Systems and methods for cleaning body cavities

Abstract

This application presents methods and devices for continuously cleaning a colon by at least partially filling a segment of the colon with liquid and agitating the fluid to dislodge matter adhering to the colon walls. Methods for automatic maintenance of liquid levels in the colon during continuous cleaning are taught.

1 . A device for continuously cleaning a colon comprising:
 a fluid input tube configured for insertion into an anal canal opening and for supplying fluid to a colon segment being cleaned remote from the anal canal opening;   a material output tube through which liquid and fecal matter may be removed from the colon segment; and   a controller configured to establish and maintain a condition while continuously cleaning, in which said colon segment being cleaned is mostly filled with a mixture of said liquid and said fecal matter;   wherein said fluid input tube is configured to supply fluid to the colon segment while simultaneously allowing removal of liquid and fecal matter from the colon segments via said material output tube.   
     
     
         2 . (canceled) 
     
     
         3 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein said controller is programmed to maintain within said colon segment a liquid fill level such that a distal end of said device is fully submerged in said mixture. 
     
     
         4 - 6 . (canceled) 
     
     
         7 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein said cleaning comprises removing feces at least 5 cm distal to said device. 
     
     
         8 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein 
       said controller is configured to control at least one of 
       a supply of liquid through said fluid input tube and 
       a flow of matter through said output tube;
 wherein said supply and said flow are within a range of between 400 cc/min and 2000 cc/min. 
 
     
     
         9 . The device of  claim 1 , further comprising at least one agitator for agitating said mixture, wherein said agitator transfers an amount of energy sufficient to at least one of dislodge fecal matter from a wall of said colon and break-down relatively large fecal matter into relatively smaller fecal matter;
 wherein said at least one agitator is one of located outside said device and located in at least one of said fluid input tube and said material output tube.   
     
     
         10 . (canceled) 
     
     
         11 . The device of  claim 9 , wherein said agitator comprises a fluid flow pulsator which alternates delivery of liquid within said input tube and delivery of gas within said input tube, wherein a pressure of said gas is at least 0.2 ATM above a pressure of said liquid. 
     
     
         12 - 15 . (canceled) 
     
     
         16 . The device of  claim 1 , further comprising a size-reducer for reducing size of said fecal matter passing into and through said output tube. 
     
     
         17 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein said controller is programmed to control at least one of input flow and output flow in such a way that one of:
 a) a pressure change inside said colon segment does not exceed 0.06 Bar above an ambient pressure;   b) a pressure change inside said colon segment and proximate to a distal end of said device does not fall 0.20 Bar below an ambient pressure; and   c) pressure inside said colon segment and proximate to a distal end of said device is maintained within a range of 30 mbar-76 mbar.   
     
     
         18 - 19 . (canceled) 
     
     
         20 . The device of any  claim 1 , further characterized in that said device cleans at least 90% of feces from said colon segment while advancing in said colon at least at 10 cm per minute. 
     
     
         21 . (canceled) 
     
     
         22 . The device of  claim 1 , further comprising a filter coupled to said outlet tube, wherein an opening to said outlet tube is larger than openings in said filter. 
     
     
         23 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein said filter comprises a plurality of openings substantially parallel to a direction of motion of said device, wherein said motion of device inside said colon dislodges feces trapped in said openings. 
     
     
         24 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein said material output tube further comprises a plurality of lobes running side by side and in fluid communication with each other along at least a portion of a length of said material output tube; and one of:
 a) a rotatable device housed in one of said lobes and free to rotate within said lobe, but prevented by shape of said lobe from moving laterally into another of said plurality of lobes, wherein said rotatable device is selected from a helical device, a paddle-shaped device, a propeller-shaped device, and a brush-like device; and   b) a combination of:
 i. a first rotatable device positioned within a first lobe of said output tube; 
 ii. a second rotatable device positioned within a second lobe of said output tube; and 
 iii. a mechanism for rotating said first and said second rotatable devices; 
   wherein said first and second rotatable devices are one of helical devices, paddle-shaped devices, propeller-shaped devices, and brush-like devices.   
     
     
         25 . (canceled) 
     
     
         26 . A device according to  claim 1 , further comprising a memory coupled to said controller, said memory comprising a table correlating at least one cleaning parameter with at least one other parameter, wherein said parameters are selected from input/output fluid flow rates, liquid rotation rate, cleaning rate, cleaning efficiency, working pressure, a rate of rotation of crushing/shredding elements. 
     
