Medical valve

Details

Inventors: Ahmed, A. Mateen;
Assignee:
Primary Examiner: Hafer; Robert A.
Assistant Examiner: Owens; Kerry
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Plante, Strauss, Vanderburgh & Connors

Disclosed is a medical valve comprising a pair of plates holding in tension a membrane folded over to form a chamber with an elongated, slit-like opening along adjoining edges. The plates include interlocking members which interlock the plates together. An inlet tube in communication with the chamber extends outwardly from the plates. The preferred configuration of the chamber is trapezoidal. Also disclosed is a surgical instrument that is a needle-like member having an elongated slot in the wall of this member. A method of using this instrument to implant a tubular element in the body of a patient is also disclosed.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT," one will understand how the features of this invention provide its advantages.
The first feature of this invention is use of membrane means under tension to form a chamber having an elongated, slit-like opening therein.
The membrane means responds to slight changes in pressure to expand or contract to open or close the opening.
When opened, it provides a wide open mouth with parted lips that allows for free flow of fluid though it without any substantial resistance to fluid flow.
This feature also substantially reduces the likelihood that the opening will be clogged by particulates.
Typically the width of the slit-like opening ranges between 2.
5 and 3.
5 millimeters, preferably between 2.
725 and 2.
750 millimeters.
The second feature is that the chamber has a trapezoidal configuration to provide a narrow side and a wide side.
The slit-like opening is essentially coextensive with the narrow side and an inlet tube is connected to the wide side.
Fluid flows into the chamber through the inlet tube.
Depending on the fluid pressure within the chamber, the slit-like opening will be either opened or closed.
The pressure in the chamber must, however, exceed the tension in the membrane means in order to expand the membrane means to open the slit-like opening.
The third feature is the trapezoidal configuration of the chamber renders the valve highly responsive to slight changes in pressure.
The fluid as it enters the chamber at the wide side first flows into a space which has a relatively large cross-sectional area compared to the cross-sectional area of the chamber adjacent to the slit-like opening in the narrow side.
This is important because it makes the valve sensitive to slight changes in pressure and allows it to open very briefly to reduce the pressure in the chamber.
When the fluid pressure in the chamber just equals the pressure created by the tension in the membrane means, the slit-like opening is closed.
As soon as this pressure increases due to additional fluid flowing into the chamber along its wide side, the membrane means expands and the fluid flows from the slit-like opening

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