Inventors:
Wallace Trammell - Provo UT, US
International Classification:
A61G010/00
Abstract:
An improved gas inlet and diffuser assembly for a neonatal hood functions as a hose coupler, a bendable gas inlet, and a gas diffuser. The assembly includes a flexible inlet tube, a portion of which is equipped with a plurality of annular bellows. The bellows, which are much like those of the bendable portion of a bendable drinking straw, are designed to assume and retain an angular bend over about a 180-degree sweep. Thus the inlet tube may be adjusted to compensate for any bending or lifting force applied by an incoming oxygen supply tube by bending the inlet tube so that it meets straight on with the incoming oxygen tube, thereby permitting the entire bottom edge of the neonatal hood, in which the insert is installed, to contact the pad on which the infant is placed. The insert is preferably manufactured from a flexible polymeric plastic material, such as polyethylene or polypropylene.