JPS61141342A - Laryngoscope having disposable balde part and light conductive fine body - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to medical devices, and more particularly, to a disposable blade member used primarily to facilitate the insertion of an endotracheal tube into a patient. Associated with laryngoscopes.

Generally, many laryngoscopes consist of a metal laryngoscope blade part and a laryngoscope part that interlocks with the blade part, and these two parts are often connected to form a single shape. Usually, the handle is a container for a battery, and a wire connected to the battery is passed through to light a suitable light bulb fixed near the blade. The first surface of the blade portion is adapted to push up the tongue and lower jaw when the patient is supine and to push down on both when the patient is upright; This action prevents the patient's tongue from obstructing the examiner's view.
Although this instrument is useful for examining the larynx, its primary function is to expose the larynx to facilitate insertion of the endotracheal tube. In this case, the patient is usually lying supine on the examination table with his head down. As described above, in this state, the tongue and lower jaw are pushed upward by the first surface of the laryngoscope blade part to expose the larynx, and the light transmitted to the blade part is transmitted to the first surface pushed up. It is designed to illuminate below the surface. Further, the second surface of the blade portion located on the back side of the first surface faces the patient's maxillary anterior teeth.

When using this laryngoscope, when the blade part exposes the larynx, the user unconsciously performs 1. It is usually moved using the patient's upper front teeth as a fulcrum. Because the blade has a metal structure, in such cases the front teeth may be scraped or even broken.

To overcome this problem, conventional laryngoscopes must be disinfected each time they are used, or at least the blade must be removed from the handle and disinfected.

U.S. Patent No. 3. In the improved laryngoscope blade section disclosed in No. 26, 2, the conventional laryngoscope blade section forming said second surface facing the patient's upper anterior teeth is removed and replaced with a laryngoscope blade section. A replacement part made of f plastic is installed. This substitute part is unconsciously used as a fulcrum when manipulating this blade part to expose the larynx, and at the time of death,
It is made of a flexible material that bends to soften contact with the patient's upper front teeth. The laryngoscope blade part is also equipped with a light bulb as in the prior art, but in this embodiment, this light bulb is provided at the base of the blade and is used to direct the light to the desired location. Fiber conductors are used.

This laryngoscope blade part will solve the problem of front tooth breakage to a large extent, but in the actual manufacture of this blade part, a mixture of materials is required, and a light bulb is inserted into the blade part. There remains the problem of increased production costs due to the provision of

U.S. Patent No. ≠, 296. Another laryngoscope blade part according to Kou No. 65 has a 72 blade attached to a part thereof so as to be mechanically pivotable and pressed by a sgelling.
A switch is provided. The 7-radius is placed in contact with the patient's teeth to soften the action of the blade on the teeth when the teeth are used as fulcrums.

Also, the inventor's earlier U.S. Utility Model No. 2'42, 3
14. In the issue, a new contour shape of the disposable cover to cover the laryngoscope blade is disclosed, and further US patent MTA, 037. ! The Zado issue shows a disposable laryngoscope blade made entirely of plastic, with a light bulb placed in the handle close to the blade surface, as this plastic material allows light to be transmitted visually. It is now possible to do so. With this blade construction, it was necessary to make the material considerably thicker in order to increase the strength of the part of the blade against which the tongue was to be pressed. As a result, the second surface portion which should face the patient's teeth, corresponding to the portion described for the normal blade section, is also relatively vertical, and this slant, this all-plastic l1if blade member, is The problem of damaging it has not been resolved.

After IIl, US Patent Application No. '/L73. No. O'IO, entitled "Laryngoscope having a disposable blade section" and U.S. patent applications filed on the same date, No. 1A72, No. 7j, entitled "Laryngoscope blade section and disposable cover", although the entire part is made of plastic, A blade section for a disposable laryngoscope with features that reduce damage to the patient's teeth, and a laryngoscope with an improved blade section and a telescoping section of the cover that reduces damage to the patient's teeth. Disposable covers are each disclosed.

'The above-mentioned disclosures are related prior art known by the time the inventor arrived at the present invention. With reference to each of the above-mentioned disclosures, the present invention describes the laryngoscope according to these prior art. Improved laryngoscopes are contemplated that incorporate some of the advantages without the disadvantages.

