Ministry of Higher Education ‫وزارة التعليم العالي والبحث‬

And Scientific Researches ‫العلمي‬

Baghdad University ‫جامعة بغداد‬
Al-Khwarizmi College of
‫كلية هندسة الخوارزمي‬
Engineering
‫قسم هندسة الطب الحياتي‬
Suction Medical
Pump
By
Hiba Basman Shaker

Supervised By
Dr. Ali Hussein

Clinical Issues in BME Design

1st Course

5th Stage-Morning study

2020

TABLE OF CONTENT

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1. Medical Suction Pump…………….………….……………………………3
2. How It Work…………...……..…..…………….……….….……………........... 4
3. Medical Suction Machine Problems……………………………………….4
4. Biomedical engineer challenge……………………………...………………..….5
4.1. the principle of work……………………………………...……………………….5
4.2. Materials and tools used……….………………………………………………6
4.3. Considerations…………………………………………………………………7
5. References………………………………………………...……………………..8

1. Medical Suction Pump:

 Is a device that specifically developed to remove substances such as saliva,
blood, and vomit from the person’s airway, could be used at emergency

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 room, operating room (OR) and clinical wards. also it could be used for
respiratory conditions (secretions of mucus or serum).
 There are four types of suction machines:
1. Manual Suction Devices: creates suction without the use of a battery or
electricity.
2. Wall-Mounted Suction Devices: used in hospital settings, dental offices,
and other places.
3. Portable Suction Devices: can be used in hospitals, emergency settings,
and tactical medical scenarios.
4. Makeshift Suction Devices: tending to patients in remote and high-chaos
locations, such as on the battlefield.

2. How It Work:
 Suction machines use a long thin flexible plastic tube known as a catheter to
vacuum out the secretions blocking the airways. These secretions are

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 collected in a jar attached to the machine and can be emptied after the
suctioning is completed.

3. Medical Suction Machine Problems:

 Weak Battery
 Low Efficiency
 Wrong Attachments
 Expensive to Purchase
 High Energy Usage
 Bulky Machine
 Noisy
 fluid return and ruin the pump motors

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4. Biomedical engineer challenge:
 the problem: To make sure a suction pump works correctly, only air must
reach the pump, no fluid should reach the pump and motor; If it does, the
pump could be ruined and quit working in the middle of a critical surgery.
Some suction pumps have a protection device that seals off the motor if fluid
overflows. Even so, if the fluid overflows just once, the protection device
must be replaced before the pump will work again. Sometimes hospitals do
not have the money to buy these spare parts and the protection devices get
bypassed.
 the solution: is to design a protection device that keeps the suction pump
from clogging, to help the hospitals protect their pumps.

4.1. the principle of work:

 This diagram shows how most suction pumps work. A vacuum between the
motor and collection jar draws up fluid from the tubing. When the collection
jar fills up, it overflows into a protection device that shuts off the vacuum
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 and keeps the overflow from getting to the motor. If the collection jar
overflows and no protection device is in place, fluid can get into the motor
and destroy the pump.
 Water will enter the protection device and the rising water will make an
object float that will block off the tubing to the motor. The challenge is
creating a good seal between the tubing and floating object, using a ping
pong ball, Silly Putty®, balloon, etc.

4.2. Materials and tools used:

4.3. Considerations:
 Considering pre-cutting the two holes through the lids of the plastic
protection device containers; this can be tricky, depending on the available
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 tools. A small, handheld drill is easiest and most precise, but can also make
a small hole and twist the blade of a scissor into that hole until widening it to
the appropriate diameter (but not too wide).
 Most suction pumps have a safety feature, either a float ball mechanism or a
square device connected to the tubing that looks like a filter. The prototype
devices must be connected between the collection jar and this safety feature.
 Do not make the holes on the lid of the protection device container too big; a
tight seal around the tubing is necessary so that the pump can maintain a
vacuum. Applying hot glue at the holes ensures a tight seal.
 Make sure that the lids to the plastic protection device containers are on
tight. If any air leaks between the container and the tubing, no suction will
be created. In order to create suction, you must have a continuous path with
no holes or blockages.

 The photograph below shows a clogged suction pump that Engineering

World Health students fixed in Nicaragua. The black matter that you can see
in the pump is dried blood.
5. References:
1. https://mobilitybasics.ca/respiratory/suction-machines
2. http://www.sparklingelectronics.com/3653/suction-apparatus-suction-machine/
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3. https://www.surgitek.org/What-are-the-functions-of-Suction-Machine.php
4. https://www.medicalexpo.com/prod/supreme-enterprises/product-100409-
705048.html
5. https://blog.sscor.com/4-types-of-suctioning-machines-every-ems-
professional-should-know-how-to-use
6. https://blog.sscor.com/6-medical-suction-unit-issues-to-avoid
7. https://www.chthealthcare.com/blog/medical-suction-machine
8. https://www.teachengineering.org/activities/view/ewh_pump_activity1