JP4125522B2 - Medical gas humidifier - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a medical gas humidifier. In more detail, for example, a medical gas humidifier built in or attached to a medical gas supply source such as a medical oxygen concentrator, a continuous positive pressure respiratory therapy apparatus, a medical oxygen cylinder, or a medical gas supply source; The present invention relates to a portable medical gas humidifier that is connected by a tube and used by being moved by a patient.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of patients suffering from respiratory diseases such as asthma, emphysema, and chronic bronchitis. One of the most effective treatments is oxygen inhalation therapy. Conventionally, oxygen therapy that provides oxygen from oxygen cylinders to patients with respiratory diseases has been performed, and in recent years, oxygen concentrators that directly separate oxygen-enriched gas from the air have been developed so that patients can live with peace of mind. Various measures have also been taken and are gradually becoming popular as a treatment device for oxygen inhalation therapy.
[0003]
As such an oxygen concentrator, a membrane separation type oxygen concentrator using an oxygen selective permeable membrane and an adsorbent oxygen concentrator using an adsorbent capable of selectively adsorbing nitrogen or oxygen are known. Furthermore, there is an apparatus that electrochemically generates oxygen using a solid electrolyte membrane that selectively permeates oxygen ions. As an adsorption type oxygen concentrator, there is a pressure fluctuation adsorption type oxygen concentrator using a compressor. Usually, compressed air is introduced into an adsorption bed filled with an adsorbent capable of selectively adsorbing nitrogen and pressurized. An apparatus that obtains concentrated oxygen by alternately performing an adsorption process that obtains oxygen-enriched gas by adsorbing nitrogen in a state and a desorption process that desorbs nitrogen by reducing the internal pressure of the adsorption bed and regenerates the adsorbent is there.
[0004]
Since the oxygen-enriched gas produced by this pressure fluctuation adsorption method shows a dry state almost completely dry, when the patient inhales such oxygen-enriched gas for breathing, the respiratory tract, especially the inside of the nostrils and throat, is dried. However, when it is uncomfortable and sometimes reaches the lungs directly, there is a problem of damaging the physical condition such as damaging the mucous membrane, and it is necessary to humidify the oxygen-enriched gas separately.
[0005]
Therefore, in these oxygen inhalation therapies, when gas such as oxygen or oxygen-enriched air is supplied to the patient's nasal cavity, the condition is usually humidified to a certain level near the saturated water vapor pressure in order to prevent drying in the patient's nasal cavity. The device has been devised to supply the gas. Specifically, oxygen gas supplied from an oxygen concentrator or an oxygen cylinder evaporates by passing the oxygen concentrated gas over the water surface of a separately provided bubble humidifier or a humidifier described in Japanese Patent No. 2857005. After being humidified by an evaporative humidifier that humidifies with moisture, it is supplied to the patient via inhalation means such as a cannula or a mask.
[0006]
All of these humidifiers use water to humidify medical gases, and patients always use humidified water to replenish and replace the water in the humidifier, and to perform regular cleaning to prevent the generation of germs. Management is required. On the other hand, there is a problem of gas leakage from the seal portion due to poor mounting of the humidifier, and devices for improving these problems have been studied by suppliers of medical gas supply sources.
[0007]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
At the same time as these problems, in these humidifiers that use water, when the humidifier falls, the water for humidification is scattered toward the outlet of the humidified gas, or the outlet is immersed in water. . When medical gas is supplied into the humidifier in this state, a state occurs in which water is spouted toward the patient's nose all at once via the inhalation means. In humidifiers built into or attached to oxygen concentrators or medical oxygen cylinders, there are few problems because the devices themselves are provided with measures to prevent them from falling, but in portable humidifiers that are likely to fall accidentally , Especially when it comes to issues.
[0008]
Even in portable humidifiers, it has been devised to be firmly fixed to a separate fixture so that it will not fall over accidentally or to make it as hard to tip over as possible, but the size will increase and the installation location will be limited It is a device that is not always easy to use for the patient, such as increased weight, increased operation for fixing.
[0009]
Several proposals have been made for overturning measures of a humidifier that discharges steam generated by heating, for example, an electric warming humidifier. For example, after temporarily storing water stored in a water supply tank as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-116301 in a water receiver, the water in the water receiver is guided to a steam generator, and the steam In a humidifying device for humidifying by releasing steam generated by heating in the generating unit from the steam blowing unit to the outside of the device, means for preventing water leakage from the water receiver when the device falls down is provided. A featured humidifier has been proposed. These humidifiers are not intended to humidify medical gas, and are not intended to prevent water leakage through the suction means. Conventionally, there has been little proposal of means to solve the problem of water leakage to the suction means due to the overturn of the medical gas humidifier.
