Application of micro air compressor in medical pneumatic tourniquet

1.Background

Pneumatic tourniquets are commonly used equipment in limb trauma surgery. They can significantly reduce intraoperative wound bleeding, thereby making the surgical field clear, making it easy to identify various tissues and facilitating surgical operations. The tourniquet has also evolved from the initial manual inflation test. Through technological advancement and innovation, an electric pneumatic tourniquet with faster digital control has been developed.

Applicable to:

1) Trauma hemostasis, four surgeries;

2) Create a bloodless and clear surgical field for knee, ankle, elbow, wrist and other tube replacement surgeries;

Not applicable:

1) Skin ulceration, edema, etc. at the site where the tourniquet is tied;

2) Patients with thromboangiitis obliterans, venous emboli, severe arteriosclerosis, and arthralgia;

3) Patients with blood diseases;

2.Basic structure

1) Air bag cuff: It is composed of plastic, fabric and other material coverings and an inflatable rubber bag inside. Air bag cuffs are divided into disposable and non-disposable cuffs;

2) Connecting pipe: the pipe connecting the air bag and the pressure device;

3) Pressure device: It is mainly composed of an micro air compressor, a digital display of pressure value and a timer, which can control the inflating pressure parameters and time.

3.Skills requirement

According to relevant records, the pressure requirements for hemostasis are:

1) When the adult limb occlusion pressure (LOP) is less than 17.3kPa (130mmHg), the pneumatic tourniquet pressure should be LOP+5.3kPa (40mmHg);

2) When LOP is 17.5~25.3kPa (131~190mmHg), the pneumatic tourniquet pressure should be set to LOP+8kPa (60mmHg);

3) When LOP＞25.3kPa (190mmHg), the pneumatic tourniquet pressure should be set to LOP＋16.71kPa (80mmHg), and for children, it is LOP＋6.7kPa (50mmHg).

Flow requirements for tourniquet application:

1) Based on a simple estimate, the tourniquet punching time = 10*air pump flow rate/tourniquet air bag volume; when the tourniquet air bag volume is large, an micro air compressor with a larger flow rate should be selected;

2) When the stamping time needs to be faster, or when intermittent stamping and pressure relief are required, a higher flow micro air compressor needs to be selected;

Other factors to consider:

1) Micro air compressor replacement cycle: The overall life of related medical equipment should generally be more than 5 years, evaluated based on 4 hours of working time per day, and the continuous load working time of the micro air compressor should not be less than 7,300 hours; if acceptable, inspection and replacement should be carried out every 2 years , then the life span should be selected to be greater than 3000 hours;

2)There are restrictive requirements for noise in the treatment environment. The noise when a single micro air compressor is working should be controlled within 60dB. After being installed in the equipment chassis for shock absorption and noise isolation, the noise should be controlled within 55dB;

4. Applicable models of Hilin micro air compressors

For pneumatic tourniquets, there are strict requirements on inflating pressure, and the micro air compressor must maintain stable inflating, low noise, long life, and maintenance-free requirements. Combined with our company’s related products, we recommend our D series micro air compressor, D35, D50, D60 and other models. Among them, D35 is suitable for applications with slightly smaller flow requirements, limited volume, and long life, while D50 and D60 have larger flow rates and are more suitable for rapid stamping of large equipment. For more information, please contact our sales manager for consultation.