Apparatus of cardiopulmonary resuscitator

Abstract

The present invention discloses an apparatus of cardiopulmonary resuscitator that is operated through a driving mechanism controlled and driven by air power. The driving mechanism functions to actuate a belt adapted to extend around the chest of a patient to generate reciprocating movement of pressing and releasing so as to achieve a purpose of cardiopulmonary resuscitation for recovering heartbeat and breathing of the patent. By means of the disclosure of the present invention, the apparatus of cardiopulmonary resuscitator is capable of being operated in any kinds of occasions without worrying about lack of power electricity. Meanwhile, the driving mechanism can provide higher reliability and lower cost through the mechanism design that is more simplified than the design of electrical control element used in the conventional apparatus.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a chest compression apparatus, and relates to an apparatus of cardiopulmonary resuscitator.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The American Heart Association (AHA) has estimated that over 350,000 individuals in the United States experience a sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) each year, which is a sudden, abrupt loss of heart function resulting in sudden cardiac death within minutes of onset. Unfortunately, 95 percent of SCA victims die because cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) isn't provided soon enough.

CPR is the abbreviation for cardio pulmonary resuscitation, and is an emergency technique applied by combining artificial respiration and massage outside the heart, when breathing stops and the heart stops beating. Due to brain damage is likely to occur in just 4 to 6 minutes without oxygen supplying, and irreparable brain damage will be further caused while there is no oxygen supplying in more than 6 minutes. Accordingly, if the CPR is provided promptly, the breathing and circulation can be maintained to provide oxygen and blood flow to the brain so as to sustain life of patient in time. In another words, any cause of breath cease and cardiac arrest, including drowning, heart attack, car accident, electric shock, drug poisoning, gas poisoning and airway obstruction, before getting proper medical care, CPR is a effective choice to keep the brain cell and other organs from being damaged. With the merits of CPR described above, right now, the AHA trains more than 9 million people a year and it is determined to more than double that number, to 20 million, within the next five years.

However, manual CPR, even operated properly, will not provide enough efficiency to maintain the normal circulation of blood flowing to brain or heart due to, during processing CPR, the effectiveness getting decreased in occasions such as inadequate chest compression, rescuer fatigue, and moving patient by rescuer. Therefore, it has been a vital topic for the one skilled in this field to spend efforts providing an apparatus of cardiopulmonary resuscitator for overcoming the drawbacks of manual CPR.

Conventional technique for solve the above problem of manual CPR, such as U.S. Pat. No 6,171,267 applied by Michigan Instruments, Inc. in 1999, discloses a high impulse cardiopulmonary resuscitator shown in FIG. 1. The cardiopulmonary resuscitation method and apparatus that is adapted to performing high-impulse CPR includes providing a chamber having an expandable volume and a patient-contacting pad that moves as a function of volume of the chamber and supplying a controlled quantity of a fluid to the chamber. This results in increasing the chamber volume by a controlled amount, thereby compressing the patient's chest with the patient-contacting pad during a systolic phase.

Please refer to FIG. 1, the apparatus comprises a base 11, a column 12 supported by the base 11, and a cardiopulmonary resuscitation arm assembly 13 adjustably supported along the column 12. The cardiopulmonary resuscitation arm assembly 13 has a fluid control system additionally including a timing circuit, a control valve assembly and a pressure regulator. A flexible pressure hose 14 interconnects the portion of the pneumatic source providing pneumatic power. The timing circuit is selectively to operate to control valve assembly so as to control operating frequency and pressing depth of a massage pad 15.

Another conventional way, such as U.S. Pat. No 6,398,745 of Revivant Corporation, discloses a modular CPR assist device shown in FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B. The device includes a panel 20, a motor box 21 and a drive spool 22 driven by the motor box 21, a belt 23 and a computer module 24. The computer module 24 is programmed and operated to repeatedly turn the motor and release the clutch inside the motor box 21 to roll the compression belt 23 onto the drive spool 22 and release the drive spool 22 to allow the belt 23 to unroll so as to generate massage effect to the patient. The merits of the device can avoid causing injury to the chest during the operation and improve the efficiency of the compression.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is to provide a cardiopulmonary resuscitator actuating a belt around chest of a patient to generate reciprocating movement through a pneumatic power controlled by a controlling module so as to achieve a purpose of cardiac massage.

