Chemical pump housing for negative pressure system

Inventors

Buan, John • Middaugh, Richard L. • Wojciechowski, Timothy • Lash, Thomas E. • Saunders, Reed Oliver • Tedham, Thomas Arthur

Assignees

Aatru Medical LLC • Amphenol Cable and Interconnect Technologies Inc

Abstract

A chemical pump assembly useful for negative pressure therapy includes a chemical pump housing having an inner chamber, a reactor located within the inner chamber, an opening provided in the chemical pump housing, a first pull tab which extends from the inner chamber to ambient through the opening, and a removable layer connected to the first pull tab. The reactor is configured to react with a selected gas found in air so as to consume the selected gas when exposed to air in the inner chamber. The removable layer shields the reactor from air in the inner chamber atmosphere until the removable layer is removed.

Core Innovation

A chemical pump assembly is provided for negative pressure therapy in which an oxygen-reactive reactor is housed in a sealed chemical pump housing. The reactor is protected by a packet that covers the chemical pump, where the packet includes a removable layer that is configured to prevent the chemical pump from being exposed to air until after removal of the removable layer from the packet.

During assembly, a first pull tab connected with the removable layer is used by locating the packet within an inner chamber of the chemical pump housing and extending the first pull tab from the inner chamber through an opening provided in the chemical pump housing to ambient atmosphere. After the removable layer is removed, a second pull tab removes a release layer and a cover, including a thin film cover, seals the opening to prevent further air ingress.

The chemical pump housing includes a hose fitting provided for fluid connection to a dressing or an enclosed volume beneath a dressing. In an embodiment, a bidirectional valve, or two one-way valves, is provided in fluid communication with the inner chamber and ambient atmosphere and regulates air exchange based on pressure relationships between the ambient atmosphere and the inner chamber to maintain therapeutic negative pressure, optionally cooperating with a mechanical pump assembly via the valve.

Claims Coverage

The document includes two independent claims directed to methods of assembling a chemical pump assembly useful for negative pressure therapy. Each independent claim covers an oxygen-reactive chemical pump protected by an oxygen-protective packet and assembled using a pull-tab arrangement and housing opening to ambient, with one independent claim further covering hose fitting connection and the other focusing on the packet-in-housing arrangement through ambient and, via dependent claims, sealing, indicia, and optional valve- and mechanical-pump features.

Overall, the claim coverage centers on assembling a negative pressure therapy chemical pump assembly by keeping an oxygen-reactive chemical pump inside a packet with a removable layer until ambient exposure is initiated through a housing opening using a pull tab, and completing the assembly by connecting a hose to the hose fitting on the chemical pump housing.

Stated Advantages

Documented Applications

No documented applications found