Medical tubes and methods of manufacture
AssigneeFisher & Paykel Healthcare Limited
InventorsPeter Kenneth Graham, Enrico Alvarez Garcia, David John Sims
Life of this patent
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Abstract
This invention relates to a medical tube comprises an elongate conduit having a first opening, a second opening, a longitudinal axis, a lumen extending between the first opening and the second opening along the longitudinal axis, and a corrugated wall, formed from an extruded material, extending between the first opening and the second opening and surrounding the lumen. The wall is stiffer in a first length of the conduit adjacent the first opening than in a second length of the conduit adjacent the second opening. The variable stiffness of the tube wall can improve the thermal profile of the tube as well as improve drain-back of condensation into a humidifier providing humidified gas to the tube.
Claims19
A medical tube for providing humidified gas to a patient, the medical tube comprising:
- a first connector;
- a second connector,
- an elongate conduit extending between the first connector and the second connector, the elongate conduit having:
- a first end connected to the first connector,
- a second end connected to the second connector,
- a first opening at the first end, the first opening configured in size and shape to connect to a source of humidified gas such that the first opening receives humidified gases from the source of humidified gas,
- a second opening at the second end, the second opening configured in size and shape to connect to a patient interface such that the second opening expels humidified gases to the patient through the patient interface,
- a longitudinal axis,
- a lumen extending along the longitudinal axis between the first opening and the second opening, and
- an extruded wall extending between the first opening and the second opening and surrounding the lumen,
- wherein the extruded wall comprises a first region surrounding the first opening, and a second region surrounding the second opening, the extruded wall being stiffer in the first region than in the second region based on a difference in thickness, mass, volume, or flex modulus of the extruded wall in the first region and in the second region.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.