GB2607930A - A disinfection device for a stethoscope - Google Patents

Abstract

A device for disinfecting a stethoscope, comprising a base unit 4 comprising a UV-radiation source, a replaceable cap 6 with housing having means for removably fixing the cap 6 to the base 4, and an elastomeric seal 10 for receiving a stethoscope chest piece. The elastomeric seal 10 may be opaque and define in cross section an annular recess. The base 4 may comprise a generally inverted conical base 20 with a span angle between 100-160 degrees, and a UV-C LED source. The base 4 may include a sensor to detect engagement of the stethoscope with cap 6, which may then activate the LEDs. The device may comprise a wireless transceiver, which may be BluetoothRTM, to communicate with a remote device. The device can be part of a kit, with at least one additional replaceable differently sized cap (61-3, fig. 5). A method is disclosed, wherein the stethoscope is disinfected via UV-C radiation upon engagement with the device via the elastomeric seal 10. An app is disclosed to run on a computing device and communicate and receive performance data from the device, which may be displayed graphically.

Description

A Disinfection Device for a Stethoscope The present invention relates to a device for disinfecting a stethoscope such as an electronic disinfection device for a stethoscope.

Doctors and healthcare practitioners frequently need to use a stethoscope and to make such use convenient, it is typical that they will carry the stethoscope around with them. It is known that it is desirable to keep the stethoscope clean and sterilized so as to limit the risk of transfer of pathogens between healthcare professionals and patients and also between healthcare professionals and other healthcare professionals.

A number of devices and systems are known that can be used to sanitize a stethoscope. One such example is described in EP3164161 which discloses a disinfection device for a stethoscope including a case including a conical recess within which is arranged a sanitization means in the form of one or more UV LEDs.

Examples of other systems and devices for disinfecting a stethoscope are disclosed in US-A-2016/324,996, KR20090075136 and KR101324463.

There is a need for improvements in or relating to disinfection devices for stethoscopes.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a mobile disinfection device for a stethoscope, comprising: a base comprising a UV light emitting device; a replaceable cap, engaged to the base wherein the cap comprises a housing having fixing means for removably fixing the cap to the base and an elastomeric seal for attachment to a stethoscope chest piece.

The device is able to disinfect a stethoscope and can be worn as a jacket for the stethoscope in normal use. Thus, a user does not separately need to remember to sanitize the stethoscope after use. Simply by attaching the jacket to a stethoscope wearing it in normal use as a protective system, the sanifization effect will be provided.

In an embodiment, the elastomeric seal is formed of an opaque elastomeric material A seal of elastomeric material is provided that is formed of an opaque elastomeric material such as a back rubber of suitable grade and flexibility. This means that the device when engaged with the stethoscope will not allow leakage of UV light outside the enclosed domain.

In an embodiment, the elastomeric seal defines in cross section an annular recess to receive the rim of a stethoscope, in use, to be disinfected.

In an embodiment, the base comprises a generally inverted conical base having arranged thereon a UV-C LED source.

In an embodiment, the span angle of the inverted cone is between 100 and 160 degrees.

In an embodiment, the base includes a sensor to detect the presence of a stethoscope engaged with the replaceable cap.

A sensor is provided that is capable of detecting the presence of a stethoscope in the cap. In other words, it is capable of detecting whether the device is at any point in time actually engaged on a stethoscope or not. Thus, control is possible whereby the UV LED may be automatically activated only when a stethoscope is presented.

Furthermore, the UV LED can be arranged to be activated in response to a stethoscope being presented, without requiring manual intervention by a user. The jacket is in effect a device that from a user's perspective automatically disinfects the stethoscope when it is worn. The jacket has a dual purpose in that it both provides physical protection and cover to the stethoscope as a regular enclosure would do whilst at the same time providing automatic disinfection.

In an embodiment, the device is arranged automatically to activate the UV LED source upon the detection of a stethoscope presence.

In an embodiment, the device comprises a wireless transmitter and receiver to communicate with a remote device.

