Valve for use with chest drainage system

摘要

A valve for use in a chest drainage device is disclosed, the chest drainage device is adapted to receive liquid and air from a patient's chest cavity via an inlet and to permit air to escape through an outlet for air to leave the chest drain, the inlet and outlet define a flow path and the valve is disposed along the flow path. The valve has a valve element that separates an upstream chamber from a downstream chamber and has a first and second sealing surface that are opposed so that when the first and second sealing surfaces are in contact, air pressure below a predetermined value will be prevented from moving from the downstream location to the upstream location. The valve element allows air to move from the upstream chamber to the downstream chamber at a low pressure differential. A pressure relief actuating element is disposed in the valve and located adjacent the valve element such that when the predetermined sub-atmospheric pressure limit between the upstream side and the downstream side is reached or exceeded, the valve element deforms and contacts the pressure relief actuating element such that the post causes the first and second sealing surfaces to partially separate and reduce the pressure differential.