More specifically, the laryngoscope according to the present invention has the following features: 1
An elongated needle portion and a disposable blade portion of non-metallic material are provided, and a photoconductive body is retained within the blade material, the photoconductive body being a high-quality light source such as a transparent plastic. Made of transparent material. For the thin photoconductive body, the non-metallic blade for the blade body uses a separate photoconductive material instead of plastic material, so there is a restriction that a special plastic material must be used for the blade. Therefore, suitable extensions can be created to soften the part of the blade that normally contacts the patient's teeth, thereby reducing the risk of tooth breakage.

Named "laryngoscope with disposable blade part",
U.S. patent application filed by the inventor≠73, 041-0
As in the prior art, the light source bulb is housed within the laryngoscope handle, but in the present invention, the lighting device for this bulb is much simpler than in the prior art. There is.

That is, the blade itself, together with the photoconductive thin body, -
Finally, the blade section is detachable from the handle section, and the blade section after use can be easily disposed of, thus eliminating the need for repeated disinfection.

First, referring to Figure 1, this laryngoscope has an elongated -
A handle portion 10 is provided. The disposable blade portion 11, which is made of non-metallic material, includes a portion 12 that contacts the tongue during its use and a telescoping portion 13 that is normally positioned opposite the patient's teeth. A device 14 is provided for connecting the blade part with the handle part 10, so as to transfer the laryngoscope from the folded position to the operative L-shaped position.

A light-conducting thin body 15 made of transparent plastic or the like is held in the blade section, and when the blade section is in the operating state shown, the light-introducing end of this thin body... It is arranged to be optically connected to a suitable light source.

The end of the light-conducting body 15 is such that when the blade is in use, light from the light source inside the handle passes along the line of sight of the blade.
It is placed in such a way that it is directed towards illuminating the masticator's larynx.

Referring again to FIG. 1, patient 16 is shown supine. The tongue-contacting portion 12 of the plate rgii is adapted to press the patient's tongue and lower jaw, indicated by 17. When one blade portion is used in this manner as described above, the patient's upper anterior teeth, indicated by 18, come into contact with the portion 13 of the blade 11, so that this anterior tooth is unconsciously manipulated by the blade. It is often used as a fulcrum. As will be explained in more detail below, making portion 13 of the blade resilient will reduce the risk of damaging a patient's teeth when using the blade portion according to the invention.

First, since the blade itself is made of non-metallic material, it can be manufactured fairly economically. Furthermore, since the light bulb or light source is housed in the handle part 10, the blade part after use, together with the light-conducting thin body, is reduced by 7%.
It can be removed from the handle and disposed of.
There is no need to repeat disinfection.

Referring now to FIG. 2, the foregoing and below-described features and advantages of the present invention will become further apparent.

When we first look at the handle part 10, we see that a removable character 7'19 is provided at its upper end, the other end is connected to the blade part 11, and a battery 20 is housed in the middle. .

The joining device 14, shown briefly in FIG. 1, is conventional in several respects. That is, the joining device 14 is provided with a suitable transverse groove which traps the pigget rod 21 at one end of the handle portion 10. A recess 22 and a spherical detent 23 associated with this device may also be provided to maintain the blade portion 11 in the L-shape shown in FIG.

The aforementioned light source in the handle part 10 is equipped with a light bulb 24, which protrudes slightly from the lower surface of the handle part 100-HA (D).This light bulb 24 is shown in FIG. It is necessary to place it close to the human light end of the body 15.

This human light end is shown as 25 in the exploded view of the light conducting body in FIG. The other end of the light-conducting body 15 from which the light exits is shown as 26.

The light-conducting body 15 shown in FIG. 2 is retained on the blade 11 by a suitable conduit 27 provided in the blade wall directly below the portion 12 of the blade that contacts the tongue.

Turning now to FIG. 3, one end of the handle section is provided with a contact device 28 which, when the blade section is connected around the pizzazz rod 21 and turned into its operating position,... 1 ball 2
4 is connected by a light-conducting thin human light end 25 pushing the light bulb upwards. In other words, when the blade portion is turned outwardly into its operating position, the bulb 24 is automatically turned on by its pressing action. When the laryngoscope is not in use, the small sedge ring 29 presses the bulb 24 downward, as seen in FIG. It lights up only when the

The above feature is important in that no auxiliary switch is required for lighting. In addition, the light bulb 24,
This spring 29, which presses against the light end of the light-conducting body 15, provides a reliable and effective connection between the light from the bulb and the light end of the conductive body.

