Classifications

• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
  • A61B—DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
  • A61B90/00—Instruments, implements or accessories specially adapted for surgery or diagnosis and not covered by any of the groups A61B1/00 - A61B50/00, e.g. for luxation treatment or for protecting wound edges
  • A61B90/80—Implements for cleaning or washing the skin of surgeons or patients

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a cleansing device and in particular to a device for surgically scrubbing and cleansing the hands and arms of a surgeon. It is well known that, under emergency condi ⁇ tions, the survival of a patient often depends on the time elapsing while the surgical teams scrub before entering the operating room. The typical pre-surgi- cal scrub requires a time duration of five to fifteen minutes according to the type and length of the planned operation. In the past, the pre-surgical scrubbing of the surgeons and operating room person ⁇ nel has followed the same pattern. Scrub brushes and various chemicals are used in order to free the hands from the bacteria which may contaminate the patient.
• the scrubbing has to be complete and diligent and is not only time consuming, but in many cases, causes irritation to the skin. Further, since not all per ⁇ sons scrub in the same manner, the results achieved vary between persons and between scrubs by the same person. Also, while diligent scrubbing removes the surface bacteria, it has been found to have a lesser effect upon the bacteria present in the follicles and skin depressions. Obviously, any bacteria not re oved may act as a contaminate to theppatient during surgery.
• U.S. Patent No. 3,757,806 proposed a pulsating hydrojet lavage device which utilized pulsating jets of pres ⁇ surized washing fluid for the purpose of quickly preparing personnel for cleanliness of the hands.
• the hands and arms of the individual to be scrubbed were inserted in a washing chamber comprising a curvili ⁇ near manifold arranged about longitudinal axis and subjecting the arms and hands to pulsating jets of a washing fluid discharged from the manifold device.
• the arm would be slowly rotated to achieve uniform exposure to the pulsating jets of washing fluid dis ⁇ charged from the manifold openings.
• the present invention relates to a porta ⁇ ble lavage device comprising a moveable tank for holding a cleansing liquid, pump means coupled to said tank for circulating said liquid under a varying pressure and spaced nozzle means coupled to said cir ⁇ culating ' ump and arranged to spray said liquid under said varying pressure against an item to be cleansed.
• the novel invention also related to a method of cleansing an item comprising the steps of providing a cleansing fluid, circulating said fluid under pres ⁇ sure, varying said fluid pressure periodically from a maximum pressure to a minimum pressure and directing said fluid under said periodically varying pressure against said item to be cleansed.
• FIG. 1 is a side view of the novel, portable, lavage device
• FIG. 2 is a front view of the device shown in Fig. 1;
• FIG. 3 is a side view, in partial cross-section, of one of the fluid distributing manifolds and its associated nozzles which direct the cleansing fluid against the item to be cleansed, for instance, arms and hands?
• FIG. 4 is a front view of the manifold flange to which the manifold is connected and from which the manifold receives the cleansing fluid;
• FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the manifold flange of Fig. 4 taken along lines A— ;
• FIG. 6 is a front view of the intake flange which holds the manifold flange in Fig. 4 in .place and provides a cleansing fluid to it;
• FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the intake flange in Fig. 6 taken along lines A-A;
• FIG. 8 is a front view of the housing assembly in which is located two fluid distributing manifolds separated by a wall thus allowing both arms and hands to be simultaneously cleansed;
• FIG. 9 is a top view of the housing assembly shown in Fig. 8;
• FIG. 10 is a front view of a housing and valves associated therewith which receives pressurized fluid and produces an output fluid to the -fluid distribut- ing mani olds which varies in pressure from a maximum pressure to a minimum pressure;
• FIG. 11 is a view of one of the impellers as it passes an associated output port showing how the output port is decreased gradually in area to gradu ⁇ ally and cyclically vary the pressure from a maximum when the output port is wide open to a minimum as the output port is gradually reduced in area to a minimum;
• FIG. 12 is a front view of one of the impellers illustrated in Fig. 10 and Fig. 11;
• FIG. 13 is a top view of the impeller of Fig. 12;
• FIG. 14 is a side view of the impeller of Fig. 12;
• FIG. 15 is a' front view of the rubber boot used as a seal with the novel lavage device.
• FIG. 16 is a cross-sectional view of the seal shown in Fig. 15.
• FIG. 1 is a side view of the novel hydro scrubber 10 which is portable in nature and is therefore mounted on casters or wheels 12.
• the scrubber 10 has a mechanical portion 14 in which is located the pumps, valves, motors, and the like, a tank section 16 which contains the cleansingizid and a manifold section 18 which includes the liquid dispensing manifold.
