Disposable pressure wound irrigation device

A disposable hand-held, and unitary pressure wound irrigator comprising:

• a housing of a size and shape adapted to be hand-held and readily manually manipulatable;
• a substantially sealed non-refillable reservoir formed within a portion of said housing;
• a cleansing solution contained within said reservoir;
• force applying means contained in the housing and including a source of propellant, separating means associated with the force applying means for separating the cleansing solution form the propellant while applying an evacuating force to evacuate the cleansing solution from said reservoir;
• aimable outlet means on the housing so constructed and arranged as to be directed toward a bodily wound by manual manipulation of the housing, the outlet having an exit opening for directing a liquid steam of said cleansing solution into a wound as directed by manipulation of the housing;
• valve means for regulating the pressure applied by the force applying means to the cleansing solution in the reservoir such that substantially all of said cleansing solution is expelled through said aimable outlet means into the wound at a substantially constant pressure and at a sufficient pressure to dislodge debris from the wound;
• hand-operable control means on the container and positioned for operation by a hand holding the housing and aiming the outlet for selectively coupling said reservoir with said aimable outlet means for controllably releasing said cleansing solution therethrough into the wound;
• the valve means for regulating the pressure is a regulator valve for controllably releasing the source of propellant, and the valve means for regulating further comprising:
• a cylindrical duct closed at one end and having a peripheral wall;
• a plurality of wall engaging valve seats;
• and
• a connecting member coupling said plurality of wall engaging valve seats, said connecting member further including a gas channel through which the propellant flows when the valve is opened.

A disposable, hand-held and unitary pressure wound irrigator comprising, in combination, a cylindrical container having a substantially sealed non-refillable reservoir formed in a portion thereof, the container being of a size and shape adapted to be hand-held, a volume of a line cleansing solution in the reservoir, a nozzle projecting from the reservoir to the exterior of the container and oriented with respect to the container for ready direction into or toward a wound by manual manipulation of the hand-held container, the nozzle having a discharge orifice for ejecting a fluid stream of saline solution into a wound for cleansing thereof, a manually operable release valve on the container positioned for finger actuation, the release valve being so constructed and arranged as to couple the reservoir to the nozzle for controllably releasing the saline solution through the nozzle, and force applying means in the container including a source of propellant, separating means associated with the force applying means for separating the cleansing solution from the propellant while applying a substantially constant orientation and fill level independent pressure to the solution in the reservoir so that activation of the release means will cause the release of a directed stream of the saline solution through the nozzle at a substantially constant pressure, the container, nozzle and release valve being arranged with respect to each other and the container such that the irrigator can be held, and triggered with a single hand while aiming the nozzle in any necessary orientation to irrigate a bodily wound;

• and
• the force applying means further comprising a cylindrical housing slidably fit within the cylindrical container adjacent the reservoir and opposite the release valve, a source of compressed gas within the cylindrical housing, and a regulating valve for controllably releasing the compressed gas from the housing into a cavity formed between the cylindrical housing and a bottom of the cylindrical container, thereby to force the cylindrical housing against the saline solution in the reservoir at a predetermined pressure determined by the regulator valve.