The present invention is to provide a cardiopulmonary resuscitator controlled and driven through a pneumatic power so as to actuate a belt around chest of a patient to generate reciprocating movement, wherein the cardiopulmonary resuscitator is capable of being driven without any electrical device so that the cardiopulmonary resuscitator my be used in outdoor environment or circumstances without supplying of electrical power.

The present invention is to provide a cardiopulmonary resuscitator with a massage mechanism actuated by the pneumatic power to drive the belt around the chest of the patient so as to achieve a purpose of simplifying the mechanical design and reducing the risk of failure and cost of manufacturing.

The present invention provides a cardiopulmonary resuscitator, comprising: a panel for supporting a patient; a first belt, disposed at a side of the panel, for wrapping around the chest of the patient; a driving device, connected to the first belt and driven by a pneumatic source to cyclically tighten and loosen the first belt around the chest of the patient; and a controlling module, coupled to the pneumatic source, functioning to control and adjust the pneumatic power generated by the pneumatic source.

In addition, the present invention further provides a cardiopulmonary resuscitator, comprising a panel for supporting a patient; a first belt, disposed at a side of the panel, wrapping around the chest of the patient; a flexible body, disposed on one side of the panel opposite to the side for supporting the patient, functioning to tighten and loosen the first belt for compressing and releasing the chest of the patent through a inflating and deflating motion generated by a pneumatic power; and a controlling module, connected to a pneumatic source, being capable of adjusting the air flow provided from the pneumatic source to pass in and out the flexible body.

Other aspects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, illustrating by way of example the principles of the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The drawings, incorporated into and form a part of the disclosure, illustrate the embodiments and method related to this invention and will assist in explaining the detail of the invention.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional cardiopulmonary resuscitator.

FIG. 2A. and FIG. 2B illustrate another conventional cardiopulmonary resuscitator.

FIG. 3A illustrates a perspective view of the first embodiment of a cardiopulmonary resuscitator according to the present invention.

FIG. 3B illustrates a bottom view of the first embodiment of a cardiopulmonary resuscitator according to the present invention.

FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B illustrate the operation of the first embodiment of the cardiopulmonary resuscitator according to the present invention.

FIG. 4C is a schematic illustration of a massage pad disposed in the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 illustrates another embodiment of pneumatic source in the present invention.

FIG. 6A and FIG. 6B illustrates a second embodiment of cardiopulmonary resuscitator according to the present invention.

FIG. 7A and FIG. 7B illustrates a third embodiment of cardiopulmonary resuscitator according to the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

For your esteemed members of reviewing committee to further understand and recognize the fulfilled functions and structural characteristics of the invention, several preferable embodiments cooperating with detailed description are presented as the follows.

Please refer to FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B, wherein FIG. 3A is a perspective view of the first embodiment of a cardiopulmonary resuscitator according to the present invention and FIG. 3B illustrates a bottom view of the first embodiment of a cardiopulmonary resuscitator according to the present invention. The cardiopulmonary resuscitator 3 comprises a panel 30, a first belt 31, a flexible body 37, and a controlling module 35. The panel 30 is capable of supporting a patient. There is at least one handle 38 disposed around the side of the panel 30 so as to increase the portability of the cardiopulmonary resuscitator 3; in this embodiment, two of the handles 38 are disposed on the two sides of the panel 30 and another handle 38 is disposed on the front of the panel 30. The first belt 31, disposed at a side of the panel 30, for wrapping around the chest of the patient 90. The first belt 31 further has a fastener 310 for appropriately adjusting the first belt 31 according to the size of chest of the patient 90. In the embodiment of the present invention, the fastener 310 is a hook-and-loop fastener, but should not be a limitation of the present invention. The flexible body 37, disposed on the bottom of the panel 30, has an accommodation space for allowing air flow in and out so that the flexible body 37 can generate an inflating and deflating movement to cyclically tighten and loosen the first belt 31 for compressing and releasing the chest of patient 90. The flexible body 37 in this embodiment is a bladder.

The controlling module 35, coupled to a pneumatic source 34 and the flexible body 37, is capable of controlling airflow provided from the pneumatic source 34 to pass in and out of the accommodation space of the flexible body 37. In the embodiment, the pneumatic source 34 is a high-pressure bottle for providing airflow to the flexible body. In addition, an operating panel 36 with plural turn knobs or bottom is coupled to the controlling module 35 for controlling the flowing rate to the flexible body 37. The controlling module 35 connects to the flexible body 37 with pipes 350 so that the flexible body 37 can receive and exhaust air through the pipes 350.