• An electronic control panel 22 sits on top of the unit and is used to turn on the electrical power, to electronically and automatically time the desired cleansing cycle and to select the frequency or num- * *' ber of times per minute the fluid is to be directed against the arms and hands being cleansed.
• Manifold 20 -in ⁇ cludes a plurality of hollow tubes or pipes 30 each of which has a plurality of nozzles 32 (only a repre ⁇ sentative few of which are shown in Fig. 1 for 5 clarity) directed inwardly toward the hand and arm of the user.
• the plurality of horizontal hollow tubes 30 are parallel to each other and are spaced in a circular pattern (as shown in Fig. 2) when viewed from either the front or back of said lavage device lo and the plurality of spaced nozzles 32 spray liquid toward the hand and arm in the center of said circular pattern.
• Each of said tubes 30 has a por ⁇ tion 34 which is curved inwardly toward the center ⁇ axis of said circular pattern where they attach to a
• O circular manifold 36 which receives the cleansing fluid from a pipe 38 and distributes the fluid to the horizontal manifold tubes 30. Further, at least one spray nozzle 40 is located on the curved end portion 34 of the hollow tubes 30 and at least one spray nozzle 42 is mounted on the center of circular manifold 36 for spraying said liquid toward and perpendicular to the plane of said circular pattern for aiding in the cleansing of the fingernails of the user.
• a foot actuated switch 44 is attached to the lavage device 10 by means of electrical cable 46 whereby when each of the arms of the user are inser ⁇ ted into a corresponding rubber boot 28 for cleans ⁇ ing, the use of the foot on foot switch 44 can start the cleansing cycle.
• FIG. 2 is a front view of the portable lavage device 10 shown in Fig. 1.
• the unit is mount ⁇ ed on wheels 12 for portability and includes mechani ⁇ cal section 14, the fluid containing section 16, and the manifold section 18 which includes two liquid dispensing manifolds ' 20. It will be noted that there are two liquid dispensing manifolds so that one can be utilized for each arm and hand simultaneously.
• foot actuated switch 44 is connected by cable 46 to the unit.
• the electronic control unit 22 sits on top of the device 10 and has the electrical power on/off switch, the timer meter and corres ⁇ ponding selector switch and the switch for con ⁇ trolling the frequency at which the cleansing fluid is directed against the skin of the user there ⁇ of.
• a wall 48 separates the left and right liquid dispensing manifolds 20,
• Manifold section 18 is preferably made of a clear plastic including top wall 50, end walls 52, back wall 54, and the front wall 26 as shown in Fig. 1.
• the mounting panel 24 has been omitted in Fig. 2 within circle 56 in order to more clearly view the end of the parallel, horizontally spaced tubes 30 which form the liquid dispensing manifolds 20.
• a liquid level gauge 58 or any other device for indi ⁇ cating the level of the fluid within the storage tank 16 is shown on the front of said lavage device 10.
• FIG. 3 is a side view of one of the fluid dis ⁇ tributing manifolds 20 and its associated nozzles which direct the cleansing fluid against the items to be cleansed, for instance arms and hands.
• Fig. 3 only two of the plural ⁇ ity of parallel, horizontally spaced tubes 30 are " shown.
• Fig. 2 Normally, six of tubes 30 are used as shown in Fig. 2.
• each of said tubes 30 has a portion 34 of one end curved inwardly towards the center axis of the circular pattern formed by said horizontal hollow tubes 30 when viewed from the end of the tubes ( as in Fig. 2) with each curved end 34 being mounted in an orifice on and supported by circular manifold 36.
• the circular manifold 36 is attached to the rear wall 54 by means of a manifold flange 58 with bolts or other fasteners which fit through orifices 60. Seal 62 forms a water tight connection with the back wall 54 and prevents any leakage from circular manifold 36 and manifold flange 58.
• the forward end of each of the horizon ⁇ tal hollow tubes 30 which form the manifold 20 are mounted in recesses 64 in mounting plate or panel 24.
• the mounting plate 24 is rigidly attached to front wall 26 by means of bolts, screws or other fasteners 66. Also attached to said mounting plate 26 is a rubber boot 28, shown in cross-section in Fig.
• the rubber boot 28 allows the arm of the user to be inserted there-through into the cleansing chamber into the center of the circular ⁇ * > pattern by horizontal hollow tubes 30 each of which has a plurality of spaced nozzles 32 for spraying the cleansing liquid toward the .center of said cir ⁇ cular pattern.
