US 12,357,421 B2
Brushing device for cleaning endotracheal tubes
Ashley Strickland, Beech Island, SC (US); and Michael W. Quinn, Beech Island, SC (US)
Filed by Ashley Strickland, Beech Island, SC (US); and Michael W. Quinn, Beech Island, SC (US)
Filed on Apr. 13, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/134,275.
Prior Publication US 2024/0341913 A1, Oct. 17, 2024
Int. Cl. A61B 90/70 (2016.01); A46B 15/00 (2006.01); A61M 16/04 (2006.01)
CPC A61B 90/70 (2016.02) [A46B 15/0055 (2013.01); A61M 16/04 (2013.01); A61B 2090/701 (2016.02)] 15 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A device for cleaning an endotracheal tube, comprising:
a tube comprising a lumen, wherein the tube comprises a first port that extends from a side of the tube and communicates with the lumen of the tube and wherein the first port is constructed and arranged to receive cleaning liquid therein, and a second port that extends from the side of the tube and communicates with the lumen of the tube, and wherein the second port is constructed and arranged to suction cleaning liquid from the tube, and the tube comprises an opening at a distal end of the tube;
a plunger, the plunger comprising:
a handle positioned near a proximal end of the plunger;
a brush positioned near a distal end of the plunger that traverses the lumen of the tube;
a linkage that extends into the lumen of the tube at an opening in a proximal end of the lumen of the tube and traverses the lumen of the tube and connects the handle and the brush, wherein a length of the linkage from the handle to the brush exceeds the length of the tube;
a sealing stopper positioned distal to the brush, the sealing stopper collapsed when positioned inside the tube and constructed and arranged to expand when out of the opening at the distal end of the tube, the expanded sealing stopper constructed and arranged to contact an interior circumference of an endotracheal tube and form a liquid seal in the endotracheal tube by expansion that seals the liquid cleaning material from escaping the interior of the endotracheal tube;
a second stopper positioned on the linkage is constructed and arranged to be selectively spaced apart from or positioned within an opening in the proximal end of the lumen of the tube to form a seal in the opening in the proximal end of the tube;
wherein, when the handle is in a retracted position, the brush is constrained within the lumen of the tube, and when the handle is moved to an advanced position, the linkage pushes the brush out of the distal end of the lumen of the tube, and the brush is constructed and arranged to expand and to contact an interior circumference of the endotracheal tube.