Meanwhile, the panel 30 further has two openings 301 on two opposite sides thereof for allowing two ends of a second belt 32 to pass therethrough. The second belt 32 contacts with the flexible body and its two ends connect to the two ends of the first belt with a buckle 33 respectively. Preferably, a fastener (not shown) such as hook-and-loop fastener is disposed between the flexible body 37 and the second belt 32 for enforcing the adhesive force between the second belt 32 and the flexible body 37. A plurality of rollers 39, shown in FIG. 4A, are disposed at the bottom of the panel 30 to contact with the second belt 32 for providing action force to the second belt 32 so as to increase and adjust the tension force of the second belt 32.

Please refer to FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B, which illustrate the operation of the first embodiment of the cardiopulmonary resuscitator according to the present invention. The patient 90 lies down the panel 30 and the first belt 31 wraps the chest of the patient 90. By means of the controlling module controlling the pneumatic pressure inside the flexible body 37, the flexible body 37 inflates, shown in FIG. 4A, to actuate the second belt 32 pulling the first belt 31 through the buckle 33. Once the first belt 31 is pulled, the first belt 31 will tighten to compress the chest of the patient 90. Please refer to FIG. 4B, the controlling module controls the air to pass out of the flexible body 37 which deflates the flexible body 37 so that the second belt 32 returns to the original status to loosen the first belt 31 so as to release the chest of the patient 90. With the cyclic movement of the first belt 31 shown in FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B, the pressure inside the chest of the patient 90 increases to push the blood in circulation so as to prevent the irreparable brain damage caused by a lack of oxygen from occurring.

Returning to FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B, in this embodiment, the emergency operator setup condition through turn knob of the control panel 36 according to the age, the type of build, and gender of the patient so that the controlling module 35 can be operated in an appropriate manner in accordance with the setup of the control panel. In the embodiment of the present invention, the compression frequency can be configured between 50 times per minutes to 100 times per minutes; meanwhile, the inflating range of the flexible body 37 is up to 4 to 8 centimeter while the compression force is between 30 to 60 kilogram.

In the embodiment, the controlling module 35 is a module of mechanical air control valve, which is capable of providing steady air flow to the flexible body 37 during chest compression, reducing environmental influence, and avoiding breaking down usually arisen from the electrical controlling module utilized in the conventional cardiopulmonary resuscitator, so as to improve the reliability and stability and increase use occasions of the cardiopulmonary resuscitator.

Please refer to FIG. 4C, a massage pad 6 is disposed on the first belt 31 toward the chest of the patient to concentrate a compression force to the center of the chest of the patient 90. The massage pad 6 is made of rubber and is attached to the first belt 31 through hook-and-loop fastener so that the emergency operators may optionally decide whether to use the massage pad 6 or not according the patient status.

Please refer to FIG. 5, which illustrates another embodiment of pneumatic source in the present invention. In the embodiment of FIG. 5, the pneumatic source 34a is an inflator with a pedal 341a disposed thereon. The operator's foot 91 can step on the pedal 341a through a cyclical motion to compress the inflator so that the inflator can provide air flow to inflate and deflate the flexible body 37 so as to tighten and loosed the first belt 31 around the chest of the patient for providing the compression force toward the chest of the patient.

Please refer to FIGS. 6A and 6B, which illustrates a second embodiment of cardiopulmonary resuscitator according to the present invention. In the embodiment, the cardiopulmonary resuscitator 4 comprises a panel 40, a first belt 41, and controlling module (not shown in figure) and a driving device 45. The panel 40, the first belt 41, and the controlling module are the same as the embodiment described previously.

The driving device 45 has an air cylinder 450, a piston rod 451 and a fastener 452. The air cylinder 450 actuates the piston rod 451 to generate a linear reciprocating motion through the pneumatic power from the pneumatic source 44. The fastener 452, disposed in the front end of the piston rod 451, functions to clamp a second belt 42. The two ends of the second belt 42 connect to the two ends of the first belt 41 with a buckle 43 respectively. A plurality of rollers 46, disposed on the bottom side of the panel 40, contact to the second belt for providing action force to the second belt 42 so as to adjust the tension force of the second belt 42.

By means of the controlling module controlling the pneumatic source 44 to provide airflow into the air cylinder 450, the air cylinder 450 will actuate the piston rod 451 moving back and forth to tighten and loosen the second belt 42 so as to pull the first belt 41 to compress and release toward the chest of the patient 90. In FIG. 6A, the piston rod 451 extending outward to loosen the second belt 42 for releasing the first belt 41, while in the FIG. 6B, the piston rod 452 moving backward to pullback the second belt 42 so as to make the first belt 41 compress the chest of the patient 90.

