阅读说明：本技术 具有流体管理结构的滤筒组件 (Filter cartridge assembly with fluid management structure ) 是由 雅各布·琼斯 约瑟夫·艾伦 乔纳森·特毛里 斯特凡妮·雷图雷塔 罗德尼·克雷恩 马赫什·克 于 2020-03-18 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明公开了一种滤筒组件,所述滤筒组件包括：壳体,所述壳体具有用于收集通过气体返回路径进入所述壳体的流体的贮存器；传感器,所述传感器位于所述贮存器内用于检测其中的液位；以及垫板,所述垫板邻近所述贮存器的入口端口定位在所述壳体内并且包括流体管理结构,以保护所述传感器免受通过入口端口从所述气体返回路径进入所述贮存器的流体的影响,并且引起所述贮存器中的所述液位的错误指示。(A filter cartridge assembly is disclosed, the filter cartridge assembly comprising: a housing having a reservoir for collecting fluid entering the housing through a gas return path; a sensor located within the reservoir for detecting a liquid level therein; and a pad positioned within the housing adjacent to the inlet port of the reservoir and including a fluid management structure to protect the sensor from fluid entering the reservoir through the inlet port from the gas return path and cause a false indication of the liquid level in the reservoir.)

1. A filter cartridge assembly comprising:

a) a housing including a reservoir for collecting fluid entering the housing through a gas return path;

b) a sensor located within the reservoir for detecting a liquid level therein; and

c) a pad positioned within the housing adjacent to an inlet port of the reservoir and including a fluid management structure to protect the sensor from fluid entering the reservoir from the gas return path through the inlet port and to cause a false indication of the liquid level in the reservoir.

2. A filter cartridge assembly as recited in claim 1, wherein the backing plate includes an outlet port from the reservoir, and a radial guard wall extends from the backing plate into the reservoir for deflecting fluid entering the reservoir away from the outlet port and into the reservoir.

3. The filter cartridge assembly of claim 2, wherein the fluid management structure comprises a baffle wall adjacent the level sensor to protect the level sensor from fluid entering the reservoir.

4. A filter cartridge assembly as recited in claim 3, wherein the baffle wall includes an elongated primary wall section and a secondary wall section extending at an angle away from the primary wall section.

5. The filter cartridge assembly of claim 4, wherein the primary wall section and the secondary wall section of the baffle wall are equally spaced from the sensor.

6. The filter cartridge assembly of claim 3, wherein said fluid management structure further comprises a plurality of spaced apart planar louvers extending from said guard wall toward said baffle wall.

7. The filter cartridge assembly of claim 3, wherein said fluid management structure further comprises a plurality of spaced apart posts extending outwardly from said backing plate and disposed between said guard wall and said baffle wall.

8. The filter cartridge assembly of claim 5, wherein said fluid management structure further comprises a plurality of spaced triangular louvers extending from said guard wall toward said baffle wall.

9. A filter cartridge assembly as recited in claim 1, wherein the sensor comprises a primary optical prism and a secondary optical prism extending radially inward from an inner wall of the housing into the reservoir.

10. A filter cartridge assembly as recited in claim 2, wherein at least one filter element is located within the housing downstream of the outlet port from the reservoir.

11. A filter cartridge assembly for a surgical gas delivery system, comprising:

a) a housing including a reservoir for collecting fluid entering the housing through a gas return path from a patient's body;

b) a pair of sensors located within the reservoir for detecting a fluid level within the reservoir; and

c) a backing plate positioned within the housing adjacent an inlet port of the reservoir and including an outlet port from the reservoir, the backing plate having a radial guard wall extending into the reservoir for deflecting liquid entering the reservoir from the gas return path through the inlet port away from the outlet port, and having a baffle wall spaced from the guard wall to protect the sensor from fluid entering the reservoir from the gas return path through the inlet port and cause a false indication of the liquid level in the reservoir.

12. A filter cartridge assembly as recited in claim 11, wherein the baffle wall includes an elongated primary wall section and a secondary wall section extending at an angle away from the primary wall section.

13. The filter cartridge assembly of claim 12, wherein said primary wall section and said secondary wall section of said baffle wall are equally spaced from said sensor.

14. A filter cartridge assembly as recited in claim 11, wherein a plurality of spaced apart planar louvers extend from the guard wall toward the baffle wall.

15. The filter cartridge assembly of claim 11, wherein a plurality of spaced apart posts extending outwardly from said backing plate are disposed between said guard wall and said baffle wall.

