Surgery – Truss – Pad
Patent
1991-04-15
1992-09-15
Hindenburg, Max
Surgery
Truss
Pad
73149, A61B 5103
Patent
active
051469227
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
This invention has been achieved and developed to date primarily in connection with the measurement of nasal volume and it is accordingly both appropriate and convenient to describe the invention in relation to such application. However, it is to be understood that the invention is open to other applications of medical and non-medical form.
The primary interest arises from the proposition that a predisposition to the condition known as `glue ear` correlates with a less than normal nasal airway size. This condition is a common cause for surgical treatment in children for whom delayed development is otherwise a consequence. In fact such impaired development has often already occurred before treatment insofar as treatment is typically only prescribed when the condition is clearly recognised from recurrence.
Given this situation, a satisfactory means and/or procedure for providing a measure of nasal airway size is of potential benefit because it can give an early indication for treatment.
A proposal for such a procedure has in fact recently been made by A. J. Parker and A. R. Maw as described in a paper entitled "Treatment of glue ear in relation to radiographic palatal airway size a predictor for outcome following adenoidectomy?" published in The Journal of Laryngology and Otology, January 1989, Vol. 103, pp 66-70. However, while this proposal may be of benefit for the purpose at hand, it is questionable whether the necessary cephalometric radiography of children can be viewed as a desirable procedure from other points of view.
An object of the present invention is to improve this situation whereby nasal airway size can be indicated in a more benign and therefore acceptable manner by way of nasal volume.
To this end the invention involves, in more general procedural terms, the volumetric measurement of a first closed space of unknown volume by communicating the same with a second closed space of known volume, changing the volume of the second space by a predetermined amount, obtaining representations of the pressures in the spaces respectively with the second space at its original known volume and its changed volume, and determining a measure of the unknown volume of the first space from the known volume, the volume change and the pressure representations.
In another aspect the invention provides apparatus for carrying out such a procedure.
The volumetric determination of the invention rests on an application of Boyles law, according to which PV/T is constant for a gas, where P, V and T respectively denote pressure, volume and temperature. For the purposes of the invention it is assumed that the temperature, or temperatures, in the two spaces will remain unchanged to the extent that an acceptable measure is obtained. Also a similar assumption is made in respect of the unknown volume which is not necessarily, as in the case of the nasal airway for example, defined by a rigid boundary. These assumptions have in fact been found to be reasonable if the volumetric change represents a small proportion of the initial combined volume of the two spaces and if the volume change and related pressure measurement are effected within a short period of time.
In the case of the nasal airway the space of interest is, of course, not normally closed: it is open to the atmosphere by way of the two nostrils and to the mouth and lungs by way of the palate. In application of the invention to measurement of nasal airway volume it is accordingly proposed that a suitable nasal plug carrying a tube for communication with the second space be sealingly located in one nostril, while the other nostril is held closed manually or by a clip when appropriate. Alternatively, the second space can be communicated with both nostrils by way of a nasal mask sealingly located around the nose. In either case, the palate can at the same time be closed by having the patient effect a forced oral expiration, such as by blowing through a straw or other tube. Also, in such application of the invention, the volumetric change in the second space is preferably
REFERENCES:
patent: 3453881 (1969-07-01), Keng
patent: 3769834 (1973-11-01), Fletcher et al.
patent: 4369652 (1983-01-01), Gundlach
Kerridge David H.
Williamson Ian G.
Hindenburg Max
National Research Development Corporation
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