Artificial airway

1. An artificial airway including:

an airway tube including at least one airway conduit;

an inflatable cuff mounted on a distal end of the airway tube;

a support member extending into the inflatable cuff, the inflatable cuff having inner side walls, anterior walls and a posterior wall, the inner side walls being joined to the support member to define a recess which communicates with the at least one airway conduit, the anterior walls and the posterior wall, sealingly engaging, in use, about the glottic opening and the posterior pharyngeal wall respectively of a patient;

an evacuation chamber located at a distal end of the inflatable cuff, the evacuation chamber, in use, being in fluid communication with the oesophagus of a patient;

an evacuation conduit in fluid communication with the evacuation chamber; and

a ventilation conduit in fluid communication with the evacuation chamber, the arrangement being such that, in use, suction is applied to the evacuation conduit whereby regurgitated material entering the evacuation chamber is removed through the evacuation conduit and wherein the ventilation conduit substantially prevents a negative pressure being applied to the tissue of the patient.

2. An artificial airway as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the support member defines a posterior wall of the recess.

3. An artificial airway as defined in claim 1 , wherein the support member is integral with the airway tube.

4. An artificial airway as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the airway tube is formed by a proximal part and a distal part which are separately formed then joined together.

5. An artificial airway as claimed in claim 4 , wherein the distal part is integrally formed with said support member.

6. An artificial airway as claimed in claim 5 , wherein the support member is molded with an opening which includes first formations and the inner side walls of the inflatable cuff are molded with second formations which are complementary to the first formations, the first and second formations being interconnectable to facilitate joining of the inflatable cuff to the support member.

7. An artificial airway as claimed in claim 6 , wherein the inflatable cuff includes a proximal and distal spigots which overlie adjacent parts of the airway tube and wherein the inflatable cuff is only joined to the airway tube adjacent to said proximal and distal spigots and by said first and second formations.

8. An artificial airway as claimed in claim 7 , wherein the airway tube includes the evacuation conduit which communicates with the evacuation chamber located at the distal end of the inflatable cuff.

9. An artificial airway as claimed in claim wherein the distal spigot includes an integral posteriorly directed flange which lies within a distal part of the evacuation conduit so that an entrance to the evacuation chamber is defined by the material of the inflatable cuff.

10. An artificial airway including:

an airway tube having at least one airway conduit therein;

a cuff mounted on a distal end of the airway tube and having a recess which is in fluid communication with the at least one airway conduit;

an evacuation chamber located at a distal end of the cuff, the chamber, in use, being in fluid communication with the oesophagus of a patient;

an evacuation conduit in fluid communication with the evacuation chamber; and

a ventilation conduit in fluid communication with the evacuation chamber, the arrangement being such that, in use, suction is applied to the evacuation conduit whereby regurgitated material entering the evacuation chamber is removed through the evacuation conduit and wherein the ventilation conduit substantially prevents a negative pressure being applied to the tissue of the patient.

11. An artificial airway as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the ventilation conduit vents the evacuation chamber to atmosphere.

12. An artificial airway comprising:

an airway tube having at least one airway conduit therein;

an inflatable cuff mounted on a distal end of the airway tube, an end portion of the airway tube extending into the inflatable cuff, the inflatable cuff including a recess which is defined by the end portion of the airway tube and inner sidewalls of the inflatable cuff which are sealingly connected to said end portion and wherein said at least one airway conduit is in fluid communication with said recess;

the inflatable cuff including an anterior sealing wall which merges from the inner sidewalls, the anterior sealing wall lying generally in a plane and, in use, sealingly engages the glottic opening of a patient; the inflatable cuff further including a posterior wall extending from outer peripheral parts of the anterior sealing wall to extend over said end portion and, in use, being resiliently extended, on inflation of the inflatable cuff, to sealingly engage the posterior pharyngeal wall of the patient;

a connector body for providing fluid communication with said at least one airway conduit; and

means for sealingly connecting the connector body to the proximal end of the airway tube.

13. An artificial airway including:

an airway tube having at least one airway conduit therein;

an inflatable cuff mounted on a distal end of the airway tube, an end portion of the airway tube extending into the inflatable cuff, the inflatable cuff including a recess which is defined by the end portion of the airway tube and inner sidewalls of the inflatable cuff which are sealingly connected to said end portion and wherein said at least one airway conduit is in fluid communication with said recess;

the inflatable cuff including an anterior sealing wall which merges from the inner sidewalls, the anterior sealing wall lying generally in a plane and, in use, sealingly engages the glottic opening of a patient; the inflatable cuff further including a posterior wall extending from outer

peripheral parts of the anterior sealing wall to extend over said end portion and, in use, being resiliently extended, on inflation of the inflatable cuff, to sealingly engage the posterior pharyngeal wall of the patient;

an evacuation chamber located at a distal end of the inflatable cuff, the chamber, in use, being located adjacent to the upper oesophageal sphincter of a patient;

an evacuation conduit in fluid communication with the evacuation chamber;

and

an evacuation chamber vent conduit in fluid communication with the evacuation chamber;

and wherein at least the evacuation conduit and the evacuation chamber vent conduit are located within said distal end of the airway tube.

14. An artificial airway as claimed in claim 1 wherein said distal end of the airway tube provides structural rigidity for the distal end of the artificial airway.

15. An artificial airway as claimed in claim 14 , wherein that the airway does not include a back plate connected to the inflatable cuff or an inflatable ring.

16. An artificial airway including:

an airway tube having at least one airway conduit therein; and

an inflatable cuff mounted on a distal end of the airway tube, an end portion of the airway tube extending into the inflatable cuff, the inflatable cuff including a recess which is defined by the end portion of the airway tube and inner sidewalls of the inflatable cuff which are sealingly connected to said end portion and wherein said at least one airway conduit is in fluid communication with said recess;

the inflatable cuff including an anterior sealing wall which merges from the inner sidewalls, the anterior sealing wall lying generally in a plane and, in use, sealingly engages the glottic opening of a patient; the inflatable cuff further including a posterior wall extending from outer peripheral parts of the anterior sealing wall to extend over said end portion and, in use, being resiliently extended, on inflation of the inflatable cuff, to sealingly engage the posterior pharyngeal wall of the patient;

wherein the inflatable cuff is molded as single integral molding.

17. An artificial airway as claimed in claim 16 , wherein the airway tube is molded with proximal and distal portions which are joined together, the distal portion including said end portion of the airway tube.

18. An artificial airway as claimed in claim 17 , wherein the inflatable cuff is formed with a proximal spigot which overlies a region where the proximal and distal end portions are joined together.