16. The filter cartridge assembly of claim 11, wherein a plurality of spaced apart triangular louvers extend from said guard wall toward said baffle wall.

17. A filter cartridge assembly as recited in claim 11, wherein the sensor comprises a primary optical prism and a secondary optical prism extending radially inward from an inner wall of the housing into the reservoir.

18. A filter cartridge assembly as recited in claim 11, wherein at least one filter element is located within the housing downstream of the outlet port of the reservoir.

19. A gasket for a filter cartridge assembly, comprising:

a disk including an outlet port adjacent a radially outer periphery thereof for communicating with a gas return path of the filter cartridge assembly; a guard wall extending radially from the outlet port to deflect fluid away from the outlet port and into a reservoir defined by the filter cartridge assembly; and a barrier wall spaced from the guard wall to protect a level sensor located within the reservoir from fluid entering the reservoir through the inlet port of the reservoir.

20. The gasket for a filter cartridge assembly of claim 19, wherein said baffle wall includes an elongated major wall section and a minor wall section extending at an angle away from said major wall section.

1.Technical Field

The present invention relates to apparatus for performing laparoscopic or endoscopic procedures, and more particularly to a filter cartridge assembly for use with a surgical gas circulation system.

2.Description of the related Art

Laparoscopic or "minimally invasive" surgical approaches are becoming increasingly common in the performance of procedures such as cholecystectomy, appendectomy, hernia repair, and nephrectomy. Benefits of such surgery include reduced trauma to the patient, reduced chances of infection, and reduced recovery time. Such procedures performed in the abdominal (peritoneal) cavity are typically performed through a device called a trocar or cannula, which facilitates the introduction of laparoscopic instruments into the abdominal cavity of the patient.

In addition, such procedures typically involve filling or "inflating" the abdominal cavity with a pressurized fluid, such as carbon dioxide, to create a surgical space known as pneumoperitoneum. Insufflation may be performed through a surgical access device, such as a trocar, equipped to deliver an insufflation fluid, or through a separate insufflation device, such as an insufflation (pneumo) needle. It is desirable to introduce surgical instruments into the pneumoperitoneum without substantial loss of insufflation gas in order to maintain the pneumoperitoneum.

During a typical laparoscopic procedure, the surgeon makes three to four small incisions, typically no larger than about twelve millimeters each, which are typically formed by the surgical access device itself through the use of a separate insert or obturator placed therein. After insertion, the obturator is removed and the trocar allows entry of instruments to be inserted into the abdominal cavity. Typical trocars provide a path for inflating the abdominal cavity so that the surgeon has an open interior space in which to work.

The trocar must also provide a way to maintain intraluminal pressure by sealing between the trocar and the surgical instrument being used while still allowing at least minimal freedom of movement of the surgical instrument. Such instruments may include, for example, scissors, grasping and occluding instruments, cauterizing units, cameras, light sources, and other surgical instruments. A sealing element or mechanism is typically provided on the trocar to prevent the insufflation gas from escaping from the abdominal cavity. These sealing mechanisms typically include a duckbill valve made of a relatively flexible material to seal against the outer surface of a surgical instrument passing through the trocar.

SurgiQuest, inc. of ConMed Corporation has developed a unique gas-sealed surgical access device that permits immediate access to a filled surgical cavity without the use of conventional mechanical seals, such as described in U.S. patent No. 7,854,724, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. These devices are made up of several nested parts including an inner tubular body portion and a coaxial outer tubular body portion. The inner tubular body portion defines a central lumen for introducing conventional laparoscopic surgical instruments into the abdominal cavity of a patient, and the outer tubular body portion defines an annular lumen surrounding the inner tubular body portion for delivering an insufflation gas to the abdominal cavity of the patient and for facilitating periodic sensing of abdominal pressure.

As described in U.S. patent No. 9,375,539, SurgiQuest, inc. has also developed a multi-mode gas delivery device for use with its gas-tight surgical access device that facilitates insufflation, gas recirculation, and smoke evacuation. As described in commonly assigned U.S. patent No. 9,067,030, the multi-mode gas delivery device pneumatically communicates with a gas-tight access device and other conventional surgical access devices through a disposable single-use filtered multi-lumen tube set.

The filtering multi-lumen tube set includes a filter cartridge having a housing defining an internal reservoir for capturing and collecting fluid drawn into the tube set during a smoke evacuation procedure by means of a surgical access device connected thereto. A pair of optical sensor prisms integrally formed with the housing are positioned within the reservoir for sensing a liquid level within the reservoir. These include a first optical prism for detecting a first liquid level within the reservoir and a second optical prism for detecting a second liquid level in the reservoir. These optical prisms act as reflective sensors in conjunction with an infrared emitter and photodiode control circuit positioned within the gas delivery device that generates a visual and/or audible signal indicating that the liquid level within the reservoir has reached certain thresholds.

