Patent Description:
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's technique affect the quantity and characteristics of the smoke plume.

<CIT> discloses a surgical laser smoke plume evacuator which includes an evacuator body which is formed to a shape which is suitable for placement in normal use position substantially entirely around and adjacent to a tissue site upon which laser surgery is to be performed. The evacuator body has structure for removing smoke therethrough, and a smoke exit portion in communication with and extending from the evacuator body. The smoke exit portion is connectable to vacuum source, to thereby apply a vacuum to the evacuator body and cause smoke which is created at a surgical site during surgery to be removed from the surgical site through the evacuator body and the smoke exit portion.

<CIT> discloses a smoke evacuator that draws smoke generated during a medical surgical procedure away from the site at which the smoke is generated. The smoke evacuator includes a pump that draws air into a filter. A sensor internal to the filter monitors the smoke in the air stream drawn through the filter. Normally the pump runs at a low speed, a speed sufficient to draw some air in the filter. When the sensor detects the presence of an appreciable amount of smoke in the air stream the sensor sends a signal indicating the air stream is in this state to the pump controller. The controller then increases the pump speed to result in a like increase in the volume of air drawn through the smoke evacuator. Since the sensor is contained in the filter, a new sensor is installed in the system each time a new filter is installed.

In view of the foregoing, it is an object of the present disclosure to provide a method and apparatus for attachment and evacuation.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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's filter and/or power and/or user interface.

Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to <FIG> thereof, this invention provides a universal hose attachment mechanism <NUM> (also referred to as an adjustable element) that adjusts to receive hoses having different diameters (e.g., <NUM>, <NUM> or <NUM>,<NUM> (<NUM>/<NUM>": <NUM>/<NUM>"; or <NUM>/<NUM>")).

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 <NUM> has a central opening <NUM> for receiving a tube or hose. A knob <NUM> may be provided on the front panel <NUM> of the smoke evacuator <NUM>. Pushing the knob <NUM> along a raceway <NUM> disposed in the panel <NUM>, in the direction of arrow <NUM>, causes a mechanical iris <NUM> (<FIG>) to close around the tube inside the opening <NUM>. Turning to <FIG>, when the knob <NUM> is pushed toward the end of the raceway <NUM>, the opening <NUM> is substantially closed. The mechanical iris <NUM> is formed from a plurality of curved panels <NUM> that are constructed from a flexible material capable of sealing the outside surface of the tube. The iris <NUM> is constructed from the curved panels <NUM> in a known manner and the position of the iris <NUM> 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 <NUM> 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.

Turning to <FIG>, an alternate embodiment of the universal hose attachment mechanism provides a mechanism <NUM> with a central opening <NUM>. The central opening <NUM> receives a flexible insert <NUM> (<FIG>) that is capable of receiving a tube. Once a tube <NUM> is inserted into the flexible insert <NUM> in the central opening <NUM> as shown in <FIG>, a knob <NUM> is turned which turns an internal gear. The gear is mechanically connected to a sleeve <NUM> surrounding the flexible insert <NUM>. When the knob <NUM> is turned the gear causes the sleeve <NUM> to be tightened around the flexible insert <NUM>. The tightening of the sleeve <NUM> causes the flexible insert <NUM> to compress around the tube <NUM> to seal it for use.

Turning to <FIG>, another alternative embodiment of the universal hose attachment mechanism is shown. The attachment mechanism <NUM> has a knob <NUM> connected to a rotating plate <NUM> having a plurality of openings 69a, 69b, and 69c disposed therein. Rotation of the knob <NUM> causes the plate <NUM> to turn which brings one of the openings 69a, 69b, and 69c on the plate <NUM> into registry with an opening in the front panel <NUM> of the smoke evacuation system <NUM>.

In <FIG>, a dual surgical smoke evacuator system <NUM> includes a blower unit <NUM> with a blower motor <NUM> and a pump unit <NUM> with a pump <NUM>. Each unit <NUM>, <NUM> 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 <NUM>, <NUM> are shown separate with a first power supply <NUM> for the blower unit <NUM> and a second power supply <NUM> for the pump unit <NUM>. The blower unit <NUM> has a user interface <NUM> which allows for setting parameters associated with the blower unit <NUM> such as the speed of the motor. The pump unit <NUM> has a user interface <NUM> that provides for control of the pump unit <NUM> by the user. The blower unit <NUM> has a filter assembly <NUM>, and the pump unit <NUM> has a filter assembly <NUM>. As shown in the right hand side of the figure, the two units <NUM>, <NUM> may be physically combined into a single attached system. When the units <NUM>, <NUM> are attached, they form a dual smoke evacuation system that is capable of providing for smoke evacuation from either a blower unit <NUM> or a pump unit <NUM> depending on the application and the system requirements.

