dental unit that is always oriented towards the face of the patient being treated, this lamp suitable for dental units will also innovatively comprise one or more sources of forced air to be directed to the face of the patient; this forced air will be supplied through one or more nozzles powered by means suitable for the purpose such as a fan connected to a motor. These means being positioned in any position either on the dental unit or in any other position. The flow of this forced air can be activated by means of a dedicated control preferably on the dental unit itself and can still be adjusted in its intensity by means of a special regulator. In some forms of realization it will be possible to comprise the possibility of "waving" the patient with air enriched with oxygen and/or enriched with particular fragrances in order to improve the effect of said air jet on the patient.
Therefore, this air source comprises, in some variants, at least one dispenser for ambient air and/or comprises at least one oxygen enrichment placed in or near the lamp to supply treated air with added fragrances or enriched oxygen and/or comprises at least one air-conditioning unit to supply hot and/or fresh air.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

These and other advantages obtained by virtue of the innovative ventilating lamp, particularly suitable for dental units and operating beds, will be better described and clarified with reference to the attached figures in which:

Figure 1 shows the frontal view of a ventilating lamp for dental units;
Figure 2 shows a patient in treatment position on a dental unit equipped with a ventilating lamp.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

Figure 1 shows an example of the innovative ventilating lamp for units groups. Lamp 1 here is bound to the unit (not shown here for simplicity) by means of arm 2. The head of lamp 4 can be equipped with handles 3 for the movement of lamp 1, on this body there are one or more light sources 5 and innovatively also at least one source 10 for the supply of forced air, including at least one or more nozzles 6 for the output of forced air. These nozzles 6 can be of swivel type or fixed and can be placed indifferently either in the head of the lamp 4 or in another position as long as it is suitable to ventilate the patient, for example, even when it is illuminated in the face during dental treatments. Nozzles 6 can be powered, for example, by a motorized fan comprised in the source 10 which can be placed either directly on lamp 1 or in another position; in this case there will be ducts capable of transferring the forced air from the source to the outlet of said nozzles 6.
Note that in the "standard" case, the air inlets can simply flow from the room but, in other forms of realization, it will be possible, for example, to enrich the air with oxygen or fragrances that can make it even more effective (depending on the patient) the effect of said forced air (detailed description with below).
Therefore, once the patient is in the chair, the operator in order to proceed with the work must necessarily illuminate the area to be treated or, in this form of realization, the mouth, this automatically determining the positioning of the nozzles 6 so that they can be oriented towards the face of the patient. In a further innovation, these nozzles can orient the direction of flow by choosing whether to direct all the forced air on the illuminated part of the face or also extend the range of action of this air for example on the upper part of the face and/or other parts of the body, making the effect of the air on the patient's body even more customizable. In this way, the patient, despite being subjected to constriction in the dental unit chair, can benefit from a relief induced by the air blown by the innovative lamp 1, particularly suitable for dental units, thus resolving the problems illustrated above in a completely new way. A further possibility will be that of also being able to regulate the outlet temperature of said air flow so as to enrich the personalization of the treatment.
Further use of the innovative forced air lamp may result from the joint use of multimedia means such as virtual glasses, stereo headphones, etc.. in order to achieve a synergistic enhancement of the effects on the patient, even pediatric.
In fig. 2 it is shown a patient 20 during a dental session, the lamp 1 is arranged to illuminate the area to be treated by means of a light source 5 while the nozzles 6 are automatically in a position to effectively ventilate with a jet of air 21 the face of the patient, thus determining the benefit as indicated above. In the figure is shown further an example of realization of said source 10, which comprises at least one fan with motor 22 suitable to produce forced air to be directed to a duct 23 up to the outlet of the nozzles 6. This forced air can be adjusted in intensity by acting for example both on the power supplied to the engine 22 and on the arrangement of the nozzles 6, the temperature can still be adjusted for example by providing an air conditioning unit 18 and can finally be modulated as to the fragrance by means of essences dispersed in the flow of air sent to the nozzles 6. Said source 10 therefore comprises at least one ambient air supply and/or comprises at least one oxygen enrichment device 25 placed in or near lamp 1 to supply treated air with added fragrance or oxygen-enriched air and/or comprises at least one air-conditioning unit 18 to supply hot and/or fresh air.
In other embodiment forms said lamp can comprise in addition or alternative extensible nozzles, i.e. nozzles connected to arms (tubes type extensible appendages) that can advantageously be directed with greater precision in a particular area where the patient wishes to be ventilated, for example, a nozzle could also be turned towards the forehead of the dentist that in case of particularly long and complex operations could in turn benefit from this opportunity.