Just like the previous embodiment, the emergency operator setup condition through turn knob of the control panel (not shown, but the same as the previous embodiment) according to the age, the type of build, and gender of the patient 90 so that the controlling module can be operated in an appropriate manner in accordance with the setup of the control panel. In the embodiment of the present invention, the compression frequency can be configured between 50 times per minutes to 100 times per minutes; meanwhile, the piston stroke can be controlled between 3 to 6 centimeter while the compression force is between 30 to 60 kilogram.

Please refer to FIG. 7A and FIG. 7B, which illustrates a third embodiment of cardiopulmonary resuscitator according to the present invention. In this embodiment, the cardiopulmonary resuscitator 5 has a panel 50 for supporting a patient 90, a first belt 51, a controlling module 55, and a driving device 56. The panel 50 has four supporters 57 disposed at four edges of the bottom side of the panel 50. The panel 50, the first belt 51 and the controlling module 55 are the same as the embodiment described before, it will not be further described hereafter.

The driving device 56 includes an air cylinder 560, a clamping member 561, a pair of second belts 52, and a pair of holders 562. The air cylinder 560 disposed on the bottom of the panel 50 communicates with the controlling module 55 through air piping 550. The air cylinder 560 actuates a piston rod disposed thereon to generate a linear reciprocating motion through the pneumatic power from the pneumatic source 54. The clamping member 561 connects to the piston rod. The two ends for each of the second belt 52 connect to the one end of the first belt 51 and the holder 562 respectively. The pair of the holders, disposed at two sides of the air cylinder 560 respectively, connect to the clamping member 561.

The holder 562 further has a frame 5620 for sliding, a slider 5621, and a strap 5622. The frame 5620 for sliding is disposed on the bottom side of the panel 50. The slider 5621 disposed on the frame 5620 for sliding connects to the end of the second belt 52. The strap 5622 has two ends, wherein one end is connected to the slider 5621 and another end is connected to the clamping member 561. The bottom side of the panel 50 further includes plural rollers 5623 contacting with the strap 5622 for adjusting the tension force of the strap 5622.

By means of the controlling module 55 to control the pneumatic power provided by the pneumatic source 54, the air cylinder 560 actuates the piston rod to move back and forth so as to drive the slider 5621 to generate a reciprocating motion through the clamping member 561 and the strap 5622. Since the second belt 52 is a relaying element connecting to the slider 5621 and the first belt 51, the first belt 51 will become tightened and loosened to massage the chest of the patient 90 through the reciprocating motion of the second belt 52 driven by the air cylinder 560.

While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been set forth for the purpose of disclosure, modifications of the disclosed embodiment of the invention as well as other embodiments thereof may occur to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the appended claims are intended to cover all embodiments which do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A cardiopulmonary resuscitator, comprising: a panel for supporting a patient;a first belt, disposed at a side of the panel, for wrapping around the chest of the patient;a driving device, connected to the first belt and driven by a pneumatic source to cyclically tighten and loosen the first belt around the chest of the patient comprising: an air cylinder, disposed on the opposite side of the panel, having a piston rod, and receiving the pneumatic power generated from the pneumatic source to drive the piston rod moving back and forth so as to tighten and loosen the first belt around the chest of the patient;a second belt connecting to the two ends of the first belt; anda fastener disposed on the end of the piston rod for catching a part of the second belt;a controlling module, coupled to the pneumatic source, functioning to control and adjust the pneumatic power generated by the pneumatic source; anda plurality of rollers contacting the second belt for providing an action force on the second belt so as to increase the tension of the second belt.

2. The cardiopulmonary resuscitator according to claim 1, wherein the pneumatic source is selected from a group consisting of a high pressure bottle and an inflator, which generates air flow through a compression and inflation movement operated by a action force.

3. The cardiopulmonary resuscitator according to claim 1, wherein the piston rod connects to the first belt through the second belt.

4. The cardiopulmonary resuscitator according to claim 1, further comprising a massage pad, made of a rubber material and disposed on side of the first belt toward the chest of the patient.

5. The cardiopulmonary resuscitator according to claim 1, wherein the panel further comprises a handle for carrying.

6. The cardiopulmonary resuscitator according to claim 1, wherein the first belt further comprises a fastener for adjusting the first belt according to the size of chest of the patient.