Gastrointestinal feeding tubes with enhanced skin surface bumpers
AssigneeMayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research
InventorPaul A. Lorentz
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Gastric and intestinal feeding tube devices and methods can be enhanced to provide better patient outcomes. For example, this document provides gastric and intestinal feeding tube devices that include an external bumper with pressure sensors and pressure indicators that facilitate usage of the feeding tube devices within an appropriate range of skin surface pressure. This document also provides external bumpers with deflectable elements that facilitate the application of a controlled amount of force between the external bumpers and the skin surface.
Claims20
A percutaneous feeding tube device comprising:
- an elongate tube;
- a bulbous inner bumper disposed around a portion of the tube and configured for contact with a tissue surface of a gastrointestinal system;
- a connector coupled to a proximal end of the tube;
- and
- an outer bumper slidably coupled to the tube and disposed between the inner bumper and the connector, the outer bumper configured for contact with an abdominal skin surface, wherein the outer bumper comprises one or more pressure sensors for detecting pressure exerted by the outer bumper onto the abdominal skin surface.
An outer bumper for a percutaneous feeding tube device, the outer bumper comprising:
- a housing defining an internal space, the housing defining a through-hole configured to slidably receive a feeding tube;
- control circuitry disposed within the internal space;
- and
- one or more pressure sensors coupled to the control circuitry for detecting pressure exerted by the outer bumper onto an abdominal skin surface.
A percutaneous feeding tube device comprising:
- an elongate tube;
- a bulbous inner bumper disposed around a portion of the tube and configured for contact with a tissue surface of a gastrointestinal system;
- a connector coupled to a proximal end of the tube;
- and
- an outer bumper disposed between the inner bumper and the connector, the outer bumper comprising:
- a central collar defining a hole in which the tube is slidably coupled;
- a distal portion configured for contact with an abdominal skin surface;
- and
- one or more deflectable elements extending between the central collar and the distal portion, and
- wherein the outer bumper is reconfigurable between a first configuration in which the one or more deflectable elements are in an un-deflected state and a second configuration in which the one or more deflectable elements are each bent in comparison to the un-deflected state.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.