Abstract:
Presented are a method and apparatus for attachment and evacuation. The apparatus includes a housing having an opening, and a motor maintained within the housing, the motor operable to urge a fluid to pass through the opening. The apparatus further includes an adjustable element maintained within the opening, the adjustable element operable to change a size of the opening to a plurality of different diameters, and a knob moveably affixed to the housing, the knob operable to change the adjustable element to the plurality of different diameters.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    The present invention relates generally to the field of surgical smoke evacuation, and more particularly to a dual surgical smoke evacuation and universal hose attachment system and a method of using such a system for safe and efficient filtration of smoke plume generated by laser-surgical, electrosurgical, radiosurgical, cautery, hyfrecators and electrocautery devices. 
         [0003]    Description of Related Art 
         [0004]    Surgical smoke evacuation systems are designed to capture the smoke and plume generated during surgical procedures in which there is thermal destruction of tissue or bone. The plume from vaporized tissue contains small particles and gases that could be potentially hazardous. If not evacuated the materials can become airborne and deposit in the respiratory tracts of the surgical team. The type of surgical instruments, the characteristics of tissue, and the surgeon&#39;s technique affect the quantity and characteristics of the smoke plume. 
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0005]    In view of the foregoing, it is an object of the present disclosure to provide a method and apparatus for attachment and evacuation. 
         [0006]    A first exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure provides a method of evacuation. The method includes providing an evacuation system comprising housing having an opening, a motor maintained within the housing, the motor operable to urge a fluid to pass through the opening, an adjustable element maintained within the opening, the adjustable element operable to change a size of the opening to a plurality of different diameters, and a knob moveably affixed to the housing, the knob operable to change the adjustable element to the plurality of different diameters. The method further includes evacuating, by the motor, a fluid through the opening. 
         [0007]    A second exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure provides an apparatus for evacuation. The apparatus includes a housing having an opening, and a motor maintained within the housing, the motor operable to urge a fluid to pass through the opening. The apparatus further includes an adjustable element maintained within the opening, the adjustable element operable to change a size of the opening to a plurality of different diameters, and a knob moveably affixed to the housing, the knob operable to change the adjustable element to the plurality of different diameters. 
         [0008]    A third exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure provides an apparatus for evacuation. The apparatus includes a blower having a housing that maintains a motor, a user interface, an opening, a blower power supply, a filter, a blower connector, and an adjustable element, the motor operable to urge a fluid to pass through the opening and the adjustable element, the filter operable to filter extraneous materials from the fluid that passes through the opening and the adjustable element, the adjustable element operable to change a size of the opening to a plurality of different diameters, the user interface operable to control the motor. The apparatus further includes a pump having a housing that maintains a pump motor, a pump user interface, a pump port, a pump power supply, a pump connector, and a pump filter, the pump motor operable to urge a fluid to pass through the pump port, the pump filter operable to filter extraneous materials from the fluid that passes through the pump port, wherein the blower connector and the pump connector are operable to be coupled to each other thereby affixing the blower and the pump. 
         [0009]    The following will describe embodiments of the present disclosure, but it should be appreciated that the present disclosure is not limited to the described embodiments and various modifications of the invention are possible without departing from the basic principles. The scope of the present disclosure is therefore to be determined solely by the appended claims. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S) 
         [0010]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a first embodiment of the universal hose attachment mechanism of the present invention shown in the open position. 
           [0011]      FIG. 2  is a front elevational view of the front of the universal hose attachment of  FIG. 1  shown in the closed position. 
           [0012]      FIG. 3  is a perspective view of an alternate embodiment of the mechanism of  FIG. 1  shown in the open position. 
           [0013]      FIG. 4  is a front elevational view of the front of the universal hose attachment of  FIG. 3  shown in the closed position. 
           [0014]      FIG. 5  is a perspective view of another alternate embodiment of the universal hose attachment mechanism of the present invention. 
           [0015]      FIG. 6  is a schematic diagram showing a dual surgical smoke evacuator system. 
           [0016]      FIG. 7  is a front elevational view of the dual surgical smoke evacuator system of  FIG. 6 . 
           [0017]      FIG. 8  is another front elevational view of the dual surgical smoke evacuator system of  FIG. 6 . 
           [0018]      FIG. 9  is a perspective view of the dual surgical smoke evacuator system of  FIG. 6 . 
           [0019]      FIG. 10  is a schematic of an alternative embodiment of the dual surgical smoke evacuator system. 