• the spray nozzles 40 on 10 the curved end 34 of the spaced horizontal tubes 30 have a 60 degree spray angle as does nozzle 42 which is directly on the front end of circular manifold 36 while the nozzles 32 on the horizontal portion of spaced hollow tubes 30 have a 30 degree spray angle.
• rubber boot 28 which is in contact with the arm of the user is continuously and completely sprayed with the cleansing fluid to insure that no germs can sur ⁇ be in that transition area between that part of the arm not to be cleansed and that part of the arm that is within the cleansing chamber of lavage de ⁇ vice. It will be noted that rubber boot 28 has an indentation 76 formed in the truncated end of the conical shaped boot.
• This indentation 76 causes a 5 secure fit about the arm of the user and, when the arm is withdrawn after the cleansing cycle is com ⁇ pleted, the flexibility of rubber boot 28 and the snug fit of the indentation 76 about the arm of the user turns rubber boot 28 inside out as the arm is 10 withdrawn thus keeping the sterilized interior side of the rubber boot 28 in contact with the sterilized arm thus preventing any germs or bacteria from mak ⁇ ing contact therewith as the arm is withdrawn.
• FIG. 4 is a front view of the circular flange 15 36 to which is attached the ends of the spaced, parallel, horizontal hollow tubes 30 forming the - . fluid distributing manifold 20.
• Orifices 60 are for the screws or bolts which attach the circular flange . 36 to the rear wall 54 of the housing.
• These holes 0 or orifices 60 are formed in flange 78 from which extends a cylindrical portion 87 having a slanted face 82 in which is formed orifices 80 connecting to the interior thereof and to the entrance port 88 . : shown in Fig. 3 and Fig. 5.
• 86 is an orifice 84 in which is mounted spray nozzle 42 as shown in Fig. 3.
• FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the circu ⁇ lar flange 36 shown in Fig. 4 taken along lines A-A.
• the base has a flange 78 on the back side of which are orifices 60 which may have threads and extend partially into the base as shown in Fig. 5 or which may extend entirely through the base as shown in Fig. 3 but, in any case, which are used for attaching the circular flange 36 to the rear wall 54.
• Recesses 62 are used for seals to be placed therein to prevent fluid leakage between the circular flange 36 and the rear wall 54.
• the fluid enters inlet port 88 and exits through ports 80 to the horizontal hollow tubes 30 and through orifice 84 to nozzle 42.
• cylindrical extension 87 which extends upwardly from base 78 has a face 82 forming a slanted edge thereof in which orifices 80 are located.
• the faces 82 are slanted at an angle sufficient to allow the curved ends 34 of the hori ⁇ zontal hollow tubes 30 to be mounted therein as shown in Fig. 3. Such an angle permits the cleansing fluid to enter the horizontal pipes 30 at a gentle angle 'instead of a right angle thus reducing the noise which would be generated if the fluid had to enter the orifices 80 and, thus tubes 30, at 90 degree angles.
• FIG. 6 is a front view of the intake flange 58 which is shown in Fig. 3, and which cooperates with the circular flange 36 to carry the cleansing fluid from the pump to the distributing manifold 20.
• the flange simply is a flat plate 90 having orifices 60 therein through which screws or bolts or other fastening means are inserted to attach the intake flange to the circular flange as shown in Fig. 3.
• FIG. 7 is a cross-section view of the intake flange 58 taken along lines A-A of Fig. 6. Recesses 62 are for the purpose of placing seals therein to prevent any fluid leakage between the rear wall 54 and the intake flange 58. The fluid enters the flange through orifice 92 and communicates with the circular flange 78 as stated previously.
• FIG. 8 is a front view of the housing or mani- fold assembly 18 for containing the plurality of parallel, horizontally spaced tubes 30 as shown in Fig. 1.
• the housing assembly includes top wall 50, bottom wall 94, and side walls 52.
• Center wall 48 divides the housing into two chambers, but, as shown,
• OM divider wall 48 only partially divides the two com ⁇ partments.
• Bottom wall 94 is really the top wall of the fluid holding tank 16 and has therein an orifice 96 for draining the excess fluid back into tank 16 from either chamber formed by center divider wall 48 where the fluid can be recirculated.
• Back wall 54 has orifices 60 for bolts or screws or other attaching means to fasten the circular flange 36 and the intake flange 58 to the back wall 54.
• Orifice 98 communicates with the input orifice 88 of the cir ⁇ cular flange 36 and receives fluid from orifice 92 on the intake flange 58.