Next, in FIG. As can be seen in this figure, one conductor conduit 27 extends as an elongated opening 30 near the tip of the blade section, ie, at the left end in the figure. This aperture is adapted to receive the tip 26 of the light-conducting body 15 and direct light from the tip toward the opposing blade tip. That is, this light is directed to suitably illuminate the patient's larynx according to the line of sight along the line of the blade during the physician's examination.

FIG. 5 shows a partial view of the blade tip described in FIG. There is. This exit end 26 extending through the conduit opening 30 is clearly visible in this view.

Next, in the enlarged cross-sectional view shown in FIG. 6, a container or conduit 27. is clearly shown. In this embodiment, the photoconductive body 1 in its use position is also
It can be seen that a longitudinal groove 31 is formed between the blade part 5 and the part of the blade which is to face the patient's teeth to make this blade part easier to bend. When such a groove is created, as shown in this cross-sectional view, a thin part is created in the part that is in contact with the patient's teeth, and this part becomes flexible. Between, K becomes possible so that it can move along the arrow in both directions.

FIG. 7 also shows another blade section that is slightly more straight than the blade section 11 in FIG.

As can be seen in this figure, the invention can be applied not only to curved blade sections, but also to completely straight blade sections, and some examples of straight blade sections include:
Patent application medicine 1A73 by the present inventor exemplified above,
0≠θ.

The blade portion 33 in FIG. 7 also has a portion 34 that comes into contact with the tongue.
and a flexible elastic portion 35 which normally contacts the patient's teeth (15F), including a conductive body 36 held in the blade portion similar to the light conductive body 15 shown in FIG. has been done.

In this figure, in order to give flexibility to the illustrated section 35, this section is made into accordion pleats 37 instead of the grooves 31 in both figures. As seen in the cross section of Figure G, which shows the cross section of this part, the accordion pleats shown here allow the part 35 facing the patient's teeth to expand and contract up and down as shown by the double-headed arrow in the figure. K is set so that it can be done.

The second figure shows a further separate blade section 39 with a tongue contacting section 40 and an elastic section 41 facing the patient's teeth.
, the photoconductive thin body 4z held by the blade portion 39 can be seen, similar to what was described about the photoconductive thin body 15 in FIG.

Embodiment 1 in Fig.
An elongated window is provided in the blade section around 1 minute 41 to give elasticity to this section. As seen in FIG. 1O, which shows a cross section of this blade portion, the presence of this window 43 allows the blade side portion 41 to expand and contract up and down as shown by the double-headed arrow in the figure.

The embodiments shown in Figures 7 to 1O demonstrate that the invention is not limited to the seven specific means for imparting appropriate flexibility to the portion of the blade facing the patient's teeth. It is provided as an example for illustrative purposes.

When manufacturing the blade section described herein, two molds are made, one for the blade section 11 and one for the light-conducting thin body 15. Once these two parts are manufactured, this conductive thin body 1
5 is easily fitted into the conduit 27 in the blade part and retained therein.

As explained above, make the two parts separately and
This combination provides significant advantages.

That is, there are no restrictions on the type of plastic material used to make the blade Bll. In other words, the light is transmitted through the light-conducting body 15 and is not dependent on the permeability of the blade plastic material, thereby eliminating the need for the blade plastic material to have a specific optical transparency. This advantage makes it possible to use suitable plastic materials that can be processed to provide appropriate verticality to the part of the blade that contacts the patient's tongue and lower jaw, and appropriate elasticity to the part of the blade that faces the patient's teeth. can be easily obtained.

The material for the light-conducting body 15 is selected from among high-quality light-transmitting transparent plastic materials.

After the blade part and the light-conducting body have been assembled in this manner, both parts are disinfected before being packaged.

When using one blade section for this blade, simply remove it from its packaging, connect its joining device 14 to the pizzazz rod 21 shown in FIG. 2, and then remove the blade section from the handle. When rotated, it assumes the L-shaped position shown in FIG. When this operation is performed, the transparent plastic light entry end 25 automatically contacts the end of the light bulb 24 shown in FIG. 3 and pushes the light bulb upward against the action of the spring 290. When the spherical detent 23 and the associated recess are aligned (overlapping), the bulb 24 is pushed up sufficiently, the contact portion 28 is closed, and the bulb is lit. Thus, the light bulb and the light receiving end of the light-conducting body are in reliable, firm optical contact, as described above.

