Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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"ORO-PHARYNG~AL SUCTION AIRWA~"
Technical Field
lS This invention relates to an oro-pharyngeal
airway and more specifically provicles an airway
operable to permit fluids, mucus, blooc3 or vomitus
material to be evacuated from the pharynx without
removal of the airway from the patient's ~outh, to
~ permit insufflation of the patient's lungs and to
permit normal breathing of the patient while the
airway is in place.
Background Art
The prior art includes a number oE airway
desicJns operable for providing an airway into a
patient's throat area to permit air to enter and
escape during normal breathing. ~lowever, durin~3
certain medical conclitions, such as following general
anesthesia, comatose, emer~ency conditions or in
newborns, it is necessary to develop suction in the
patient's throat to remove fluids, mucus, blood or
vomitus material. In using most of the prior art
airways, the airway must be removed and a ca~heter
tube inserted in the patient's throat area to perform
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the suction operation. Also, most prior art airways must
be removed before insufflation of a patient can be effected,
unless an oxygen mask or nasal oxygen -tube is used. Although
certain prior art airways provide a passageway for insertion
of a suction tube to evacuate the throat or pharynx, none has
provided an integral suction passageway for connection to an
external suction apparatus or oxygen supply.
Summary of the Invention
Briefly, the present invention comprises a suction
airway defining a breathing passageway as well as a conduit
for connection to either a suction means or an oxygen supply
means which can be easily attached to the conduit without
removing the airway.
More particularly, the invention pertains to an oro-
pharyngeal suction airway comprising an elongate body adapted
to extend from a forward end thereof adapted to be engaged by
a person's mouth to a rearward end thereof adjacent to the
person's pharynx. The body includes enclosed elongate conduit
means extending along -the length of the body and open at the
forward and rearward ends thereof. Means define an elongate
airway for breathing by the person, adjacent to the conduit
means, and means is located at the forward end of the conduit
means for receiving an operative connection to a pump means
without obstructing the flow of air through the airway means.
In one aspect, the airway means is defined by a
plurality of flanges extending away from the conduit means to
form at least one channel.
In another aspect the airway means is defined by a
pair of parallel flanges, the flanges being fixed to opposite
sides of the conduit means so as to define a pair of channels
bounded by the flanges and the conduit means.
In a still further aspect, the airway means is defined
by four elongate radial flanges extending radially away from
the conduit means, with two parallel bridging flanges each
attached to two of the radial flanges so as to form two enclosed
air passageways and two open air channels.
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In still another aspect the forward end of the
conduit means defines a radial suction control opening therein.
In a preferred embodiment the body fur-ther includes
a pair of parallel flanges defining a straight forward section
and a curved rearward section, the flanges being held in spaced
apart relation at the straight section by a rigid conduit
attached to the flanges, and at the curved section by a plura]ity
cf longitudinally spaced apar-t, laterally staggered tab elements.
The flanges define lip elements at the forward ends thereof for
engaging the outside of a person's mouth, one of the lip elements
defining a radial suction control opening therein in communicat-
ion with the interior of the rigid conduit. A flexible conduit
extends along the body between -the flanges and between the
staggered tab elements to be frictionally received within the
rearward end of the rigid conduit. The rigid conduit defines
at its forward end a tapered end for frictionally receiving
a tube connected to a pump means.
The airway of the invention will function only as an
airway during certain conditions, and will function as a
combination airway and pharynx evacuator when necessary.
The invention also provides a pharynx evacuation
system which can be used in combination with a standard
anesthesia mask and connection means and can be used with
patient insufflation systems.
These and other aspects and advantages of the details
of construction will become apparent after reading the follow-
ing description of the illustrative embodiment, with reference
to the attached drawings.
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Brief Description of the Drawing
Fig. 1 is a side elevational view taken
longitudinally alo~g an oro-pharyngeal suction airway
embodying the present inverltion~
Fig. 2 is a cross sectional view taken
along lines 2--2 of Fig. 1.
Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view taken
along lines 3--3 of Fig. 1.
Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic representation of
an airway embodying the invention in position within
a patient's mouth and throat.
Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a second
embodiment of the oro-pharyngeal suction airway of
the present invention.
Fig. 6 is a cross sectional view taken
along line 6--6 of Fig. 5, appearing with Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 7.
Fig. 7 is a cross sectional view of the
~ body of a third embodiment of the oro-pharyngeal
suction airway of the present invention, with Figs. 1-3 and 6.
