The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 09, 2000
Filed:
Nov. 30, 1998
William Dean Wallace, Salt Lake City, UT (US);
Richard A Dixon, Salt Lake City, UT (US);
Steven R Smith, Salt Lake City, UT (US);
Christopher A Cutler, Centerville, UT (US);
Clinical Innovations, Murray, UT (US);
Abstract
The fetal contact cup portion of a fetal vacuum cup has an inside surface which, when applied to a fetal head, defines a fetal contact chamber with the fetal head. One end of a tube is attached to the fetal contact cup such that vacuums within the tube are applied within the fetal contact cup. The other end of the tube can be connected with a vacuum source and with a handle. The tube has a very small average outside diameter compared with conventional fetal vacuum tubes. Thus the fetal vacuum cup is less intrusive during insertion and is more easily maneuverable, especially when the fetus is malpresenting in, for example, the high occipitoposterior or high occipitolateral positions. The average outside diameter of the tube may be, for example, less than 150 mils and has a finger grip that compression fits into a recess defined by the outer surface of the fetal contact cup for a lower profile and easy positioning of the fetal contact cup onto the flexion point of the fetal head. During traction, however, the finger grip pulls out of the recess for more efficient traction. The fetal contact cup may have a soft lip for contacting the fetal head. Furthermore, the tubing may have markings to indicate proper positioning of the fetal vacuum cup over the flexion point.