US75285A - k i s m a t t s - Google Patents

Description

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Lam Patent No. 75,285, @zaad March 10, 1ste.

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TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONOERN:

Be it known that I, Monnls MA'rrsoN, ot' the city of New York, inthe county of New York, and State oil New York, have invented a new andruseful Improvement in Instruments for Injccting the Nostrils, and which I call aNasa-l Irrigator; and Ido hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof,fand of its mode or manner of operation, reference being had to the accompanying drawings and to the -ictters of reference marked thereon, and-making a part of this specification.

It has been for along time knownthat a stream of water may be made'to pass into one nostril and out oi' the other, thereby rendering-it possible to wash and clean the cavities of the nose; and it has also been observed that such washing extended in some cases to the small cavity known as the frontal sinns,`located between the eyebrows, and which becomes seriously affected in long-continued cases of catarrh, giving rise to distressing headaches, tc. y

This discovery has enabled medical men to remove foul matters from the nasal cavities, by applying saline eachother-.solutions of a deodorizing and Ihealing nature.

The instrument heretofore generally used for such purpose has been that inventedby Dr. Thudicum, of London, which consists of a glass vessel, generally holding about a couple of pints, to the bottom of `which is attached a small rubber tube, two or three feet in length, with a stop-cock at its terminal extremity, to which is fixed a perforated nozzle of gutta percha or prepared rubber. i The glass vessel being filled with the required uid, is placed some distance above the head of the individual to be operated on, and the nozzle is then inserted in the nostril, when the fluid by its own pressure forces itself into one nostril andout of the other. Great care is required to insure an adequate fitting of the nozzle to the nostril, since it' any duid is allowed to escape from the nostril, theoperation is ditlicult and troublesome. In making use 'of this instrument, several sizes of noz` zles are requisite, in order` that the instrument may be adapted to nostrils of diierent' sizes. In this country the stop-cock is generally dispensed with, on account of the expense, and the'tube is compressed by the thumb and ingers, to prevent the low of the fluid until required. Sometimes the tube is converted into a Siphon, andk the iiow of the iud thus regulated.

Instead ofthe nozzle described, there is sometimes inserted into the terminal extremity of the rubber tube a perforated tubev of glass, having av disk or collar of rubber about it, designed to pr-ess upon the external portion of the nostril, but generally a nozzle is used insteadof such attened disk. Such nozzle is usually made of soft rubber, and of a somewhat conical or cup-like form, to admit of easy insertion into the nostril. Flat- 'tened plugs of wood, soft rubber, and other substances are also sometimes used.

Such instrument is objectionable, as'there must be kept on hand a number of nozzles or nasal plugs of different sizes, so as to accurately and properly close different nostrils,'and thereby incurring considerable expense; and in making trials of different nozzles to obtain a properly-fitting one, two or three, or more, frequently have to be tried, none of which can properly be used again until they have been thoroughly cleansed. The process thus involyes trouble, expense, and vexation. v

The frce of the stream of duid descending from a glass vessel, as described, whether by the law of pressure, or by means of a Siphon, is also not easily varied or controlled as required in different cases. Sometimes a very weak, gentle current can only be used, and'in othercases a forcible current is necessary to dislodge and force out incrusted matter, scales, Sto. Such instrument cannot therefore be adapted to the emergencies arising in medical practice.

vThe object of my invention is the production of an instrument which shall do away with the objections above mentioned, and at the same time be eiicient, portable, economical, and easily kept clean. This I accomplish by making use of but a single nasal plug, instead of having a number* of plugs ,or nozzles of diierent kinds, and I am able to dispense with the use ofthe elevated vessel to hold the fluid.

Figure l shows the entire apparatus or instrument.

Figure 2 is a vertical section of the plug.

In endeavoring to do away with the necessity for plugsof variable sizes, I found, after many experiments, Ythat a single plug, when made in a. proper form, wouldaccurately close any nostril, large or small, and could be satisfactorily use-d under different circumstances andcases.4 I thus do away with the necessity for a number. ofplugs. I

The plug as devised by me, is shown at A, and is in formvcry nearly like the sharp half oi" an egg, or 'the half of an ellipse,l with a circular base, cz, and hasa'small aperture, 1, at the point, for the esca-ppJ 0.5 me pimp vSuch lplug is generallyfroni an inch to an inch' and an eighth long, and has a base about three-fourths of an finch, but with such a base, the length ofthe plug may bel somewhat shortened,^and yet accomplish the purposes desired. These particular proportions are not absolutely essential, but indicate a plug which I have found, freue actual practice, satisfactory and operative. l

The gradual enlargement ofthe plug from its point towards its base, causes it to be readily adaptable to Dostrils of different sizes, and such plug is found to close any nostril with all the accuracy and perfection required, without being projected into the` nostril unduly, se as to prove inconvenient or uncomfortable.

The plug may be inadevof hard rubber, metal, wood', or any material having suilicient firmness, and is made hollow, so as to lee-rendered as light and convenicnts possible, and to facilitate cleansing. No greater `thickness is required than such as is sufiicient to give its sides required stiffness. The opposite sides of such plug may be reduced alittle, or the plug somewhat flattened, without essentially impairing its efficiency. Such plug scrcws'at its base on to its sont, or to the rod 6, so as to be readily detachable therefrom. Such construction renders it convenient to clean the plug both insideeand out, Whereas soft rubber plugs or nozzles are didicnlt to be kept clean.

Such hard tapering plug may be used iniconnection with a rubber tube, and an elevated vessel of water or fluid, as before described, 'but I have found it most convenient and efficient whenI connected with an elastic syringe, B, either with or without valvular arrangement, the latteris always preferred, as thereby the operator is enabled to inject much or little duid, as he may desire. The elastic bulb B muy b'e compressed slightly or forcibly, as the nature ofthe case may require, and thus thereis no diiculty in obtain-ing eithera gentle current, or one suiiicient for the expulsion of'hardened or encrusted matter from the nostril. Such syringe is provided, like ordinary syringes, with a'suitable inlet-tube, C, and discharge-tube D, which may be of any length desired.

If desired for any reason, or by any practitioner, to use a Siphon in connection with such nasal plug, a siphon can be quickly made by inserting the inlet-tube C in any vessel of Water, and placing suoli vessel alittle above the head of the patient, and the siphon actioncan be obtained by a compression ofthe elastic bulb B.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, i'sy 1. The nasal plug A, so shaped as to fit and close nostrils of different sizes, constructed substantially as described.

2. The combination of the nasal 'plug A, constructed substantially as described, with the syringe B C D, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

MORRIS MATTSON.

Witnesses:

S. D. LAW, Fano. B.- SEAns. i

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