In clinical and laboratory environments, it has been observed that liquid droplets can form on the optical prism due to the spraying and splashing of high velocity fluid through the gas return cavity of the tube bank into the cartridge housing, as shown in fig. 2 of the present application, which depicts a prior art filter cartridge assembly during use. This results in an erroneous message or indication of the liquid level in the reservoir when in fact only a very small amount of liquid actually accumulates in the reservoir. Such false positive errors may distract the surgical personnel and may result in interruption or delay of the surgical procedure.

It has been determined through testing and evaluation that the root cause of these false positive error messages is due to the design of an access path into the reservoir of the prior art cartridge housing that does not adequately divert fluid droplets from an optical prism positioned in the reservoir before the fluid has a chance to accumulate within the bottom of the reservoir.

The present invention is directed to solving this fluid management problem and thereby improving the existing filter cartridge designs currently in use.

Background

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention relates to a new and useful filter cartridge assembly for surgical gas delivery systems used during endoscopic and laparoscopic surgical procedures. The cartridge assembly includes: a cylindrical housing having an internal reservoir for collecting fluid entering the housing through a gas return path from a patient's body cavity; a sensor located within the reservoir for detecting a liquid level therein; and a circular pad positioned within the housing adjacent the inlet port of the reservoir and including fluid management structure to protect the sensor from fluid entering the reservoir through the inlet port from the gas return path and potentially cause a false indication of the liquid level in the reservoir, which would be problematic during surgery.

The circular pad includes an outlet port from the reservoir located adjacent the outer periphery of the plate. The pad also includes a radial guard wall extending from the pad into the reservoir for deflecting fluid entering the reservoir away from the outlet port and into the reservoir.

Preferably, the fluid management structure comprises a barrier wall positioned adjacent the level sensor to protect the level sensor from fluid entering the reservoir. The baffle wall includes an elongated primary wall section and a secondary wall section extending at an angle away from the primary wall section. The primary and secondary wall sections of the baffle wall are equally spaced from the sensor.

In one embodiment of the invention, the fluid management structure comprises a plurality of spaced apart planar louvers extending from the guide wall toward the baffle wall to affect the momentum of the fluid-filled airflow in a manner that reduces the likelihood that the fluid will contact the sensor in the reservoir. In another embodiment of the invention, the fluid management structure comprises a plurality of spaced apart posts or bosses extending outwardly from the backing plate and disposed between the shield wall and the baffle wall to further influence the momentum of the fluid-filled gas entering the reservoir. In yet another embodiment of the invention, the fluid management structure includes a plurality of spaced triangular louvers extending from the guide wall toward the baffle wall.

The present invention also relates to a shim plate for use in a filter cartridge assembly, comprising a disk including an outlet port adjacent a radially outer periphery thereof for communicating with a gas return path of the filter cartridge assembly; a guard wall extending radially from the outlet port to deflect fluid away from the outlet port and into a reservoir defined by the filter cartridge assembly; and a barrier wall spaced from the guard wall to protect a level sensor located within the reservoir from fluid entering the reservoir through the inlet port of the reservoir.

These and other features of the filter cartridge assembly of the present invention will become more readily apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments, which is to be read in connection with the accompanying drawings.

Drawings

In order that those skilled in the art will readily understand how to make and use the filter cartridge assembly of the present invention without undue experimentation, preferred embodiments thereof will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a gas circulation system including a multi-mode surgical gas delivery device and a tri-lumen filter tube set constructed in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a prior art filter cartridge assembly for use with the surgical gas delivery device shown in FIG. 1, wherein a portion of the outer wall of the cartridge housing has been cut away to illustrate a problem that arises when fluid entering the reservoir contacts a level sensor positioned therein, resulting in a false indication of the level of fluid in the reservoir;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a filter cartridge assembly of the present invention with a portion of the outer wall of the cartridge housing wall cut away to show fluid management structure shielded from a backer plate of a level sensor positioned within the reservoir of the cartridge housing;