In an embodiment, the wireless transceiver is a Bluetooth transceiver.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a kit for sanitizing stethoscopes, comprising: a device according the first aspect of the present invention; and at least one additional replaceable cap having elastomeric seals of different sizes to that of the first cap, the additional replaceable cap being capable of sealing engagement with a stethoscope of different size to that with which the first cap is arranged to engage.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of disinfecting a stethoscope, the method comprising: providing a device according to the first aspect of the present invention; engaging a stethoscope with the elastomeric seal and allowing the UV-C radiation to disinfect the stethoscope.

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a schematic perspective view of a jacket for a stethoscope; Figure 2 is a view of a stethoscope engaged with the device of Figure 1; Figure 3 is an exploded view of the cap of Figure 1; Figure 4 is a perspective view of the base unit of the device of Figure 1; Figures 5a to 5c show views of differently configured jackets similar to those of Figure 1; Figures 6a and 6b show examples of jackets with the base unit and cap separated; Figure 7 is a view of the cap shown in component format; Figure 8 is a cross-sectional view of the jacket of Figure 1 and Figures 9A to 90 show screen shots from an App used to control a device such as that shown in any of Figures 1 to 8.

There is provided a disinfection jacket for a stethoscope that includes a base unit and a cap which are selectively connectable and separable. The cap is configured to include a resilient light sealing member which enables stethoscopes of differing sizes to engage with it and is able to form a light sealing engagement with the rim of the stethoscope. The cap and the base are separable and it is possible that a different cap can subsequently be connected to the base, wherein the different cap will have a different size or be arranged to engage with stethoscopes of different sizes such that a single base unit can be provided and is effectively part of a reconfigurable system that is able to operate with stethoscopes of different sizes.

Looking then at Figure 1, a disinfection device 2 is provided that includes a base 4 and a cap 6. The cap 6 has an opening 8 which, in use is arranged to receive the chest piece of a stethoscope. The cap 6 includes a resilient seal 10 which will be described in greater detail below.

Figure 2 shows a schematic view of a stethoscope 12 engaged with the disinfection device 2. The device 2 is sized and weighted such that it can be worn on the stethoscope at all times when the stethoscope is not in use. Furthermore, the resilient seal 10 is arranged so as to enable easy removal of the disinfection device when the stethoscope is needed for use.

The disinfection jacket is a medical device arranged and configured to sanitize stethoscopes by UV light emission As will be explained below, it includes a battery and functions as a portable disinfection unit for stethoscopes. In an embodiment, the device includes a single UV-C LED in the middle. The UV-C band is known to have a destructive effect on many pathogens and microorganisms that are common sources of disease.

Referring to Figure 2, as mentioned, the disinfection jacket 2 is arranged to be carried together with the stethoscope by attaching the device to the stethoscope. Thus, the stethoscope remains clean when it is not used. The presence of a stethoscope connected to the jacket 2 may be determined by a sensor within the jacket, such as a time of flight sensor and ambient light sensor such that the device operates in a disinfection mode only when a stethoscope is connected to it.

As will be explained below, the device may be controlled or set to operate for adjustable disinfection periods and the LED illumination power level may similarly be varied and/or controlled. A typical default nominal disinfection configuration may be a 5 minute illumination period with the LED at maximum power. With this setting and a typical power source, the device can perform 40 disinfection cycles starting from a state of being fully charged. This corresponds to typical operation cycle of 2 days such that no recharging would be needed in this period.

Referring to Figure 3, a schematic exploded view of the system is shown. The device in general consists of an electronic circuit board, a rechargeable battery such as a Lithium Polymer battery, a wireless charging coil and a number of mechanical parts as shown in Figure 3. The device can be separated in general into two parts: the base unit 4 and a replaceable seal cap 6. In other words, the jacket 2 includes a base unit 4 and a cap 6. The cap 6 includes a resilient sealing member 10 which will be described in greater detail below.