Detailed Description
Referring now in more dçtail to the
drawing, in which like numerals represent like parts
throughout the several views, Fig. 1 shows a side
elevational view of an oro-pharyngeal suction airway
10 embodyinq the invention. The suction airway 10
includes an elongate body 11 formed of a suitable
rigid material, such as a lightweight plastic that
can be in~ection molded into the desired shape. The
body 11 includes a forward straight section 12 and a
rearward curved section 13 defined by a pair of
longitudinally extending parallel flange elements 16
and 17. The 1ange elements 16 and 17 are held in
spaced apart relation by a plurality of tab elements
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- 18 that are preferably formed inte~rally with tlle
flange elements 16 and 17. The tab elements L8 are
preferably conveniently spaced along the lenqth of
the body 11 on alternatlng sides of the centerline of
the flange elements ]6 and 17.
Also separating and supporting the flanqe
elements 16 and 17 at the forward end of the body 11
is a ri~id conduit section 21 Eixed to or integra]ly
formed with the flange elements 16 and 17. The
conduit section 21 extends rearwardly between the
flange elements 16 and 17 for the greater portion of
the straiqht section 12 of the body 11. The conduit
section 21 also extends forwardly to terminate in a
nipple element 22 having a tapered shape to receive
1~ and frictionally retain a tubular conduit 30, as
shown in Fig. 4, the tube 30 being connected to a
suction pump apparatus ~not shown). The nipple
element 22 is also shaped to terminate at its
rearward end in a shoulder 2~ that provides an
~ annular sealing flange to matinqly receive a
complementary opening formed in a standard anesthesia
mask (not shown).
In the preferred embodiment o~ the
invention, as shown in Figs. 1-3, a length of
flexible tubing 14 is inserted from a rearward end oE
the curved section 13 longitudinally alonq the center
of the body 11 between the tabs 1~, until the forward
end 15 of the tube 14 enters the conduit section 2l
and extends therein for a portion of the length oE
the conduit section 21. The penetration of the tube
14 into the conduit section 21 is shown in dashed
lines in Fiq. 1. As a result, the tube 14 and the
conduit section 21 form a continuous passageway
between the extreme ends of the body 11. Thi,s
passageway can be used to evacuate fluids from the
- patient's throat or to insuf~late the patient's lungs
by connection of an appropriate suction or oxygen
supply tube to the nipple 22. At the same time, the
parallel flange elements 16 and 17 extend beyond the
dlameter of the tube 14 ancl the tabs 18 so that the
cross section of the suction airway 10 is in the form
of an "H", as shown in Fig. 3. It will be seen that
a pair of sidewardly opening channels 19 and 20 are
formed by the flange elements 16 and 17 and the tube
14. The channels 19 and 2~ provide airways through
which the patient can breathe, as will be explained
in detail hereinafter.
Referring again to Fig. 1, the flange
elements 16 and 17 terminate at the middle portion of
the conduit section 21 in a pair of lip elements 23
and 24 extending at right angles away from the
conduit section 21 and then extending forwardly and
toward the conduit section 21 to form arcuate
elements 23a and 24a, respectively. The arcuate
~ portion 23a is connected to the exterior of the
conduit section 21 by a connecting block 27, and a
vent opening 2~ extends downwardly throuqh the
arcuate portion 23a, the block 27 and the conduit
section 21 to communicate with the hollow interior of
the conduit section 21.
To improve the suctioning or aerating
capa~ility of the suction airway 10, a plurality oE
openings 29 can be made radially into the sides of
the tube 14 adjacent to its rearward end, as shown in
Fig 1.
In operation of the oral pharyngeal suction
airway 10, the device is inserted into the patient's
mouth until the curved rear section 13 extends into
the back of the patient's throat adjacent to the
pharynx. The lip elements 23 and 24 are placed
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- aqainst the outer surface of the patient's lips and
the patient is instructed to bite down on the forward
straight portion 12 of the flange elements 15 and 17,
as shown in Fig. 4. At this time, the patient is
able to breathe through the airways defined by the
channels 19 and 20. If no other apparatus is
connected to the nipple 22, then the patient can also
breathe through the tube 14 and conduit section 2l.
In the placement of the suction airway 10, the
attending person can grasp the arcuate portions 23a
and 24a with the fingers in order to contt-ol the
location of the suction airway 10.
~hen it is necessary to perform a throat
evacuation to remove fluid, mucus, blood or vomitus
material from the throat, a flexible tubular conduit
30 is frictionally engaged over the prOJeCting nipple
22. A suction pump apParatus also connected to the
tube 30 is operated to create suction within the tube
14 to withdraw such fluids from the patient's throat.
