Low maintenance endotracheal tube device and method for preventing ventilator associated pneumonia and tracheal ischemia

Abstract

A method of sealing a trachea is provided that includes inserting a tracheal tube having an inflatable cuff made of a compliant material into a trachea. The method includes inflating the inflatable cuff with a fluid to a first pressure that exceeds a second pressure necessary to create a seal between the inflatable cuff and the tracheal wall. The method includes deflating the inflatable cuff by releasing a first pressure to allow the fluid to flow out of the inflatable cuff without applying vacuum pressure to the fluid while evaluating a rate of change of pressure of the fluid in the inflatable cuff. The method includes identifying a variance in the rate of change of pressure corresponding to a third pressure at which the inflatable cuff separates from the tracheal wall, determining the second pressure by analyzing the third pressure, and reinflating the inflatable cuff to the second pressure.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.