           [0020]      FIG. 11  is a perspective view of the dual surgical smoke evacuator system of  FIG. 10 . 
           [0021]      FIG. 12  is another perspective view of the dual surgical smoke evacuator system of  FIG. 10 . 
           [0022]      FIG. 13  is a top plan view of the dual surgical smoke evacuator system of  FIG. 10 . 
           [0023]      FIG. 14  is a side elevational view of the dual surgical smoke evacuator system of  FIG. 10 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0024]    At the outset, it should be clearly understood that like reference numerals are intended to identify the same structural elements, portions or surfaces consistently throughout the several drawing figures, as such elements, portions or surfaces may be further described or explained by the entire written specification, of which this detailed description is an integral part. Unless otherwise indicated, the drawings are intended to be read (e.g., cross-hatching, arrangement of parts, proportion, debris, etc.) together with the specification, and are to be considered a portion of the entire written description of this invention. As used in the following description, the terms “horizontal”, “vertical”, “left”, “right”, “up” and “down”, as well as adjectival and adverbial derivatives thereof, (e.g., “horizontally”, “rightwardly”, “upwardly”, etc.), simply refer to the orientation of the illustrated structure as the particular drawing figure faces the reader. Similarly, the terms “inwardly” and “outwardly” generally refer to the orientation of a surface relative to its axis of elongation, or of rotation, as appropriate. 
         [0025]    Embodiments of the present disclosure provide an evacuation unit having housing that maintains a motor. The housing has an opening with an adjustable element (e.g., a mechanical iris, rotatable plate, etc.) that is operable to change the diameter of the opening such that the opening with the adjustable element can be removeably affixed to a tube or hose to create a sealed interface between the opening, the adjustable element and the tube or hose. In practice, the motor is operable to urge or evacuate a fluid (e.g., smoke or air) from a surgical site through the tube or hose and the opening. Thus, the evacuation unit through the adjustable element is able to accommodate tubes or hoses with different diameters. Embodiments of the present disclosure also provide a blower unit and a pump unit that are each operable separately to evacuate or pump a fluid (e.g., smoke or air) from a surgical site. Embodiments further provide that the blower unit and the pump unit can be operably affixed to one another such that they can share the use of each other&#39;s filter and/or power and/or user interface. 
         [0026]    Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to  FIG. 1  thereof, this invention provides a universal hose attachment mechanism  20  (also referred to as an adjustable element) that adjusts to receive hoses having different diameters (e.g., ⅜″; ¼″; or ⅞″). Depending on the surgical procedure and the instrument being used, the diameter of the suction tube for removing surgical smoke may vary. The attachment mechanism  20  has a central opening  23  for receiving a tube or hose. A knob  26  may be provided on the front panel  29  of the smoke evacuator  32 . Pushing the knob  26  along a raceway  35  disposed in the panel  29 , in the direction of arrow  38 , causes a mechanical iris  41  ( FIG. 2 ) to close around the tube inside the opening  23 . Turning to  FIG. 2 , when the knob  26  is pushed toward the end of the raceway  35 , the opening  23  is substantially closed. The mechanical iris  41  is formed from a plurality of curved panels  44  that are constructed from a flexible material capable of sealing the outside surface of the tube. The iris  41  is constructed from the curved panels  44  in a known manner and the position of the iris  41  may be adjusted by means of a gear or the like as will be evident to those of ordinary skill in the art based on this disclosure. The integration of a mechanical iris  41  into the hose inlet for a smoke evacuation system provides numerous advantages including the ability to easily interchange different diameter tubing into the smoke evacuator system. 
         [0027]    Turning to  FIG. 3 , an alternate embodiment of the universal hose attachment mechanism provides a mechanism  50  with a central opening  53 . The central opening  53  receives a flexible insert  55  ( FIG. 4 ) that is capable of receiving a tube. Once a tube  54  is inserted into the flexible insert  55  in the central opening  53  as shown in  FIG. 4 , a knob  56  is turned which turns an internal gear. The gear is mechanically connected to a sleeve  57  surrounding the flexible insert  55 . When the knob  56  is turned the gear causes the sleeve  57  to be tightened around the flexible insert  55 . The tightening of the sleeve  57  causes the flexible insert  55  to compress around the tube  54  to seal it for use. 