Turning to <FIG>, the blower unit <NUM> and pump unit <NUM> may be provided with mechanical connectors 130a and 130b such as male/female connectors on the housing to provide for detachably connecting the units. When the units <NUM>, <NUM> are connected in side- by-side fashion as shown in <FIG>, the user may select either unit for the specific application. The units <NUM>, <NUM> may be provided with a universal hose attachment mechanism <NUM> as described above for receiving tubes having different diameters for different smoke removal applications and flow rates. As shown in <FIG>, connectors 130a, 130b may engage with openings 140a and 140b to connect the blower unit <NUM> to the pump unit <NUM>.

In <FIG>, 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 <NUM> includes a blower motor <NUM>, a power supply <NUM>, a user interface <NUM>, and a filter assembly <NUM>. A pump unit <NUM> includes a pump <NUM>, a power supply <NUM>, a user interface <NUM>, and a filter assembly <NUM>. The two units <NUM> and <NUM> 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 <NUM> and <NUM> may be combined by removing the filter assembly <NUM> from the pump unit <NUM> and mounting the pump unit <NUM> onto the blower unit <NUM>. The combined unit utilizes user interface <NUM> and filter assembly <NUM>.

Turning to <FIG>, on the left hand side of the figure, the blower unit <NUM> includes the filter assembly <NUM> which has keyhole inlet ports <NUM> for receiving a tube for evacuation of surgical smoke. The tube conveys surgical smoke from the surgical theater to the unit <NUM> by means of suction created by the dual smoke evacuation system or the blower unit <NUM>. On the right hand side of <FIG>, the pump unit <NUM> is shown with an electrical linkage plug <NUM> disposed on the front panel. Filter assembly <NUM> is located on the right hand side of unit <NUM> and may be removed. Filter assembly <NUM> also includes an air inlet <NUM> for connection to a tube for conveying surgical smoke.

Turning to <FIG>, with the filter assembly <NUM> removed, the pump unit <NUM> may be attached to the rear of the blower unit <NUM>. An electrical connector <NUM> (<FIG>) for the blower unit <NUM> is connected to the electrical linkage plug <NUM> so that power to both units may be supplied by power supply <NUM>. An air inlet <NUM> is disposed at the front of the pump unit <NUM> where the filter assembly <NUM> has been removed. The air inlet <NUM> engages with an outlet <NUM> in the blower unit <NUM>. User interface <NUM> includes a control for selecting either the blower unit <NUM> or the pump unit <NUM> to convey the surgical smoke. <FIG> show the conversion of the individual units into a single dual smoke evacuation system. The blower unit <NUM> may be provided with mechanical connectors <NUM>, <NUM> for engaging with corresponding openings in the pump unit <NUM>. The electrical connector <NUM> engages with the electrical linkage plug <NUM>. The air outlet <NUM> engages with the air inlet <NUM> on the pump unit <NUM>.

Claim 1:
An apparatus for evacuation, the apparatus comprising:
(a) a blower (<NUM>) having a housing that maintains a blower motor (<NUM>), a user interface (<NUM>), an opening, a blower power supply (<NUM>), a filter (<NUM>), an electrical connector (<NUM>), and an adjustable element,
wherein the blower motor (<NUM>) is operable to urge a fluid to pass through the opening and the adjustable element,
wherein the filter (<NUM>) is operable to filter extraneous materials from the fluid that passes through the opening and the adjustable element,
wherein the adjustable element is operable to change a size of the opening to a plurality of different diameters, and
wherein the user interface (<NUM>) is operable to control the blower motor (<NUM>); and
(b) a pump (<NUM>) having a housing that maintains a pump motor (<NUM>), a pump user interface (<NUM>), a pump port, a pump power supply (<NUM>), an electrical linkage (<NUM>), and a removeable pump filter (<NUM>),
wherein the pump motor (<NUM>) is operable to urge a fluid to pass through the pump port,
wherein the pump filter (<NUM>) is operable to filter extraneous materials from the fluid that passes through the pump port;
wherein the electrical connector (<NUM>) and the electrical linkage (<NUM>) are operable to be coupled to each other thereby affixing the blower (<NUM>) and the pump (<NUM>); and
wherein the user interface (<NUM>) is operable to control the blower motor (<NUM>) and the pump motor (<NUM>) when the electrical connector (<NUM>) and the electrical linkage (<NUM>) are coupled to each other.