After the doctor finishes the examination or inserts the endotracheal tube, the blade part 11 is removed with the photoconductive body.
Discard the blade after it is easily removed from the handle. As mentioned above, the light transmittance of the plastic for the blade is not a problem in this case, so an inexpensive plastic material that exhibits appropriate hardness and flexibility in each part of the blade can be used for the blade. In this way, this blade part is manufactured at low cost and does not contain a light bulb, so even if it is discarded after 7 uses,
It will not cause any serious economic problems.

As mentioned above, the features of the present invention can also be imparted to straight laryngoscope blades and miniature pediatric blades. The resilient blade section can also be produced after the provision of the grooves, accordion briefs and windows, or even in place of these means, simply by thinning the material of the section. For example, it can be seen that the resilient portion shown in FIG. 6 is progressively thinner from below the groove 31 than the upper portion against which the patient's tongue is pressed.

Furthermore, the light-conducting thin body can be provided with an outer cover at a portion other than the light-input end and the light-output end to reduce light scattering.

It is therefore understood that the present invention is not limited to the blade shapes and constructions described above merely for purposes of illustration.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

71st 4th shot 14KJ: Laryngoscope supine L″″:b-,
4. FIG. 3 is a side view of the area about to be applied to a patient. FIG. 2 is a greatly enlarged rear perspective view of the laryngoscope shown in FIG. 1, showing a portion of the laryngoscope in an exploded and assembled manner. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view of a portion of the laryngoscope shown in FIG. 2; FIG. Figure ≠ is a side cross-sectional view of the laryngoscope blade portion of Figure 2, showing some parts thereof in an exploded and assembled manner. FIG. 5 is a partial side view showing the tip portion of the blade portion shown in FIG. FIG. 6 is a greatly enlarged cross-sectional view of the blade portion of FIG. 6 taken in the direction of arrow 6-6. FIG. 7 is a side view of a partially modified blade section illustrating optional features of the invention. FIG. g is a cross-sectional view of the blade portion of FIG. 7 taken in the direction of arrow 8-8. Figure 3 is a side view of a separate blade portion having further features in accordance with the present invention. Finally, in Figure 1θ, the blade section in Figure 7 is indicated by the arrow 10-1.
This is a cross-sectional view cut at 0. 10...Handle, 11...Blade portion, 15...Light conductive body, 17...L tongue, 19...Cap, 21...Pivot Rod, 27... Conduit. IG, 9 Showa Year, Month, Day 2, Title of the invention Laryngoscope 3 having a disposable blade portion and a photoconductive body 3, Relationship to the person making the correction case Name of person familiar with the matter Jacques Bauman 4, Agent

Claims (6)

[Claims] (1) A non-metallic laryngoscope blade section that is made of an integral structure of plastic material and that is removably connected to a handle section to form an L-shape, comprising: (a) the sublingual area; (b) a flange portion that contacts the upper anterior teeth, and (c) connects and is integral with the upper and lower flanges, and during laryngeal examination of the patient; When the upper teeth contact flange is pressed against the patient's teeth, it should have sufficient flexibility so as not to bend and damage the patient's teeth.
A non-metallic laryngoscope blade portion comprising a lateral web portion having at least one flexible portion. (2) The laryngoscope blade portion according to item (1), characterized in that at least a portion of the side web portion is made flexible by a longitudinal groove. (3) at least a portion of the side web portion is made resilient by an elongated window portion;
Laryngoscope blade part according to item 1). (4) The laryngoscope blade portion according to item (1) above, wherein at least a portion of the side web portion is thinned and this web portion is flexible. (5) (a) an elongated handle with a light source at its proximal end; (b) an integral, removable, non-metallic blade of plastic material with a flange portion in contact with the sublingual; A flange portion that contacts the front teeth and the upper and lower flanges are connected and integrated therewith, and the upper tooth contact flange is pressed against the patient's teeth during a patient's laryngeal examination. (c) a non-metallic blade portion comprising a side web portion having two or more elastic portions that should have sufficient flexibility so as not to bend and damage the patient's teeth when the blade is bent; A connecting device that connects the handle part to the handle part in an L-shape. (6) The blade part is provided with a light-conducting thin body, and the light from the light source in the handle part is transmitted to the distal end of the blade part. Laryngoscopy by nuchal.