• Orifices 66 in front wall 26 receives bolts, screws or other attaching means in order to fasten a front mounting plate 24 to the front wall 26 as shown in Fig. 3. '
• FIG. 9 is a top view of the housing assembly shown in Fig. 8 and, in particular, illustrates the manner in which orifice 96 in bottom wall 94 extends partially into each of the chambers formed by divider wall 48 to drain the excess fluid therefrom.
• Fur ⁇ ther, orifice 98 is shown on back wall 54 for pass ⁇ ing the cleansing fluid from the intake flange 58 to the circular flange 36. Also in front wall 26 is
• JtJRE OMPI illustrated orifice 100 for receiving mounting plate 24 on the front wall 26.
• the preferred material for the top wall, side walls, back and front walls, and the bottom wall is one-half inch clear plexiglas 5 although, of course, other materials such as any • metal could be used so long as it resist corrosion.
• FIG. 10 is a fron view of a housing and valves associated therewith which receive pressurized fluid and produces a fluctuating fluid to the fluid dis- l*- * " tributing manifolds which cyclically vary in pressure from a maximum pressure tc a minimum pressure.
• One of the problems associated with the prior art is the fact that a pulsating jet of cleansing fluid is utilized. Because the cleansing fluid supply is l* ** • turned alternatively completely on a d completely off at a high frequency, the sudden stopping and surging of the liquid creates a tremendous pounding which generates a noise level that is unacceptable. It is therefore necessary to vary the fluid pressure from a 0 maximum to a minimum pressure cyclically without com ⁇ pletely interrupting the flow of the cleansing fluid.
• a two speed motor 102 drives a. V-belt pulley 304 through shaft 106.
• a V-belt 108 couples pulley 104 with a larger pulley 110 which is mounted on shaft 112.
• Shaft 112 extends into valve housing 114 which has two output ports 116 and 118 respectively and input port 120.
• the cleansing fluid enters input port 120 under pressure from a source such as a pump (not shown) .
• Mounted on shaft 112 inside housing 114 are two impellers 122 and 124. As will be seen with respect to Fig. 12, impellers 122 and 124 are shaped generally in a
• flange 126 of impeller 124 is blocking orifice 118 to its maximum thus allowing
• impeller 122 which is 90 degrees rotationally spaced from impeller 124, has both its upper and lower flanges 128 and 130 clear'of orifice 116 thus allowing maximum water pressure to pass to the fluid distributing manifold 20 to which this orifice is
• impeller 124 will have its flanges clear of orifice 118 while impeller 122 will have one of its upper or lower flanges 128 or 130 blocking orifice 116 to its maxi ⁇ mum pressure.
• the fluid being coupled to the fluid distributing manifold 20 from orifice 116 is at its maximum pressure.
• the fluid not be completely stopped, or pulsed, in order to reduce the noise level and to permit continued usage without irritation to the skin.
• the flanges forming impellers 122 and 124 are beveled at an angle of each end thereof.
• flange 128 of impeller 122 is beginning to move into orifice 116.
• the flange is just outside the orifice and maximum pres ⁇ sure is being passed through the orifice 116.
• flange 128 has moved such that the tip of the flange is just entering orifice 116 and begins to gradually cut off the fluid flow.
• the tip of flange 128 has moved to a point whereby approx ⁇ imately one-fourth of the fluid flow has been reduced through orifice 116.
• the impeller 128 has moved sufficiently into orifice 116 to cut off approx- imately one-half of the fluid flow.
• the flange 128 of impeller 122 has moved sufficiently through orifice 116 to close off approximately three- fourths of the fluid flow and at point F, the flange 128 has moved sufficiently through orifice 116 to reduce the fluid flow to almost the minimum pressure.
• Impeller 122 has an upper flange 128 and a lower flange 130 and is generally in the shape of a figure-eight.
• Each end 136 of the upper flange 128 and each end 138 of the lower flange 130 is cut at an angle so as to form a point 140 as shown in Fig. 12. As explained pre ⁇ viously, this enables one end of the impeller to enter its output orifice gradually to cut off the pressure and then the other end to leave the orifice 5 gradually thus restoring the pressure and causing the cyclically varying pressure and causing the cyclically varying pressure rather than a "pulsating" pressure.
• Orifice 142 is for the insertion of the drive shaft 112 which is coupled by the V-belts to motor 102. 0
• An orifice 144 allows a set screw or other type of fastening unit to attach the impeller 122 to shaft 112.
• width of flange 128 is such that it does not completely block the output orifice 116 shown in Fig. 10. It has been found that 5 the preferred ratio of the closed area of the output orifice to the area left open is 82% to 18%. This
• •- . means that 82% of the output orifice 116 is closed when the impeller flange blocks the discharge opening to its maximum and 18% of the output orifice 116 is 0 left open at that time. This allows approximately 117 gallons of fluid per minute to be transferred through the output orifice when the orifice is en ⁇ tirely opened and allows approximately 20 gallons per minute to flow in its semi-closed position.
