Insufflation system

Inventors

Power, Patrick Joseph • Duffy, Conor Paul

Assignees

Aerosurgical Ltd

Abstract

An aerosol generator is positioned adjacent to a patient as an attachment to a trocar. The trocar has an entry port for insufflation gas. Aerosol generated by a vibrating element is entrained in the insufflation gas and the mixture is delivered through the trocar. The aerosol may contain a medicament. The trocar may be a conventional trocar. Such trocars are typically used for a camera. The delivery of the aerosolized medicament can occur at the start of the procedure and be delivered in bolus. At the start of the procedure, the peritoneum is being inflated by means of the flow of insufflator gas. This gas flow will help to entrain the aerosolized medicament to the pneumoperitoneum regions. The surgeon can temporarily remove the camera from the trocar port to facilitate insertion and positioning of the aerosolizing unit.

Core Innovation

The invention describes an insufflation apparatus for procedures involving insufflation that includes an aerosol generator for aerosolizing a fluid into an aerosol. The aerosol generator includes a generator housing with a fluid supply and a neck depending distally from the fluid supply, and a vibratable member driven by a vibration generating element coupled via a support plate. The aerosol generator further includes an aerosol outlet having a central longitudinal axis.

The apparatus includes a delivery tube for delivery of the aerosol, where the delivery tube has a delivery tube housing to which the aerosol generator is mounted. The delivery tube includes a proximal entry port for an insufflation gas and a distal end through which the aerosol is delivered. The central longitudinal axis of the aerosol outlet is substantially in the same direction as the central longitudinal axis of the delivery tube, establishing an axis relationship between aerosol generation and delivery.

In embodiments, the aerosol is delivered into the delivery tube upstream of the proximal entry port, and the proximal entry port extends through a radially outermost surface of the delivery tube. The delivery tube entry port can define a passageway having a passageway central axis that is perpendicular to the central longitudinal axis of the aerosol outlet and the central longitudinal axis of the delivery tube. The document further describes configuring the delivery tube and aerosol outlet in relation to a trocar, including arrangements where the delivery tube extends into a trocar with the aerosol outlet positioned downstream of the trocar gas entry port.

Claims Coverage

The partial content provides three independent claims. Across these independent claims, the inventive coverage centers on a vibration-based aerosol generator integrated with a delivery tube for insufflation, including specific geometric and axis relationships between the aerosol outlet and delivery tube, and a proximal entry port configuration for insufflation gas with defined spatial relationships for aerosol delivery direction and trocar placement.

The independent claims collectively require a vibration-driven aerosol generator integrated with a delivery tube for insufflation, with particular emphasis on how the aerosol outlet axis relates to the delivery tube axis and how the proximal entry port defines a passageway orientation. Independent claim coverage also includes directing aerosol delivery into the delivery tube upstream of the proximal entry port and, in dependent embodiments referenced by the claim set, positioning relative to a trocar.

Stated Advantages

Documented Applications

No documented applications found