[0010]
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-15070 discloses a gas pipe installed between a medical gas supply source intended for inhalation by a patient and a means for providing medical gas to a patient such as a mask. A gas inlet and an outlet connected to each other, wherein at least one of the gas contact surfaces of the gas flow path connecting the gas inlet and the outlet is formed of a waterproof moisture-permeable membrane, and the gas of the waterproof moisture-permeable membrane A medical gas humidifier characterized by supplying humidifying water to the opposite surface of the contact side has been proposed. Since humidification is performed via the waterproof permeable membrane, an effect that there is no noise derived from bubbles can be expected. However, since the lid of the tank of humidified water is only covered, there is a problem that water spills from the container when it falls. In addition, when non-sterile water such as tap water is applied, there is no description regarding a decrease in the life of the waterproof permeable membrane due to the influence of bacteria, mold, etc. and the cleaning method.
[0011]
In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-319095, before supplying oxygen-enriched gas to a patient, oxygen-enriched gas generating means, supply means for supplying the gas to the patient, exhaust means for discharging unnecessary gas other than oxygen-enriched gas, and oxygen-enriched gas A pressure variation adsorption type oxygen concentrator equipped with a humidifier for humidification, a moving oxygen concentrator characterized in that a fixing means to which the humidifier can be attached and detached is detachable from the oxygen concentrator. Has been. Such a humidifier can be expected to provide a small and lightweight mobile oxygen concentrator. However, when moving the oxygen concentrator, there is a high possibility that the humidifier will fall or be subjected to large vibrations. It is necessary to take some measures against leakage.
[0012]
An object of the present invention is to eliminate such a conventional problem, and when a medical gas humidifier falls, water is ejected to an inhalation means such as a cannula for a patient to inhale medical gas. It aims at providing the medical gas humidifier which can prevent reliably.
[0013]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
As a result of intensive studies to achieve this object, the present inventor has found that it is effective to install a shut-off mechanism in a medical gas humidifier, and has reached the present invention.
[0014]
That is, the present invention provides a medical humidifier provided in a gas supply system including a medical gas supply source and an inhalation means for a patient to inhale the medical gas, and uses water as a humidification source. A medical gas humidifier comprising a valve body that moves toward the outlet side of a medical gas by a gravitational action, and further includes a blocking means that blocks supply of the medical gas when the humidifier falls over. It is to provide.
[0015]
Further, the present invention is characterized in that the shut-off means is connected to the medical gas inlet side of the humidifier, and in particular, with a downward slope of 3 ° or more toward the direction of the overturn when the humidifier falls. A medical gas humidifier having an inclined structure is provided.
[0016]
The present invention also includes a housing that supports the humidifier and the shut-off means, and has a structure that inclines with a downward slope of 3 ° or more toward the direction in which the shut-off means falls when the humidifier falls. A medical gas humidifier comprising a body is provided.
[0017]
Further, according to the present invention, the blocking means includes a cylindrical member and a spherical valve body, and includes a gap through which medical gas flows between the inner wall of the cylindrical member and the valve body, and a medical gas inlet port. Is provided at the lower part of the cylindrical member, and the medical gas humidifier is provided with a seal part that can be joined to the valve body at the upper part of the cylindrical member.
[0018]
Furthermore, the present invention includes a humidifying bottle in which the medical humidifier puts water, a lid having a medical gas inlet and a humidified medical gas outlet, and an L-shape inside the lid of the outlet portion. A medical gas humidifier characterized in that it is a portable gas humidifier provided in the middle of a medical gas supply source and suction means. To do.
[0019]
ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, when the said humidifier falls, it can improve that a water spouts violently to inhalation means, such as a cannula and a mask.
[0020]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
An embodiment of the medical gas humidifier of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings as necessary. The present invention is naturally applicable not only to a portable humidifier as a medical gas humidifier, but also to a humidifier built in a medical gas supply source.
[0021]
FIG. 1 shows a flow of a usage example of the medical gas humidifier of the present invention. An example of a medical gas supply source is a medical oxygen concentrator. In particular, in addition to the pressure fluctuation adsorption type oxygen concentrating means and the supplying means for using the concentrated oxygen, a humidifier is used as necessary. Such pressure fluctuation adsorption type oxygen concentrating means supplies pressurized air to an adsorbent bed filled with an adsorbent having a difference in adsorption ability between oxygen and nitrogen to adsorb nitrogen, so that oxygen concentration is higher than that of air as medical gas. Means for generating concentrated oxygen or a gas mainly composed of oxygen.
