Granted Patent B2

US 12,233,198 · App. 17/634,495 · Granted Feb 25, 2025

Inventor: Christopher Brian Locke (Bournemouth, GB)

Assignee: Solventum Intellectual Properties Company

A61M1/964A61M1/772A61M1/90A61M1/92A61M1/962A61M1/966A61M1/982A61M1/83A61M2205/3382

Abstract

Claims (21)

1. A wound therapy system, comprising:

a wound dressing apparatus fluidly coupled to a wound;

a pneumatic pump fluidly coupled to the wound dressing apparatus and configured to apply a negative pressure to the wound dressing apparatus;

a removable fluid canister coupled to the wound dressing apparatus and the pneumatic pump;

a sensor fluidly coupled to the removable fluid canister and configured to determine a negative pressure of the removable fluid canister;

a valve fluidly coupled between an ambient environment and the wound dressing apparatus at a location that is upstream of the wound, the valve being configured to allow airflow between ambient environment and the wound when the valve is open; and

a controller communicatively coupled to the pneumatic pump, the sensor, and the valve and configured to:

determine a volume of instillation fluid that has been delivered to the wound;

operate the pneumatic pump and the valve to apply the negative pressure to the wound dressing apparatus to purge a first portion of the instillation fluid from the wound dressing apparatus;

initiate a purge operation based on a determination that the negative pressure of the removable fluid canister is above a predefined purge trigger pressure; and

operate the pneumatic pump and the valve during the purge operation to deliver a volume of air from the ambient environment through the wound dressing apparatus that is approximately equal to or greater than the volume of instillation fluid to purge a second portion of the instillation fluid from the wound dressing apparatus.

2. The wound therapy system of claim 1 , wherein the removable fluid canister is configured to receive the instillation fluid from the wound dressing apparatus during the purge operation.

3. The wound therapy system of claim 1 , wherein during the purge operation the controller is configured to operate the pneumatic pump to maintain the negative pressure of the removable fluid canister to a value that is approximately equal to a predefined target therapy pressure at the wound.

4. The wound therapy system of claim 1 , wherein during the purge operation the controller is configured to operate the pneumatic pump to maintain the negative pressure of the removable fluid canister to a value that is greater than a predefined target therapy pressure at the wound by a predefined threshold.

5. The wound therapy system of claim 1 , wherein during the purge operation the controller is configured to hold the valve open for a period of time within a range between approximately 5 and 20 seconds.

6. The wound therapy system of claim 1 , wherein the wound dressing apparatus comprises a wound dressing and a fluid conduit, wherein the fluid conduit comprises at least one sensing lumen and a vacuum lumen, and wherein the volume of air is approximately equal to a total volume of the at least one sensing lumen and the vacuum lumen.

7. The wound therapy system of claim 1 , wherein during the purge operation the controller is configured to repeatedly open and close the valve at a predefined operating frequency.

8. The wound therapy system of claim 1 , wherein the valve is a digitally variable, pulse-width-modulation driven valve, and wherein during the purge operation the controller is configured to continuously vary an operating frequency of the valve to provide a gradual increase in flow rate at a beginning of the purge operation and an end of the purge operation.

9. The wound therapy system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to continuously repeat the purge operation for a predefined number of cycles or for a predefined time period.

10. The wound therapy system of claim 1 , further comprising an instillation fluid canister configured to contain the instillation fluid and an instillation pump configured to deliver the instillation fluid from the instillation fluid canister to the wound dressing apparatus.

11. The wound therapy system of claim 1 , wherein the valve is fluidly coupled to the wound dressing apparatus at a location that is upstream of the wound and the pneumatic pump.

Assignments (4)

Continuity (2)

References Cited (204)