• the fluid pressure is cyclically varied from a maximum to a minimum pressure with a gradual change in between the two pressure limits.
• the minimum pressure that should be allowed is that which allows sufficiently 5 quiet operation of the device -as well as cleansing of the skin without irritation both of which objec ⁇ tions occur when the fluid is pulsed or cut entirely off then suddenly turned on.
• FIG. 14 is a side view of the impeller 122.
• FIG. 15 is a front view of the rubber boot 28 illustrated in Fig. 1 and includes a flange 70, a truncated cone body 146 and an indentation or groove 76 at the end thereof.
• FIG. 16 illustrates how the rubber boot looks in cross-section when it is mounted in the mounting flange 24 shown in Fig. 1.
• the boot has a flange 70 which is placed in indentation 148 over which is 5 placed a sealing ring 150 which is held in place by screws 152.
• Flange 70 is slightly thicker than indentation 148 but because it is made of rubber such as amtex latex rubber compound no. 15030, amber, it is held tightly in place.
• the rubber boot 28 has a
• indentation 76 fits snugly about any size arm since it is made of rubber and therefore is elastic in nature. As can be seen in Fig. 3, nozzles 74 direct the cleansing fluid on the inside surfaces of the rubber boot 28 during the cleansing
• OM tized inside surface of the boot 28 comes in contact with the part of the body which has been cleansed.
• the cleansed arm is not subjected to any part of the apparatus that has not been cleansed or that might contain germs.
• the indentation 76 illustrated in Fig. 16 keeps the arm in contact with the sterilized inner surface of rubber boot 28 while the arm and hand is being removed therefrom to pre ⁇ vent contamination of the cleansed arm arid hands.
• the U-shaped groove 76 allows different size arms to fit snugly in the rubber boot and still pre ⁇ vents blood cut off for the larger arms inasmuch as it is flexible and can give.
• the electrical control unit 22 includes a timer built therein which can be set to any predetermined amount of time, for instance, 90 seconds, and which will also automatically shut the unit off when the preset amount of time has elapsed.
• the present invention relates to a unique lavage device which saves valuable time with the possibility of saving human lives. It has a great number of advantages over a standard ten minute pre- surgical scrub including reducing the scrub time by as much as 85%, achieving consistent presurgical scrub results, causing much less irritation to the skin, providing cost and energy efficient use, in ⁇ creasing productivity with time saving, promoting enthusiasm for safety and cleanliness and removing more skin bacteria thus reducing risk of contamina ⁇ tion.

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• Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• Surgery (AREA)
• Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Molecular Biology (AREA)
• General Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Biomedical Technology (AREA)
• Heart & Thoracic Surgery (AREA)
• Medical Informatics (AREA)
• Nuclear Medicine, Radiotherapy & Molecular Imaging (AREA)
• Animal Behavior & Ethology (AREA)
• Pathology (AREA)
• Public Health (AREA)
• Veterinary Medicine (AREA)
• Infusion, Injection, And Reservoir Apparatuses (AREA)
• Cleaning By Liquid Or Steam (AREA)
• Body Washing Hand Wipes And Brushes (AREA)
• Devices For Medical Bathing And Washing (AREA)
• Eye Examination Apparatus (AREA)
• Massaging Devices (AREA)
• External Artificial Organs (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Publications (2)

Family

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Family Applications (1)

Country Status (11)

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• 1982
  • 1982-04-09 EP EP19820901483 patent/EP0105257A4/de not_active Ceased
  • 1982-04-09 NL NL8220158A patent/NL8220158A/nl not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 1982-04-09 AT AT0907482A patent/ATA907482A/de not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 1982-04-09 BR BR8208072A patent/BR8208072A/pt unknown
  • 1982-04-09 CH CH6522/83A patent/CH665571A5/de not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 1982-04-09 AU AU83994/82A patent/AU550202B2/en not_active Ceased
  • 1982-04-09 DE DE19823249415 patent/DE3249415T1/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 1982-04-09 JP JP57501500A patent/JPS59500500A/ja active Granted
  • 1982-04-09 WO PCT/US1982/000438 patent/WO1983003560A1/en not_active Ceased
  • 1982-04-09 GB GB08332515A patent/GB2130879B/en not_active Expired
• 1983
  • 1983-12-08 SE SE8306772A patent/SE8306772D0/xx not_active Application Discontinuation

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