WO2006106247A1

WO2006106247A1 - Breathing assistance device for patients transported by an aircraft and aircraft provided with said device

Info

Publication number: WO2006106247A1
Application number: PCT/FR2006/050031
Authority: WO
Inventors: Stéphane Lessi
Original assignee: L'air Liquide, Societe Anonyme Pour L'etude Et L'exploitation Des Procedes Georges Claude
Priority date: 2005-04-07
Filing date: 2006-01-20
Publication date: 2006-10-12
Also published as: FR2884223A1; FR2884223B1

Abstract

An airborne device for supplying a breathing assistance oxygen to a therapeutic oxygen managing station (10) comprises a module (1) for separating a supplied air into a compressed air supplied from the compressor stage of the aircraft turbocharger group (5) and an output connected to an oxygen supplying line (4) for feeding airborne medical or sanitary modules (11).

Description

FACILITY FOR PROVIDING RESPIRATORY ASSISTANCE TO PATIENTS TRANSPORTED IN AN AIRCRAFT AND AIRCRAFT EQUIPPED

Such an installation

In medical evacuation procedures, such as those resulting from conflicts or natural disasters such as the recent tsunami in Southeast Asia, wounded must be repatriated by civilian or military transport aircraft. On board the plane, these wounded are placed under continuous respiratory assistance during a flight that can be very long (more than 15 hours). The existing solutions are to embark on board the aircraft, for such medical evacuation missions, the necessary oxygen in the form of gaseous storage at high pressure, which poses numerous problems:

- safety, related to oxygen under pressure (the amount of oxygen to ship for the medical evacuation of about 12 wounded, including 6 in intensive resuscitation may require the carriage of twenty bottles of oxygen B20) , which requires to provide a rapid evacuation of oxygen reserves outside the aircraft, and thus to drill a hatch in the fuselage;

- weight and volume;

- the availability of gaseous oxygen in some parts of the world when a replenishment of the bottles is necessary.

Some transport aircraft are also equipped with oxygen generation systems (generally designated by the acronym OBGOS), which are intended to supplement on-board oxygen reserves in case of accidental or rapid depressurization of the cabin for the supply of passenger masks. By definition, these systems are designed for occasional and rare implementations, and for a relatively short time.

The object of the present invention is to propose a system for supplying oxygen for respiratory assistance to patients transported in an aircraft permanently fitted in the aircraft and dimensioned for the number of patients repatriated for continuous use during at least all theft and during the embarkation and disembarkation of the wounded.

To do this, according to one characteristic of the invention, the installation comprises an air separation module having an air inlet connected to a compressor stage of a turbo-compressor unit of the aircraft and an oxygen-enriched gas mixture outlet connected to an oxygen supply line at at least one therapeutic oxygen delivery station via an assistance ventilator respiratory. The advantage of this solution is to overcome any logistics and danger problems, even in combat zone, and to offer the operator of the aircraft a great flexibility.

The invention also relates to a transport aircraft, military and / or civil, equipped with such an installation. Other features and advantages of the invention will emerge from the following description, of embodiment, given by way of illustration but in no way limitative, in connection with the appended drawing in which:

- The single figure schematically shows an embodiment of an embedded installation according to the invention. In the single figure, there is recognized a pressure swing adsorption type air separation module 1 comprising, in the example shown, two pairs of adsorbers 2 each containing at least one bed of zeolite X and implemented. alternately for converting compressed air conveyed into an intake line 3 into a gaseous mixture highly enriched in oxygen conveyed in an oxygen supply line 4.

The inlet line 3 is connected, upstream, to a compressed air outlet of a compression stage of a turbo-compressor unit 5 of propulsion or energetic assistance of the aircraft. Line 3 comprises, successively, an exchanger / cooler 6, a regulating solenoid valve 7 and at least one filter stage 8.

The oxygen supply line 4 is connected downstream, selectively via valves 9, to at least one mask 10 for oxygen delivery to a patient in a medical or medical module 11 via a controlled assistance ventilator 12 of an oxygen analyzer 13. The line 4 comprises, upstream, at least one filtering stage 14, a plug for an oxygen content analyzer 15 and a distribution valve 16 for selectively connecting the downstream portion of the line 4 to at least one oxygen cylinder under emergency pressure 17. The installation which has just been described typically operates with an inlet compressed air pressure of module 1 not exceeding 2 bar to supply in line 4 a gaseous mixture with an oxygen content between 80 and 90%. a pressure not exceeding 1.7 bar and a flow rate of 10 Nl / min per module 11. Although the invention has been described in connection with a particular embodiment, it is not limited thereto but is subject to modifications and variants which will be apparent to those skilled in the art within the scope of the following claims. In particular, in a variant, a downstream distribution valve 17 can selectively address a portion of the oxygen-enriched air stream in line 4 to a line 18 for supplying oxygen masks to health care personnel in the event of flying at high altitude. .

Claims

A breathing oxygen supply apparatus for patients transported in an aircraft, comprising an air separation module (1) having an input connected to a compressor stage of a turbocharger unit (5) of the aircraft and an output connected to a line (4) for supplying oxygen to a therapeutic oxygen delivery station (10; 11) via a respiratory assistance ventilator (12).

2. Installation according to claim 1, characterized in that it further comprises at least one reservoir (17) of pressurized oxygen connectable to the oxygen supply line (4) via a dispensing valve (16).

3. Installation according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the oxygen supply line (4) is selectively connectable to a line (18) for supplying oxygen to crew masks.

4. Installation according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the separation module (1) is of the periodic adsorption type on at least one zeolite.

5. Installation according to claim 4, characterized in that the enriched air flow in the oxygen supply line to an oxygen content between 80 and

90% with a flow rate of about 10 Nl / min per administration station.

6. Aircraft equipped with an installation according to one of the preceding claims.