Apparatus and method for monitoring the patency of tubing in a pneumatic medical device

摘要

Apparatus for monitoring the patency of tubing in a pneumatic medical device including: an inflatable appliance for positioning onto the surface of a limb and adapted to apply pressure to the limb beneath the appliance when inflated with gas; tubing for establishing a pneumatic conduit between the inflatable appliance and a pressure control system. The pressure control system for supplies the tubing with gas at a controlled pressure. The pressure control system includes a pulse generating system for generating a pneumatic pulse at a sensing location in the tubing by producing a variation in the pressure of the gas at the sensing location during a finite time interval. A tubing patency monitoring system is adapted to sense the variation of pneumatic pressure at the sensing location and produce a tubing obstruction signal when the variation of pneumatic pressure sensed after the finite time interval exceeds a reference level.