Surgical masking and ventilating system

A surgical masking and ventilating system for protecting an operating zone from contaminants emanated by members of a surgical team comprising protective apparal for substantially isolating each said member from the environment of the operating zone, said apparel for each member including a transparent visor, said visor having an arcuate front portion and a flat flange about the periphery of said arcuate portion, a headpiece for supporting said visor on the head of a member, said headpiece having an adjustable horizontal band of flexible material, a rigid arcuate shaped visor support having terminal ends thereof secured to said horizontal band at diametrically opposed portions thereof and extending outwardly in spaced relation from said horizontal band and thereby, from the head of the member upon which it is positioned for supporting said visor a distance from the front of said head, means for releasably securing said visor to said visor support, said releasable visor securing means including a plurality of snap members secured on said visor support in spaced relationship to each other, said visor having a plurality of correspondingly spaced apertures positioned along the upper periphery of said flange which receive said support snap members when said visor is positioned on said support, at least one fastening member releasably fastened on said support snaps to retain said visor in place, a hood positioned over said visor and extending at least to shoulder length, a gown positioned over the shoulder portion of said hood and extending at least to knee level, said hood having a front aperture within which said visor arcuate portion is positioned, means for maintaining the periphery of said front aperture firmly against said visor, an aspirator, conduit means connecting said aspirator to said apparel of each member, said conduit means including a suction tube extending in a loop about the mouth of the visor with the opposite ends positioned at the back side of the user and means coupling said suction tube ends to said aspirator, means for releasably fastening the looped portion of said suction tube to said visor, said aspirator being operative to generate a vacuum in said conduit that draws air and contaminants within said apparel into said conduit and away from said operating zone, and means for filtering the air drawn from said apparel a substantially contaminant free condition prior to its discharge into the environment of the operating zone.

A surgical masking and ventilating system for protecting an operating zone from contaminants emanated by members of a surgical team comprising protective apparel for substantially isolating each said member from the environment of the operating zone, said apparel for each member including a transparent visor, means for supporting said visor on the head, a rear opening hood positioned over said visor and extending at least to shoulder length, and a gown positioned over the shoulder portion of said hood and extending at least to knee level, said hood having a front aperture within which said visor is positioned, means for releasably securing together said rear opening hood with the periphery of said front aperture firmly against said visor, an aspirator, said aspirator having an enclosed housing with an inlet and an outlet, conduit means connecting said aspirator inlet to the interior of the protective apparel of each said member, a vacuum motor supported within said aspirator housing and having an inlet coupled to said housing inlet and an outlet communicating with the interior of said housing, said vacuum motor being operable to create a vacuum in said conduit means for drawing air and affluent contaminants within the apparel of each said member to said aspirator, a blower motor supported within said housing and having an inlet communicating with the interior of said housing and an outlet coupled to said housing outlet for directing said air and contaminants from said aspirator, said vacuum motor having a relatively high vacuum generating capacity and a relatively low air directing capacity and said blower motor having a relatively high air directing capacity and relatively low vacuum generating capability, and high efficiency filter means connected to said blower outlet for filtering said air directed from said aspirator to a substantially contaminant free condition.

A surgical masking and ventilating system for protecting an operating zone from contaminants emanated by members of a surgical team comprising protective apparel for substantially isolating each said member from the environment of the operating zone, said apparel for each member including a transparent visor, means for supporting said visor on the head of a member, said visor having an arcuate front portion and a flat flange about the periphery of said arcuate portion, a hood positioned over said visor and extending at least to shoulder length, a gown positioned over the shoulder portion of said hood and extending at least to knee level, said hood having a front aperture within which said visor arcuate portion is positioned, means for maintaining the periphery of said front aperture firmly against said visor, an aspirator, conduit means including a suction tube formed with a plurality of apertures extending in a loop about the mouth of the visor with the opposite ends of said suction tube being positioned at the back side of the user, means fluidically coupling said suction tube ends to said aspirator, snaps for releasably fastening the looped portion of said suction tube to a lower inside surface of said visor flange, said snaps each having one member secured to said tube and a second member fixed to said visor and said fastening members of each snap having a fastening surface which is releasably engageable, said aspirator having an enclosed housing with an inlet and an outlet, said coupling means fluidically coupling said suction tube ends to said housing inlet, a vacuum motor supported within said housing and having an inlet coupled to said housing inlet and an outlet communicating with the interior of said housing, said vacuum motor being operable to create a vacuum in said conduit means for drawing air and affluent contaminants within the apparel of each said member to said aspirator, a blower motor supported within said housing and having an inlet communicating with the interior of said housing and an outlet coupled to said housing outlet for directing said air and contaminants from said aspirator, said vacuum motor having a relatively high vacuum generating capacity and a relatively low air directing capacity and said blower motor having a relatively high air directing capacity and a relatively low vacuum generating capability, and means for filtering the air directed out of said aspirator outlet to a substantially contaminant free condition prior to its discharge into the environment of the operating zone.