Malleable pleated valve with self-adjustable flow mechanism for pleural or mediastinal drainage collection system

• Grant number: 01/03202-6
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Innovative Research in Small Business - PIPE
• Start date: November 01, 2001
• End date: May 31, 2005
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Materials and Metallurgical Engineering - Nonmetallic Materials
• Principal Investigator: Hugo David Chirinos Collantes
• Grantee: Hugo David Chirinos Collantes
• Company: Roberto de Menezes Lyra - ME
• City: São Paulo

Abstract

At the moment, public hospitals in remote parts of Brazil use systems for pleural and mediastinal drainage which are fashioned by the surgeons’ own handicraft. These systems can cause serious complications in the patient’s convalescence, raising the risk of hospital infections and of post-operative sequels. On the other hand, the systems for pleural and mediastinal drainage with a simple or single collecting bottle, manufactured on an industrial scale in Brazil, promote improvement in the quality of hospital care, at a relatively low cost when compared with international products. The innovation in this product is a malleable pleated valve with a siphoning mechanism self-adjusting for flow. At a low cost, this product adds technology to the system for pleural and mediastinal drainage with a simple or single collecting bottle, making it more competitive technologically. This valve will optimize the variations in subaquatic pressure drawn off by siphoning the gases coming from the thoracic cavity, in the collecting system. In the technical viability stage of the project, the matrices and the manufacturing processes for the pieces that make up part of the drainage system were developed. In the second phase, the manufacture of the pleated valve which is part of this system will be optimized, concentrating on the choice of materials which are totally sterilizable by ionizing radiation. (AU)