The base unit 4 comprises a base housing member 14 together with a battery and recharging system 6. A printed circuit board 18 is provided which includes various electronic components, to be discussed below. A top surface 20 is provided which is preferably conical in cross-section so as to define a cone region 22 within the device. The base unit 4 encapsulates the electronics, the rechargeable battery and the wireless charging coil. The body of the base unit 4 is formed by a bottom case or base housing 14 and the middle cover or upper surface 20. The electronic circuit board, the battery and the wireless charging coil are stacked and placed into the base housing 14. The middle cover seals the electronics forming the main body of the base unit 4 and the device in this form can be interfaced with various sealing cap options, as will be described below. A button cap 15 is seen on the side of the base housing 14, which directs user applied force to the push button of the electronic circuit board. Above the button cap 15, there is an opening 17 for an RGB LED used for the device state indicator.

The cap 6 comprises an upper housing 24 which is formed generally of a rigid material. Similarly, a base 26 of the cap is provided, and the upper housing 24 and base 26 are arranged to contain the seal 10 within them. Base 26 by forms part of the replaceable cap and has the function of enclosing the rubber seal 10 inside the replaceable cap Provided within the base unit 4 is an electronic circuit board 18 that embeds the UV-C LED and a microcontroller module. The microcontroller module preferably has a Bluetooth interface that can be connected to Bluetooth enabled smart devices. The UV-C LED can be driven by both adjustable constant current and pulse width modulation methods. There are various LED driving methods implemented in the literature which demonstrate the effectiveness of the UV-C illumination on the disinfection of microorganisms. These involve use of constant current and instantaneous high pulse trains both of which can be configured in the present system via a mobile application interface, to be described in greater detail below.

The microcontroller is preferably a low power Bluetooth embedded processor which is placed in sleep mode, either automatically or manually, whenever the device is not used. The controller is awakened when a stethoscope is attached to the device. The microcontroller keeps track of the disinfections and stores this information within a non-volatile memory unit.

The presence of a stethoscope is preferably automatically detected by the device by use of a monolithic optical IR proximity and ambient light sensor. The optical IR sensor is arranged to periodically or continually measure ambient light levels and compare them with a predefined threshold. Whenever the threshold level is exceeded, the proximity of the approaching object is measured. If the object is close enough and the ambient light is very low (which means the stethoscope is completely sealed by the replaceable cap of the device), a determination is made that there is present a stethoscope and a disinfection operation may be started automatically. Once the disinfection has been performed in accordance with the selected parameters, e.g. time and power, the device enters or re-enters a low power mode.

The disinfection parameters, including the duration of application of radiation from the LED, and the power level of the LED, and the device usage information are desirably arranged to be accessible from the mobile application interface which is updated as long as the Bluetooth communication is present between the device and a smart device upon which the application is running. The smart device may, for example, to be a smart mobile telephone or PDA. The user is also able to observe from the smart device, the battery status, remaining number of disinfections with the remaining battery capacity and remaining UV-C led operating life.

Figure 4 shows a schematic view of the base unit 4. The base comprises the base housing 14 together with the base upper surface 20. As can be seen, a conical region 22 is provided. A first opening 27 is provided within the conical region. The first opening 27 is arranged to receive an optical sensor which is used to determine levels of ambient light. The optical sensor is, in one non-limiting example, an integrated circuit incorporating a monolithic photodiode and an amplifier, that function to sense the light level. In addition, the opening 27 can be used to provide an access point for a time of flight sensor.

A second opening 28 is provided, within which is arranged for a UV-C LED.

Anchors 30 are arranged on a cylindrical rim of the base 32 and these are used to enable a coupling with a selected cap 6.

Figures 5a to 5c show three examples of disinfection jackets each including a base 4 and a respective sealing cap 61 to 63. Each of the caps Si to 63 is sized differently such that central opening defined within it is of a different size to correspond to a different sized stethoscope. The base unit 4 in each case is identical and the cap though is sized such that upon engagement with the base 4 a disinfection cap of, effectively, a different size is defined.

The sealing caps firmly allow the insertion of a stethoscope by the stretching of the sealing which is designed to attach the stethoscope to the device. To accommodate the broad spectrum of stethoscope models available in the market with different diaphragm sizes, the sealing caps are designed to be a replaceable part of the overall device which can be chosen so as to fit to a desired stethoscope model. Figures 5a to 5c show three size options that can be interfaced with a classic, a paediatric and a neonate sized stethoscope such as those of the brands of 3M Littman stethoscopes.