According to the invention, the forced air source 10 comprises electrical means configured to move said fins 16 of said nozzles also with continuous wave motion.
Furthermore, in one or more variants of these nozzles, as mentioned above, variable opening shutters placed in the nozzles themselves (not shown here) can be provided.
Furthermore, in one or more variants said forced air source comprises means of activation attached to this lamp such as at least one switch 19 and/or means of remote control such as at least one remote control 29.
In addition, said ventilating lamp 1, and in particular the elements of source 10 of forced air can comprise means of reception for wireless signals to be able to adjust the various functions as mentioned also by means of remote control means.
As far as the further variant is concerned, please refer to the figures described above, as there are no changes in the substantial parts.
In particular, in the present innovative version, at least one of said nozzles is capable of emitting a laminar air flow to sanitize the objects/environment to which it is directed, so that this source of forced air including means for adjusting the speed of the air flow emitted by/from the nozzles, so as to regulate the delivery from turbulent flow to laminar and vice versa.
In particular, this adjustment will be available for one or more vents, not necessarily for all vents, and in any case the air flow delivery speed can be adjusted individually for each vents, so in this case the main source of forced air can be divided into several individually adjustable micro-sources.
In particular, the nozzles of the diffusers suitable for delivering air as a unidirectional laminar flow and possibly suitable filters for the purpose, said nozzle(s) diffusing a laminar air flow directed in a single direction, or unidirectional: air is delivered at a given speed and passes through a special filter placed before the outlet of the nozzle itself. This will happen when the relative nozzle is set to the "laminar flow" function that can be set by suitable adjustment means.
Said lamp therefore still comprises at least means for adjusting the flow rate, such as appropriate speed controls, which can be analog or digital of any kind suitable for the purpose (e.g. adjustment knobs, trims, buttons, electronic displays, etc.). In this case, from the front of the nozzle selected to emit laminar flow, the directional fins can be removed, which can be easily made as an additional piece to be stuck and removed in the nozzle if necessary.
In the present invention, air is taken from the environment and is substantially sanitized before being directed where the operator considers it most necessary, this being initially taken from the environment and then channeled into the forced air source which, by channeling the air towards the relative nozzle regulated on "laminar flow", purifies the flow itself, regulating its speed and introducing it into the environment after being passed through one or more filter(s) (already described), this being defined here for the present invention: "laminar flow regulation".
Said vents essentially treat the air to be pushed at low forward speed (from 0.3 to 0.7m/s typically) and purified with filters preferably for example HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air) that reduce by 99% the bacterial load in the air, or mini-pleat filters for unidirectional flows DELTA, HEPA H14 and ULPA U15 series, which are suitable for use in all systems where a very high air purity is required.
It will also be advantageous to adjust each nozzle individually, for example a nozzle to be directed on the dental tray can be adjusted to laminar flow and/or an additional nozzle directed towards the glass in the rinsing area can be adjusted to laminar flow, and a nozzle directed towards the patient's face or body to refresh it can be set to fresh/hot air with a regular flow. Any other adjustment will be properly possible, such as the direction of laminar flow towards the patient's face to protect him from microbiological and/or other bacterial contamination.
Note that advantageously even the temperature can be individually adjusted for each nozzle by virtue of any single sources one dedicated to each nozzle.
For example, the lamp can be kept on at night in an advantageous way to better sanitize the environment.
Further, in another preferred embodiment form, the air supplied by the innovative ventilating lamp can also be supplied by the compressor that supplies the dental unit, obviously making the appropriate modifications and additions to this compressor, but in a considerably advantageous way since it is not needed to add a special additional source of forced air 10, but by using, modifying and integrating it appropriately, the air source of the compressor already present in a dental unit, with a considerable reduction in the overall size of the innovative ventilating lamp for dental units innovatively described in this invention. In practice the compressor in this form of construction acts as a forced air source 10.
Note that different nozzles can be adjusted with different flow rates, and with different temperatures, by virtue of special regulators and means suitable for the purpose inserted in the source of forced air and/or the like.
It is evident that the innovative ventilating lamp, particularly suitable for dental units and operating beds in general, is able to solve all the above problems of the known art, in particular variations in shape, number of nozzles, ways of directing them, materials used, ways of adjusting the nozzles and air delivery, etc., are to be considered non-limiting the scope of the invention, which is defined by the appended claims.