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the filter cartridge assembly shown in FIG. 3 with parts broken away for ease of illustration, with a shim plate shown with a fluid management baffle;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the shim plate shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a filter cartridge assembly of the present invention with a portion of the outer wall of the cartridge housing cut away to show how a fluid management baffle on the backer plate protects the level sensor from fluid entering the reservoir;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a filter cartridge of the present invention with a portion of the outer wall of the cartridge housing cut away to show another embodiment of the fluid management structure of the shim plate;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the shim plate shown in FIG. 7, illustrating a fluid management structure including a baffle wall and planar louvers associated with the baffle wall;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a filter cartridge of the present invention with a portion of the outer wall of the cartridge housing cut away to show yet another embodiment of the fluid management structure of the shim plate;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the dunnage shown in FIG. 9, illustrating a fluid management structure including a dam wall, a planar louver associated with the guard wall, and a plurality of spaced apart posts disposed between the dam wall and the planar louver;

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a filter cartridge of the present invention with a portion of the outer wall of the cartridge housing cut away to show yet another embodiment of the fluid management structure of the shim plate; and is

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the shim plate shown in FIG. 11, illustrating a fluid management structure including a baffle wall and triangular louvers associated with the baffle wall.

Detailed Description

Referring now to the drawings, in which like numerals identify like structural elements and features of the present invention, there is shown in FIG. 1 a gas circulation system 10 for performing endoscopic surgery in a surgical cavity of a patient, and more particularly for performing laparoscopic surgery in the abdominal cavity of the patient.

The gas circulation system 10 includes a programmable multi-mode gas delivery device 12. The gas delivery device 12 is of the type described in commonly assigned U.S. patent No. 9,375,539, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. The gas delivery device 12 includes a graphical user interface 14 for setting operating parameters to facilitate the introduction of insufflation gas into a surgical cavity of a patient and for recirculating pressurized gas relative to the surgical cavity of the patient by means of a filter tube set 16. The device is also designed to facilitate smoke evacuation from a patient's body cavity during a surgical procedure.

The filter tube set 16 includes a three chamber section 18 and a filter cartridge assembly 20, for example, of the type disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. patent No. 9,067,030, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. The three chamber portion 18 of the filter cartridge assembly 20 includes a blow-in/sensing chamber 18a, a gas delivery chamber 18b and a gas return chamber 18 c. The filter cartridge assembly 20 of the filter tube bank 16 is adapted and configured to interface with a receiving port 22 in the front face of the gas delivery device 12.

Referring to fig. 3 and 4, the filter cartridge assembly 20 of the filter tube bank 16 has a generally cylindrical filter housing 24 including a front end cap 26, a central body portion 28, and a rear end cap 30. The central body portion 28 of the housing 24 may be made of a transparent material to enable visual inspection of the interior of the cartridge if necessary. The front end cap 26 of the housing 24 has a manifold connection 32 for receiving a fitting 34 associated with the three-lumen tube set 18. Although not shown in the drawings, the rear end cap 30 of the housing 24 has a plurality of ports formed therein to accommodate the flow of gas into and out of the cartridge assembly 20.

The central body portion 28 of the housing 24 houses a front pleated filter element 35 adjacent the front end cap 26, an optional central carbon filter element 36, and a rear pleated filter element 38 adjacent the rear end cap 30. Additional filter elements may also be disposed within housing 24 of filter cartridge assembly 20.

The central body portion 28 of the filter housing 24 also defines an internal fluid trap or reservoir 40. The reservoir 40 has an upstream inlet port 25 that communicates with the gas return chamber 18c of the three chamber portion 18 by way of a gas return path that extends through the cartridge housing 24. The reservoir 40 is designed to collect the bodily fluid that has been drawn into the housing 24 as a fluid slug or a moist gas. This may occur when the gas delivery device 12 is operating in a gas recirculation mode or a smoke evacuation mode.

A circular pad 44 is positioned within the central body portion 28 of the housing 24 adjacent the upstream inlet port 25 of the reservoir 40. A downstream outlet port 47 of the reservoir 40 is formed in the backing plate 44 adjacent to its radially outer periphery. The outlet port 47 communicates with the outlet passage 46 of the backing plate 44 and directs gas from the reservoir back into the gas return path extending through the cartridge housing 24.

The backing plate 44 also includes a fluid management feature 45 in the form of a radially extending guard wall 48 that extends from the outlet passage 46 of the backing plate 44 and down into the reservoir 40. The guard wall 48 is positioned to deflect fluid entering the reservoir 40 away from the outlet passage 46 and the outlet port 47 and down into the bottom of the reservoir 40. This will inhibit fluid from passing through the reservoir 40 and traveling back into the gas return path to travel downstream toward the post-pleated filter element 35.