Figures 6a and 6b show examples of a base 4, which is identical, each having a different cap Si and 62 being detached therefrom. The sealing cap 61 to 63, is the part of the device that interfaces with the stethoscope. As will be explained below, a flexible sealing embedded inside the cap holds the stethoscope over the chest piece when the stethoscope is plugged in. The sealing does not allow the stethoscope to be released from the device unless the stethoscope is pulled off.

The caps can be easily engaged to a base unit by a simple rotate-and-lock action. In one example, the two slits are provided on an inner surface of the seal caps to allow the anchors on the outer surface of the base unit to engage and lock the parts together. When slid over each other, one can ensure a tight coupling of the two parts as shown in Figures 6A and 66. The cap can be detached from the base unit by rotating the top cap counter-clockwise with respect to the base unit.

Referring now to Figure 7, an exploded enlarged view of the cap is shown. The cap includes upper housing 24 and lower housing member 26. A resilient seal 10 is shown arranged between them.

Referring to Figure 8, the jacket is shown in cross-section. As can be seen, the seal had an annular groove or recess 34 defined between lower compressible disc 36 and upper compressible disc 38. Thus, the annular groove or recess 34 provides a region within which the rim of a stethoscope can be arranged for use.

Indeed, typically, the sealing cap consists of a plastic top cover or upper housing 24, an elastic sealing part or resilient seal 10 and a disc shaped base or lower housing member 26. The disc base and the top cover encapsulates the elastic sealing. The whole sealing cap structure may be designed according to a stethoscope brand regarding its diaphragm size. The distance of the stethoscope diaphragm to the UV-C led is selected so as to operate with a UV-C LED, which typically has a defined span angle as shown in Figure 8.

The LED can illuminate the area covered by span angle of the LED. The design of the replaceable seal cap may prefereably be determined according to this parameter which may also be selected in dependence on the distance of the led to the stethoscope surface.

The seal 10 is formed of a compressible elastomeric material and is opaque.

Thus, by what is effectively a press fit between a rim of a stethoscope and the seal 10, a light tight engagement is defined by the seal and the stethoscope. The region 22 within the disinfection jacket 2 is thus a sealed region entirely isolated from ambient light. The provision of such an arrangement enables a time-of-flight sensor such as that described above with reference to Figure 4 to be provided and to detect the presence or not of a stethoscope within the jacket 2. If a stethoscope is detected then the UC-C LED is automatically activated so as to operate in disinfection mode. As soon as the stethoscope is removed from the seal 10, the time-of-flight detector will detect that the stethoscope has been removed and deactivate the UV-C LED. Thus, the risk of exposure of a user to UV-C LED radiation from the UV-C LED is avoided.

The base of the device encapsulates the electronics, the rechargeable battery and a wireless charging coil. As shown in Figure 3, the electronic circuit board, the battery and the wireless charging coil are stacked and placed into the housing 14 of the bottom part 4. A micro controller module is provided having a Bluetooth interface that can be connected to Bluetooth enabled smart devices. The UV-C LED can be driven by both adjustable constant current and pulse with modulation methods.

Figures 9A to 9D show screen shots from an App to manage and control the use of a device such as that shown in and described with reference to Figures 1 to 8 The device can be controlled over its mobile application once the device is paired with the smart device such as a mobile telephone over a network or some means of communication such as a Bluetooth interface.

A user may be required to sign into the system or register themselves to the cloud and introduce their disinfection device to their smart devices in order to operate and monitor their usage statistics. After successful pairing of their disinfection device, the mobile app starts to display various kinds of statistical information both graphically and numerically in a user-friendly manner on its home page. Examples are shown in Figures 9A to 9D.

Figure 9A shows a screen in which a device is to be paired with a user's mobile telephone or other digital device. A PAIR button is displayed and upon pressing it the App on a user's smart phone will pair with the device typically using Bluetooth technology.

In Figure 9B the App invites a user and directs the user as to how this can be done. In the example the user is invited to press the button on the side of the device for 5 seconds.