     
         27 . (canceled) 
     
     
         28 . A method for cleaning a colon, comprising:
 from an anal canal opening, filling a volume of a segment of the colon remote from the anal canal opening with a liquid to be mostly full;   agitating a mixture of said liquid and feces;   inserting additional liquid into the colon segment while simultaneously removing said mixture from the colon segment to maintain a condition in which said colon segment is mostly full; and   emptying said liquid from said segment.   
     
     
         29 . (canceled) 
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 28 , wherein maintaining comprises maintaining said mostly full state according to changes in dimensions of said colon segment. 
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 28 , wherein said agitating comprises applying an amount of energy to said mixture in an omni-directional manner. 
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 28 , wherein said agitating comprises transferring a sufficient amount of energy to at least one of dislodge fecal matter from at least some of the surface area of walls of said segment and break-down at least some of the volume of relatively large fecal matter blocks inside said segment. 
     
     
         33 . (canceled) 
     
     
         34 . The method of  claim 28 , further comprising progressively advancing a colon cleaning device along a length of said colon at a rate of at least 10 cm/second while maintaining said volume of said segment. 
     
     
         35 - 38 . (canceled) 
     
     
         39 . The method of  claim 28 , wherein said agitating comprises vibrating said mixture in said colon segment at a frequency of 33-120 Hz. 
     
     
         40 - 41 . (canceled) 
     
     
         42 . The method of  claim 28 , further comprising at least one of pulling, pushing, cutting, graining, tearing, and shredding of pieces of fecal matter to an average size of less than 1 mm. 
     
     
         43 . (canceled) 
     
     
         44 . The method of  claim 28 , further comprising controlling at least one of said filling, said agitating, said inserting and said emptying to clean at least 95% of the inner surface area of the colon segment. 
     
     
         45 . (canceled) 
     
     
         46 . A device according to  claim 9  wherein said at least one agitator is configured for transferring a sufficient amount of energy to at least one of dislodge fecal matter from at least 50% of the surface area of the wall and break-down at least 50% of the volume of the relatively large fecal matter. 
     
     
         47 - 48 . (canceled) 
     
     
         49 . A device for cleaning a colon segment remote from an anal canal opening comprising:
 a) a material output tube through which liquid and fecal matter may be removed, said tube extending from outside the colon to the colon segment; and   b) a fluid flow pulsator configured for insertion into the anal canal opening which supplies alternating pulses of pressurized liquid alternating with pressurized gas, wherein a pressure of said gas is at least 0.2 atmospheres above a pressure of said liquid, and a rate of input of said liquid into the colon segment is at least 400 cc/min; wherein said pressure of said liquid is substantially equal to an ambient pressure of a liquid-fecal mixture inside the colon segment; and   wherein the colon segment being cleaned is at least 60% filled with said liquid-fecal mixture.   
     
     
         50 . (canceled) 
     
     
         51 . A device according to  claim 22 , wherein a dimension of said openings substantially perpendicular to said long axis of said device is at least 3 mm. 
     
     
         52 . The device according to  claim 1 , wherein said device is at least 60 cm in length and is capable of cleaning a colon at a rate of 15 cm per minute;
 wherein said fluid input tube is configured to deliver at least 0.7 liters per minute into the colon at a distal end of said input tube; and   wherein said material output tube encloses
 a. a mechanism for reducing matter chunks entering said input tube to sizes of less than 1.0 mm; and 
 b. a transport mechanism capable of removing material from the colon to outside as body at a rate of at least one liter per minute; and 
 c. a controller programmed to control input flow and output flow so as to establish and maintain a condition in which a colon portion being cleaned is at least 60% filled with liquid. 
   
     
     
         53 . (canceled) 
     
     
         54 . The device according to  claim 9 , wherein said agitator is configured to cause at least one of:
 agitation of said mixture relatively in front of said device; and   agitation of said mixture surrounding said device.   
     
     
         55 . The device according to  claim 9 , wherein said agitator is configured to cause at least one of flow and motion of said mixture,
 wherein said at least one of flow and motion is at least one of motion caused by shock waves and pulsating forces.   
     
     
         56 . The device according to  claim 1 , further comprising a pump configured to provide reverse flow in said material output tube.