[0022]
Other medical gas supply sources include a continuous positive pressure respiratory therapy apparatus (CPAP) that supplies positive pressure air to patients with sleep apnea syndrome, a medical oxygen cylinder, and the like.
[0023]
Since the concentrated oxygen produced by the medical oxygen concentrator and the oxygen gas supplied from the high-pressure oxygen cylinder show a nearly dry state, they are humidified using the medical gas humidifier of the present invention. As the form of the humidifier, the one built in the medical oxygen concentrator body, the one provided in the middle of the medical oxygen concentrator and the inhaling means, for example, a portable humidifier that can be easily moved by the patient Can be mentioned. The patient inhales the concentrated oxygen that has passed through the humidifier and is humidified through a nasal cannula type or mask type inhalation means in which the tip of a thin tube is inserted into the nasal cavity.
[0024]
FIG. 2 shows the appearance of a portable humidifier provided with a shutoff mechanism (means) of one embodiment of the medical gas humidifier of the present invention on the medical gas inlet side of the humidifier. FIG. 2A shows a state where the vehicle has not fallen (hereinafter abbreviated as a normal state), and FIG. 2B shows a state where the vehicle has fallen leftward toward the front (hereinafter abbreviated as a fall state). This portable humidifier is used by being provided in a gas supply system including a supply source of medical gas and an inhalation means such as a cannula for a patient to inhale medical gas. The casing 1 is provided with a humidifying bottle 2 and a blocking mechanism 3. Moreover, the handle 4 is installed so that a patient can carry, and it has the anti-slip | skid 5 for giving stability when installing on a floor or a desk. Moreover, a moving caster or the like can be provided as necessary.
[0025]
The medical gas supplied from the medical gas supply source is supplied from the supply port 6 to the humidifying bottle 2 through conduit means such as a tube. The inside of the humidifying bottle 2 is filled with water for humidifying medical gas, preferably purified water from the viewpoint of hygiene. The medical gas that has passed through the bubbler 7 with fine pores becomes small bubbles, and rises to the water surface while being in contact with water. In a bubble-type humidifier, the buzzing sound when air bubbles pop on the surface of the water may be annoying, so select a material that exhibits a sound insulation effect, such as synthetic resin, glass, or metal, as the material for the humidifying bottle. It is necessary to use it.
[0026]
As such a humidifier, in addition to the bubble type as described above, a static water surface evaporation type and the like can be mentioned. It should be noted that such a portable bubble humidifier can be installed at a distance close to a user such as a respiratory disease patient, and the flow of breathing gas can be directly confirmed by his / her own eyes. Because it gives you a sense of security, it provides a great advantage in practice. Further, as a method for connecting the humidifying bottle, in addition to the connection by the tube, there may be provided means for pushing in and mounting in the horizontal direction described in Japanese Patent No. 257005.
[0027]
The medical gas passes through the blocking mechanism 3, is humidified by the humidifying bottle 2, and is then supplied from the inhaling means connection port 8 to an inhaling means such as a cannula for the patient to inhale the medical gas. Such a shut-off mechanism 3 is preferably incorporated in the housing 1 so that the overturn of the humidifier can be detected instantaneously, but may be installed inside the humidifying bottle 2.
[0028]
As shown in FIG. 2 (b), by installing the shut-off mechanism 3 in the overturned state, the shut-off mechanism is activated when the humidifier falls, and the supply of the medical gas to the humidification bottle 2 is shut off. Except for the outflow of humidified water due to a slight residual pressure in the bottle, it prevents severe jets to the inhalation means side due to the supply of medical gas. It is preferable that the shut-off mechanism operates in all the overturning directions, but it is not essential, and the shut-off mechanism may be operated only in the direction in which the overturning is easy in terms of the structure or handling of the humidifier. It can be selected after considering safety. Basically, the user pulls on the cannula or extension tube to support the humidifier, and it is easy to fall in the direction where the force is applied to the housing that holds it, so install a blocking mechanism assuming that it will fall in that direction . When the shut-off mechanism 3 is not present, the medical gas is intermittently supplied to the humidifying bottle 2, so that the inside of the humidifying bottle is further pressurized and the humidified water is ejected vigorously toward the inhalation means.