         [0028]    In  FIG. 6 , a dual surgical smoke evacuator system  100  includes a blower unit  103  with a blower motor  104  and a pump unit  106  with a pump  107 . Each unit  103 ,  106  has separate power sources, interfaces and filters. Blowers and pumps suitable for smoke evacuation systems are known to those of ordinary skill in the art, and specific applications where a blower or pump is suitable are also known. For example, higher volume, lower pressure applications may be suitable for a blower, and a higher pressure, lower volume application may be suitable for a pump. On the left hand side of the figure, the units  103 ,  106  are shown separate with a first power supply  109  for the blower unit  103  and a second power supply  112  for the pump unit  106 . The blower unit  103  has a user interface  115  which allows for setting parameters associated with the blower unit  103  such as the speed of the motor. The pump unit  106  has a user interface  118  that provides for control of the pump unit  106  by the user. The blower unit  103  has a filter assembly  121 , and the pump unit  106  has a filter assembly  124 . As shown in the right hand side of the figure, the two units  103 ,  106  may be physically combined into a single attached system. When the units  103 ,  106  are attached, they form a dual smoke evacuation system that is capable of providing for smoke evacuation from either a blower unit  103  or a pump unit  106  depending on the application and the system requirements. 
         [0029]    Turning to  FIGS. 7-9 , the blower unit  103  and pump unit  106  may be provided with mechanical connectors  130   a  and  130   b  such as male/female connectors on the housing to provide for detachably connecting the units. When the units  103 ,  106  are connected in side- by-side fashion as shown in  FIG. 7 , the user may select either unit for the specific application. The units  103 ,  106  may be provided with a universal hose attachment mechanism  138  as described above for receiving tubes having different diameters for different smoke removal applications and flow rates. As shown in  FIG. 8 , connectors  130   a ,  130   b  may engage with openings  140   a  and  140   b  to connect the blower unit  103  to the pump unit  106 . 
         [0030]    In  FIGS. 10-14 , an alternate embodiment of the dual smoke evacuation system is shown. This embodiment provides two separate blower and pump units that can operate separately or that can be connected both mechanically and electrically to form a single combined unit. The units have separate power sources, separate interfaces and separate filters when apart, but share a power source, filter, and user interface when linked together. A blower unit  200  includes a blower motor  202 , a power supply  203 , a user interface  206 , and a filter assembly  209 . A pump unit  212  includes a pump  214 , a power supply  217 , a user interface  220 , and a filter assembly  223 . The two units  200  and  212  may be used separately and individually or may be combined into a single unit capable of being used in either a pump or blower mode. As illustrated, the two units  200  and  212  may be combined by removing the filter assembly  223  from the pump unit  212  and mounting the pump unit  212  onto the blower unit  200 . The combined unit utilizes user interface  206  and filter assembly  209 . 
         [0031]    Turning to  FIG. 11 , on the left hand side of the figure, the blower unit  200  includes the filter assembly  209  which has keyhole inlet ports  210  for receiving a tube for evacuation of surgical smoke. The tube conveys surgical smoke from the surgical theater to the unit  200  by means of suction created by the dual smoke evacuation system or the blower unit  200 . On the right hand side of  FIG. 11 , the pump unit  212  is shown with an electrical linkage plug  230  disposed on the front panel. Filter assembly  223  is located on the right hand side of unit  212  and may be removed. Filter assembly  223  also includes an air inlet  225  for connection to a tube for conveying surgical smoke. 
         [0032]    Turning to  FIG. 12 , with the filter assembly  223  removed, the pump unit  212  may be attached to the rear of the blower unit  200 . An electrical connector  270  ( FIG. 13 ) for the blower unit  200  is connected to the electrical linkage plug  230  so that power to both units may be supplied by power supply  217 . An air inlet  250  is disposed at the front of the pump unit  212  where the filter assembly  223  has been removed. The air inlet  250  engages with an outlet  275  in the blower unit  200 . User interface  206  includes a control for selecting either the blower unit  200  or the pump unit  212  to convey the surgical smoke.  FIGS. 13-14  show the conversion of the individual units into a single dual smoke evacuation system. The blower unit  200  may be provided with mechanical connectors  260 ,  263  for engaging with corresponding openings in the pump unit  212 . The electrical connector  270  engages with the electrical linkage plug  230 . The air outlet  275  engages with the air inlet  250  on the pump unit  212 . 
         [0033]    This disclosure has been described in detail with particular reference to a presently preferred embodiment, but it will be understood that variations and modifications can be effected within the spirit and scope of the invention. The presently disclosed embodiments are therefore considered in all respects to be illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the invention is indicated by the appended claims, and all changes that come within the meaning and range of equivalents thereof are intended to be embraced therein.