Patent Application
20240065462
The present invention relates to in general to a drinking straw, and more particularly, to an improved straw which is dipped into a drink and covered with a finger from outside and will be released into a patient's mouth by uncovering with the finger to release the liquid.
For healthy patients a better mouthfeel of a foodstuff can be a reason to eat it more often simply because they prefer the “taste” of it. For dysphagia patients things are however completely different. In fact, a good mouthfeel may be considered a matter of life and death. Dysphagia patients are afraid to consume foodstuffs that appear too thin to them, because they fear to choke. This fear often shows by a reluctance to eat or drink and may lead to dehydration and mal-nutrition.
People with dysphagia generally lack proper muscle control and coordination to properly seal the windpipe or they lack the ability to properly propel the entire bolus of food and/or beverage to the stomach. For these reasons it is extremely important that the foodstuffs dysphagia patients consume have the proper viscosity when they judge the food visually and when they feel it in their mouth during consumption.
Historically, a significant portion of a nurse's or care giver time is consumed by the process of administering food to patients. For relatively able patients, all that may be required is the delivery of a pill and a glass of water. However, even for this simple task, the time required to administer liquid to people suffering from dysphagia is significant and cumbersome as well.
There are multiple techniques that can be seen in prior art regarding administering liquid to the elderly people or dysphagia patients. However, these solutions are limited and restricted to their conventional architecture, installation system and have considerable shortcomings which adversely affect the convenience with which they can be used. The prior systems have certain limitations including the design of assemblies which make them not suitable for every type of use. Moreover, the ease-of-use ability of these assemblies is also questionable.
The current invention proposes a straw which is dipped into a drink and covered with a finger on the outside extremity and will hold the drink inside. Once inserted into a patient's mouth uncovering with the finger, a few drops will be released by gravity into the patient's mouth and stimulate oral muscles and making extremely easier for the swallowing part to be processed with much less struggle by the patient. This provides ease of use and a great deal of convenience to the caretaker and patient. None of the previous inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed. Hence, the inventor of the present invention proposes to resolve and surmount existent technical difficulties to eliminate the aforementioned shortcomings of prior art.
In light of the disadvantages of the prior art, the following summary is provided to facilitate an understanding of some of the innovative features unique to the present invention and is not intended to be a full description. A full appreciation of the various aspects of the invention can be gained by taking the entire specification, claims and abstract as a whole.
The primary object of the invention is related to an advancement in offering drinking straw for users including but not limited to elderly, patients suffering from Dysphagia and so on. The invention is also helpful for people who can't suck into the straw to drink through a regular straw.
It is also the objective of invention to provide a pipe shape and size straw with a very thin and round edge making it very smooth for insertion.
It is further the objective of the invention to provide a drinking straw where the top of the “pipe” will unscrew to be able to fill it up with the liquids and a button to release the air holding the liquids inside so gravity can release into the patient's mouth.
It is also the objective of invention to provide assembly which is developed form high quality material and can be used/reused multiple times.
It is further the objective of the invention to provide an aesthetically pleasing straw assembly which provides larger amount of liquid as compared to traditional straws.
It is the further objective of the present invention to provide a simplicity of its design.
It is further the objective of invention to provide a high-quality material which is also FDA approved to maintain its hygienic level.
This Summary is provided merely for purposes of summarizing some example embodiments, so as to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the subject matter described herein. Accordingly, it will be appreciated that the above-described features are merely examples and should not be construed to narrow the scope or spirit of the subject matter described herein in any way. Other features, aspects, and advantages of the subject matter described herein will become apparent from the following Detailed Description, Figures, and Claims.
Detailed descriptions of the preferred embodiment are provided herein. It is to be understood, however, that the present invention may be embodied in various forms. Therefore, specific details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but rather as a basis for the claims and as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to employ the present invention in virtually any appropriately detailed system, structure or manner.
The current invention in its preferred embodiment aims to provide an advancement in drinking straw assembly for people with swallowing issues also termed as Dysphagia. Dysphagia is the medical term for the symptom of difficulty in swallowing. Epidemiological studies estimate a prevalence rate of 16% to 22% among individuals over 50 years of age.
Esophageal dysphagia affects a large number of individuals of all ages, but is generally treatable with medications and is considered a less serious form of dysphagia. Esophageal dysphagia is often a consequence of mucosal, mediastinal, or neuromuscular diseases. Mucosal (intrinsic) diseases narrow the lumen through inflammation, fibrosis, or neoplasia associated with various conditions (e.g. peptic stricture secondary to gastroesophageal reflux disease, esophageal rings and webs [e.g. sideropenic dysphagia or Plummer-Vinson syndrome], esophageal tumors, chemical injury [e.g., caustic ingestion, pill esophagitis, sclerotherapy for varices], radiation injury, infectious esophagitis, and eosinophilic esophagitis). Mediastinal (extrinsic) diseases obstruct the esophagus by direct invasion or through lymph node enlargement associated with various conditions (tumors [e.g., lung cancer, lymphoma], infections [e.g., tuberculosis, histoplasmosis], and cardiovascular [dilated auricula and vascular compression]). Neuromuscular diseases may affect the esophageal smooth muscle and its innervation, disrupting peristalsis or lower esophageal sphincter relaxation, or both, commonly associated with various conditions (achalasia [both idiopathic and associated with Chagas disease], scleroderma, other motility disorders, and a consequence of surgery [i.e., after fundoplication and antireflux interventions]). It is also common for individuals with intraluminal foreign bodies to experience acute esophageal dysphagia.
The general awareness of swallowing impairments is low among front-line practitioners. Many people (especially those who are elderly) suffer with undiagnosed and untreated swallowing impairments. One reason is that front-line community care practitioners (e.g., general practitioners/geriatricians, home care nurses, physical therapists, etc.) do not typically screen for the condition. If they are aware of the severity of swallowing impairments, the current methods of delivering liquid become quite cumbersome for both of parties involved.
The current assembly as per its preferred embodiments aims to provide a drinking straw which is pipe shaped and size and has top portion which will unscrew to be able to fill up with the liquids. The button allows to release the air holding the liquids inside so gravity can release into the patient's mouth. By pressing the button will release the liquid and by pressing it again will cover the air again controlling the amount of liquids being released. The “pipe” structure also allows to hold a bigger amount of liquids and being able to surpass a simple straw amount.
While a specific embodiment has been shown and described, many variations are possible. With time, additional features may be employed. The particular shape or configuration of the platform or the interior configuration may be changed to suit the system or equipment with which it is used.
Having described the invention in detail, those skilled in the art will appreciate that modifications may be made to the invention without departing from its spirit. Therefore, it is not intended that the scope of the invention be limited to the specific embodiment illustrated and described. Rather, it is intended that the scope of this invention be determined by the appended claims and their equivalents.
The Abstract of the Disclosure is provided to allow the reader to quickly ascertain the nature of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. In addition, in the foregoing Detailed Description, it can be seen that various features are grouped together in various embodiments for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure. This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed embodiments require more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive subject matter lies in less than all features of a single disclosed embodiment. Thus, the following claims are hereby incorporated into the Detailed Description, with each claim standing on its own as a separately claimed subject matter.