[0029]
Next, FIG. 4 shows an enlarged view of an embodiment of a shut-off mechanism that prevents water from being ejected to the suction means when the humidifier falls. An example of such a shut-off mechanism is a shut-off valve in which a valve ball 12 that is a valve element is placed in a plastic cylindrical member 11. This blocking mechanism is preferably installed in parallel with the vertical direction of the humidifying bottle as much as possible so that the side of the valve ball with the support member 13 faces downward. In the normal state, as shown in FIG. 4A, the valve ball 12 is in contact with the supporting member 13 by its own weight and is not affected by the drag due to the flow of medical gas.
[0030]
In the normal state, the support member 11 acts as a baffle plate so that the flow of medical gas does not directly hit the lower part of the valve body. Such an object is to prevent a valve body from moving despite a normal state due to a large drag acting on the valve body due to the presence of water such as condensed water that may flow in along with the medical gas.
[0031]
Further, in such a normal state, the material and size of the valve ball 12 and the size of the plastic cylindrical member 11 are selected so that the supply flow rate of the medical gas does not float and flow in the range of 0.25 L / min to 10 L / min, for example. The shape and size are selected so as not to obstruct the flow of medical gas as much as possible. When the medical gas humidifier is accidentally turned over during use, the water in the humidifying bottle flows in from the inlet 14 instantaneously.
[0032]
In the overturned state, as shown in FIG. 4B, the shut-off valve is inclined downward in the overturn direction, and the valve ball 12 on the support member 13 receives the action of gravity and falls to the medical gas outlet direction along with the overturn. The valve ball 12 stops when it moves and comes into contact with the constricted flow portion 15 provided at the outlet, and is pressed against the constricted flow portion 12 by the pressure of the medical gas, thereby functioning as a shut-off valve, thereby providing medical gas to the humidifying bottle The supply of water can be cut off, and the ejection of water to the suction means can be prevented. Therefore, in selecting the valve ball 12 and the plastic cylindrical member 11, it is necessary to select a specification that can smoothly move to the contracted portion by the inclination.
[0033]
For this reason, it is preferable that the flow path through which the medical gas flows in the plastic cylindrical member 11 has as few steps as possible in order to make the valve ball 12 move smoothly. One preferred form for achieving this object is a metal sphere having a diameter of 10 mm or less in practice. In addition, for the purpose of further improving the sealing performance with the valve ball, the contracted portion 15 can be provided with a material generally used as a sealing material, such as rubber such as silicon rubber, plastic, and cloth.
[0034]
When it is desired to confirm the movement of the valve ball of the blocking mechanism from the outside, it is preferable that the color of the valve ball 12 is different from that of the plastic cylindrical member so that the valve ball 12 is conspicuous. As a recovery method after the shutoff mechanism is activated by water jetting, a simple operation such as removing the connecting parts such as tubes located upstream from the inlet and releasing the pressure by opening the inlet 14 side of the cutoff mechanism to the atmosphere. It's okay.
[0035]
Further, in order to ensure that the blocking mechanism 3 operates in the overturned state, the blocking mechanism is preferably inclined with a downward gradient of 3 ° or more, and more preferably with a blocking means so as to have a downward gradient of 5 ° or more. To do. The angle at the time of falling depends on the shape of the housing that supports the humidifier, and a housing having a smaller upper surface than the lower surface as shown in FIG. 2 or a trapezoidal housing is used. When the shut-off means is horizontal, the shut-off mechanism does not work basically, but if it is easy to receive oxygen resistance (large area) with a light ball of specific gravity, oxygen always flows, Due to the momentum and air resistance (drag) at the time of the fall, the sphere can move to the seal portion even in the horizontal or reverse gradient.
[0036]
FIG. 5 shows an enlarged view of another embodiment of the blocking mechanism. In the normal state, as shown in FIG. 5A, the medical gas flows into the plastic cylindrical member 11 from the inflow nozzle 16 having an opening located downstream of the valve body 12 from the inlet 14. By installing the opening of the inflow nozzle 16 on the downstream side of the valve body 12, the flow of medical gas is prevented from being directly applied. Such an object is to prevent a valve body from moving despite a normal state due to a large drag acting on the valve body due to the presence of water such as condensed water that may flow in along with the medical gas.