Claims

A ventilating lamp (1) particularly suitable for dental units groups and operating beds, comprising at least one lighting head (4) comprising one or more light sources (5) suitable of emitting one or more light beams connected to at least one supporting structure (2) at least for moving the lamp, comprising at least one forced air source (10) comprising at least one or more dispensing nozzles (6) comprising directional fins (16) suitable for directing a forced air jet in at least one or more directions with respect to the direction of the light beam emitted by the said light sources, characterized by the fact that said source (10) comprises electrical means configured to move said fins (16) of said nozzles also with continuous wave motion.
A ventilating lamp (1) according to claim 1, in which said forced air source (10) comprises at least means to modulate and regulate the intensity of the delivered air flow, such as a fan with motor (22) and/or variable opening shutters placed in the dispensing nozzles.
A ventilating lamp according to the preceding claims, in which said source (10) comprises at least one dispenser for ambient air and/or includes at least one oxygen enrichment device (25) placed in or near the lamp (1) to supply treated air with added fragrances or enriched with oxygen and/or comprises at least one air conditioning unit (18) for delivering hot and/or fresh air.
A ventilating lamp according to the preceding claims, in which said nozzles (6) are extensible and/or placed in any part of the lamp and can be extended from the lamp and are also directable.
A ventilating lamp according to the preceding claims, in which said source of forced air comprises activation means fixed to said lamp such as at least one switch (22) and/or remote actuation means such as at least one remote control (29).
A ventilating lamp according to the preceding claims, in which at least one of said nozzles, being suitable to emit a laminar air flow to sanitize the objects and/or the environment towards which it is directed, said source of forced air (10) including means for the regulation of the speed of the air flow emitted from/by the nozzles, so as to adjust its delivery from turbulent flow to laminar flow and vice versa.
A ventilating lamp according to claim 1, where said adjustment will be available for one or more vents or only a few nozzles (6) and the air flow delivery speed can be adjusted individually for each nozzle (6) by means of special adjustment means.
A ventilating lamp according to the preceding claims, in which the main source of forced air (10) can be divided into several individually adjustable microsources.
A ventilating lamp according to the preceding claims, in which the air supplied by the ventilating lamp is supplied by a compressor that supplies the unit, said compressor thus acting as a forced air source (10).
A ventilating lamp according to the preceding claims in which said dispensing nozzles (6) comprising fins suitable for delivering air as unidirectional laminar flow and including appropriate sanitizing filters, said nozzle(s) diffusing a laminar air flow directed in a single direction, or unidirectional, the air being delivered at a given speed and passing through a special filter, said filters being positioned before the outlet of the nozzle itself.
A ventilating lamp according to the preceding claims in which said lamp including at least means for adjusting the flow rate, such as appropriate speed controls, which may be analog or digital of any kind suitable for the purpose (eg. adjustment knobs, trims, buttons, electronic displays, etc..).
A ventilating lamp according to the preceding claims in which the directional fins are removable from the front of the nozzle selected to emit laminar flow, and said fins can be made as an additional piece to be stuck and removed in the nozzle if necessary.
A ventilating lamp according to the preceding claims, where different nozzles can be adjusted to deliver different flow rates.
A ventilating lamp according to the preceding claims, in which different nozzles can be adjusted individually such that each airflow can have a different temperature by means of special regulators and means suitable for the purpose inserted in the source of forced air.