~ This can be accomplished without removing the sUCtiOIl
airway 10 from the patient's mouth. Alternately~
insufElation of the patient's lungs can be
accomplished by connecting the tube 30 to an oxygen
supply apparatus in order to pump a stream oE oxyqen
out o~ the end of the tube 1~ down the patient's
throat to the patient's lungs. ~urinq either suction
or oxygen supply operations, the patieilt is stil]
able to breathe through the channels 19 and 2n. The
vent opening 28 can be used as a valve to contr~l the
strength of suction by means oE the attending
person's fingertip closin~ oEf all or a portion of
the opening 28. IE continuous full strength suction
is desired, the opening 28 can be plugged with a
rubber stopper (not shown) or the like.
~ second embodiment of the oral-pharyngeal
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-- suction ai~way embodying the present invention is
shown in Figs. 5 and 6, desiqnated by the reference
numeral 110. The suction airway 110 includes a
cylindrically shaped central conduit 114 be(3inning in
a nipple portion 13 and ext:ending rearwardly throuqh
a straight section 111 followed by a curved section
112. Four longitudinally extending flange elements
115, 116, 117 and 11~ pro~ect outwardly l~rom the
central conduit 114. Four airway channels 130, 131,
132 and 133 are thus defined between ad~acent
radially extending flanges. If desired, the suction
airway can be utilized as just described, with the
patient biting down directly on the radially
extendinq flanges 115-118. However, the suction
airway 110 preferably includes a pair of parallel
brid~3ing flanqes 119 and 120 (analogous to flanges 16
and 17 in Fig. 1) which bridge the ra~ially exten(ling
~langes 115 and 116, and 117 and 118, respectively,
as best shown in Fig. 6. The parallel flanges 119
and 120 extencl from the rearward end of the curved
section 112 to a point ad~acent to the nipple portion
113, at which point the flanges extend at right
angles away from the conduit li4 to form lip elements
121 and 122. It will be seen that the airways 131
and 133 are enclosed airway channels, whereas the
airways 130 and 132 are open channe]s.
Operation of the second embodiment oE the
invention shown in Fig. 5 is accomplished in a manner
similar to that described Eor the first elnbodiment
shown in Fig. 1. Suction or insufflation is provided
through the conduit 114 by connection of a suction
apparatus or oxygen supply apparatus to the nipple
portion 113. The airways permit the patient to
breathe while the suction is operating. ~ ring 123
can be provided on the forward surface of one of the
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-- lip elements 121 and 122 to provide a means for
graspinq the section airway 110 for placement in the
patient's mouth and for permittinq the section airway
110 to he stored on a hook.
A th ird embod ime n t 1 5 0 o f the
oro-pharynqeal suction airway of the invention is
shown in cross section in Fiq. 7, looking t~ward the
forward end of the apparatus. ~ central conduit 1~1
has extending therefrom four radial E]anges 152-155.
No bridging flanges are present in the emhocliment of
Fig. 7, but the radial fLanqes 152-155 form open
airway channels therebetween and terminate in lip
elements 161 and lh2, which function in the same
manner as the lip element described in connection
with the other embodiments. In other respects, the
airway shown in Fig. 7 is similar to the first and
second embodiments described above, with the
exception that flanges 152-155 are not separated by
right angles. The angle between flanges 152 and 154
~ and between flanges 153 and 155 is smaller than the
angle between flanqes 152 and 153 ancl between flan~es
154 and 155.
It will be understood by t:hose skilled in
the art that the above-described embodiments of the
oro-pharynqeal suction airway of the present
invention can be constructed of various materials, so
lonq as the portion of the apparatus onto which the
patient bites is sufficiently rigid so that it will
not readily collapse under the pressure of the
patient's jaws. The various elements of the suction
airways can be made separately and attached together,
or can be integrally molded by well known injection
moldinq techniques. For example, the flexible tube
14 that is disclosed as bein~ inserted into the body
35 11 of the embodiment 10 shown in Fig. l can be an
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integral conduit formed at the same time as the
remainder oE the body 11. In this case, the tabs 1
would not be necessary.
While this invention has been decscrit~ed in
detail with particular reference to preferred
embodiments thereo~, it will be understood that
variations and modifications can be effected within
the spirit and scope of the invention as described
hereinbefore and as defined in the appended claims.
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