[0037]
In the overturned state, as shown in FIG. 5 (b), the shut-off valve is inclined downward in the overturning direction, and the valve ball 12 is moved to the medical gas outlet direction with overturning due to the action of gravity and provided at the outlet. The valve ball 12 stops when it comes into contact with the contracted flow portion 15 and functions as a shut-off valve, so that the supply of medical gas to the humidifying bottle is shut off, and the ejection of water to the inhaling means can be prevented. Therefore, in selecting the valve ball 12, the plastic cylindrical member 11, and the casing, it is necessary to select specifications that can move smoothly to the contracted portion by the inclination.
[0038]
For this reason, it is preferable to make the gradient provided in the flow path through which the medical gas flows in the plastic cylindrical member 11 smaller than the inclination angle of the shut-off valve, assuming that the gradient gradually falls.
[0039]
Moreover, the shape of a valve body can be suitably selected, such as a sphere, a flat plate, an L-shaped plate, a cone, a cylinder. Also, the shut-off mechanism is not particularly limited, but it has a simple and rational structure as much as possible so that the function of shutting off the supply of medical gas to the humidifying bottle at the same time as falling can be performed instantly and reliably. preferable. Furthermore, the operation state of the shut-off valve can be observed from the outside of the housing, or the state can be notified to the patient in combination with a pressure sensor, a flow rate sensor, a sound sensor, a position sensor, and the like.
[0040]
FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of the lid of the humidifying bottle 2. On the back side of the lid, a medical gas inlet and outlet are provided. A bubbler 7 having a fine hole is attached to a medical gas supply pipe 9 connected to the introduction port. At the outlet, the outlet opening is located above the water surface when the outlet falls over at least in one direction in order to prevent the outlet opening from being submerged and the water spouting out when the humidifying bottle falls. It is preferable to provide an L-shaped tube (nozzle) 10. In addition, even if it is not located above the water surface, the outlet opening is shaped so as not to face the water surface, so that water jets due to entrainment of droplets due to pressure fluctuations such as when the medical gas transport means is momentarily blocked It is possible to improve the occurrence of dew condensation after the humidifier exit. That is, by virtue of the structure of the lid of the humidifying bottle and the installation of the shut-off valve, it is possible to further improve the violent ejection of the humidified water to the suction means side.
[0041]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, the medical humidifier of the present invention is provided with a shut-off mechanism for shutting off water leakage, so that when the humidifier falls, water is supplied to inhalation means such as a cannula when vibration is applied. The jet is remarkably improved, and an excellent practical effect is obtained.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is an example of a flow of an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 shows an example of a portable humidifier provided with a blocking mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a lid portion of a humidifying bottle.
FIG. 4 shows an example of an embodiment of a shut-off mechanism for preventing water from being ejected to the suction means when the humidifier falls.
FIG. 5 shows an example of an embodiment of a shut-off mechanism for preventing water from being ejected to the suction means when the humidifier falls.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Case 2 Humidification bottle 3 Blocking mechanism 7 Bubbler 8 Intake means connection port 10 L-shaped nozzle 11 Plastic cylindrical member 12 Valve ball 13 Support member 15 Constriction part 16 Inflow nozzle

Claims (6)

Source and the patient's medical gas provided in the gas supply system consists of suction means for sucking the medical gases in and medical humidifier using water as humidification source, the humidifier medical The gas inlet side includes a valve body that moves toward the outlet side of the medical gas by the action of gravity, and a blocking means that blocks supply of the medical gas into the humidifying bottle when the humidifier falls over. A medical gas humidifier characterized by that. The blocking means is, medical gases humidifier according to claim 1, characterized in that it has a structure that is inclined in downward slope of more than 3 ° in the direction of a fall when the humidifier falls down. A housing that supports the humidifier and the shut-off means, and has a housing that is inclined at a downward slope of 3 ° or more toward the direction in which the shut-off means falls when the humidifier falls. The medical gas humidifier according to claim 1 or 2, characterized by the above. The blocking means includes a cylindrical member and a spherical valve body, and includes a gap through which medical gas flows between the inner wall of the cylindrical member and the valve body, and the cylindrical member has an inlet for medical gas. The medical gas humidifier according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , further comprising a seal portion provided at a lower portion of the cylindrical member and capable of being joined to the valve body at an upper portion of the cylindrical member. The medical humidifier includes a humidifying bottle for containing water, a lid having a medical gas inlet and a humidified medical gas outlet, and an L-shaped tube member is provided inside the lid of the outlet. The medical gas humidifier according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the medical gas humidifier is provided. The medical gas humidifier according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the medical gas humidifier is a portable humidifier provided in the middle of a medical gas supply source and a suction means. .

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