A pair of triangular optical prisms 42a, 42b extend radially inward from the inner wall of the filter housing 24 and are located within the reservoir 40 for sensing the liquid level within the reservoir 40. Preferably, a first or lower prism 42a defines a first setpoint level of the sensing system and a second or upper prism 42b defines a second setpoint level of the sensing system. More specifically, as disclosed in U.S. patent No. 9,067,030, the first prism 42a is positioned to detect a first liquid level within the reservoir 40, and the second prism 42b is positioned to detect a second liquid level within the reservoir 40.

In operation, infrared signals are directed into the optical prisms 42a, 42 b. If the liquid in the reservoir 40 does not cover the prism, it will return a 100% infrared signal and the system will continue to operate without an alarm. However, if the liquid in the reservoir 40 covers the prism, a portion of the infrared light will be scattered into the fluid and the prism will return less than 100% of the infrared signal. In such a case, a visual and/or audible warning would be provided to the surgical personnel indicating that the liquid level within the reservoir 40 has reached the threshold level.

In clinical and laboratory environments, it has been observed in prior art filter cartridges (such as filter cartridge assembly 100 shown in fig. 2) that liquid droplets can form on optical prisms 42a, 42b due to the ejection and sputtering of high velocity fluid-laden gas entering cartridge housing 24 through gas return cavity 18c via inlet port 25. This results in an error message or indication of the fluid level within the reservoir 40 when only a very small amount of fluid actually accumulates in the reservoir. Such false positive errors may distract the surgical personnel and may result in interruption or delay of the surgical procedure.

It has been determined through testing and evaluation that the root cause of these false positive error messages is due to the design of the inlet path of the prior art filter cartridge assembly 100 into the reservoir 40, which, as shown in fig. 2, is unable to adequately divert or deflect fluid droplets and eject them away from the optical prisms 42a, 42b located in the reservoir 40 before the fluid has had a chance to accumulate within the bottom of the reservoir 40.

To address this problem, in the filter cartridge assembly 20 of the present disclosure shown in fig. 3-6, the circular backing plate 44 is provided with fluid management structures to protect the optical prisms 42a, 42b from fluid entering the reservoir 40 through the upstream inlet port 25 and potentially cause an erroneous indication of the fluid level in the reservoir 40. More specifically, the backing plate 44 includes a baffle wall 50 positioned adjacent the optical prisms 42a, 42b to protect the optical prisms from fluid entering the reservoir 40 through the inlet port 25, as best seen in fig. 6. In essence, the baffle wall 50 forms a separate chamber within the reservoir 40 in which the optical sensors 42a, 42 are located and protected from incoming fluid jets that may be deflected off the inner surface of the pad 44 or the guard wall 48.

The baffle wall 50 includes an elongated main wall section 52 and a secondary wall section 54 extending at an angle away from the main wall section 52. The primary wall section 52 and the secondary wall section 54 of the baffle wall 50 are preferably equally spaced from the optical prisms 42a, 42 b. However, this spacing, as well as the axial height and radial length of the baffle wall segments, may vary as a result of design optimization.

In another embodiment of the invention shown in fig. 7 and 8, the fluid management structure of the baffle, designated by reference numeral 144, includes a plurality of spaced apart planar louvers 60 extending angularly away from the guard wall 48 toward the baffle wall 50. The louvers 60 are designed to deflect or otherwise redirect fluid entering the reservoir from the inlet port 25 away from the baffle wall 50 and down into the bottom of the reservoir 40.

In yet another embodiment of the present invention shown in fig. 9 and 10, the fluid management structure of the baffle, designated by reference numeral 244, includes a plurality of spaced apart posts or bosses 62 disposed between the louvers 60 and the baffle wall 50. The posts 62 are designed to create turbulence in the fluid-filled gas stream entering the reservoir through the inlet port 25 without impinging on the optical prisms 42a, 42b in a manner that advantageously reduces the momentum of the flow and increases the likelihood that the fluid will collect at the bottom of the reservoir 40.

In yet another embodiment of the present invention shown in fig. 11 and 12, the fluid management structure of the baffle, designated as reference numeral 344, includes a plurality of spaced apart triangular louvers 64 extending angularly away from the guard wall 48 toward the baffle wall 50. These triangular louvers 64 are designed to deflect or otherwise redirect fluid entering the reservoir from the inlet port 25 more effectively away from the baffle wall 50 and down into the bottom of the reservoir 40 without spraying onto the optical prisms 42a, 42b causing a false positive error message.

While the disclosure has been shown and described with reference to preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that changes and/or modifications may be made thereto without departing from the scope of the disclosure.