A pairing view is shown (Figure 9C) and when complete the user is notified typically with a message via the App. If problems are encountered then a user is also notified of this. It will be noted that a user's App can be paired with more than 1 device. Once paired a user can use the device to disinfect their stethoscope as often as they want. Reminders can be set to remind a user that a disinfection is required.

During use the App collects data regarding a user's interaction with the disinfecting device and an example of display of the data is shown in Figure 9D. this is of course merely exemplary but it will be seen that it indicates that a user is on average disinfecting their stethoscope 82 times per day. An indicator shows how much a user has used the device so far today in comparison to yesterday (12% in the example shown).

An indicator is also provided to show a user when they last disinfected their stethoscope.

The images are examples of GUIs or interfaces from an App and it will be appreciated hat the precise format of display can be varied.

Preferably a graphical display is provided to indicate to a user in graphical form how their use of the disinfecting device has varied over some time period (days, weeks or months can be chosen in this example). The GUI also shows the battery level of the phone upon which it is running and includes an indicator capable of confirming that a Bluetooth connection is active.

The user is able quickly and easily to check the device battery status, see the last disinfection time, the daily total disinfection count etc. Preferably, the app is also arranged to provide a "Find My Device" feature to help users to find their devices if they have been mislaid. In general it will be appreciated that the App is arranged to communicate with a device for disinfecting a stethoscope and to receive performance data from it. The performance data could be related to sage, frequency of usage time since last usage and many other performance factors. The app is preferably arranged to display graphically the performance data derived from the device. It will be appreciated that the App is typically software that runs on a computing device such as a smart telephone, PDA, tablet or other such computing device. Functionality of the computing device is used by the App to achieve the desired performance. For example, the App can use the communications technology, such as Bluetooth technology, that is typically incorporated into a computing device such as a smart telephone. As well as receiving data from the device, the App can transmit data such as control or updates to the device.

Embodiments of the present invention have been described with particular reference to the examples illustrated. However, it will be appreciated that variations and modifications may be made to the examples described within the scope of the present invention.

Claims (13)

1. Claims 1. A device for disinfecting a stethoscope, comprising: a base unit comprising a source of UV radiation; a replaceable cap, removably fixable to the base wherein the cap comprises a housing having fixing means for removably fixing the cap to the base and an elastomeric seal for receiving a stethoscope chest piece.
2. 2. A device according to claim 1, in which the elastomeric seal is formed of an opaque elastomeric material
3. 3. A device according to claim 2 in which the elastomeric seal defines in cross section an annular recess to receive a rim of a stethoscope, in use, to be disinfected.
4. 4. A device according to any of claims 1 to 3, I which the base comprises a generally inverted conical base having arranged thereon a UV-C LED source.
5. 5. A device according to claim 4, in which the span angle of the inverted cone is between 100 and 160 degrees.
6. 6. A device according to any of claims 1 to 5, in which the base includes a sensor to detect the presence of a stethoscope engaged with the replaceable cap.
7. 7. A device according to claim 6 arranged automatically to activate the UV LED source upon detection of the presence of a stethoscope.
8. S. A device according to any of claims 1 to 7, comprising a wireless transmitter and receiver to communicate with a remote device.
9. 9. A device according to claim 8 in which the wireless transceiver is a Bluetooth transceiver.
10. 10. A kit for sanitizing stethoscopes, comprising a device according any of claims 1 to 9; and at least one additional replaceable cap having an elastomeric seals of different size to that of the first cap, the additional replaceable cap being capable of sealing engagement with a stethoscope of different size to that with which the first cap is arranged to engage.
11. 11. A method of disinfecting a stethoscope, the method comprising: providing a device according to any of claims 1 to 9, engaging a stethoscope with the elastomeric seal and allowing the UV-C radiation to disinfect the stethoscope.
12. 12. An App for management of a device according to any of claims 1 to 9, the App being arranged to run on a mobile telephone or other computing device, the App being arranged to communicate with a device according to any of claims 1 to 9 and to receive performance data from it.
13. 13. An App according to claim 12, in which the app is arranged to display graphically performance data derived from the device.