CATHETER DEVICE FOR ODOUR-REDUCING DELIVERY AND/OR DISCHARGE OF SUBSTANCES TO/FROM THE HUMAN OR ANIMAL BODY

The invention is directed to a catheter-like system which dwells temporarily or even continuously in the body of a patient and which serves for the closed delivery and/or discharge of odour-intensive substances, wherein the release of foul-smelling substances is reduced to the greatest possible extent by the system wall having a multi-layer structure that incorporates a proportion of barrier materials, and an odour-neutral decompression of gaseous fractions arising in the body and discharged into the system is ensured. The system comprises in particular a structure like a tubular film, by which an internal space to be reached in the body is connected to a container, arranged outside the body, for receiving the respective substances that are to be delivered and/or discharged. At the end positioned inside the body, the tube structure is provided with a retaining and/or sealing balloon element, which secures the system in the body. All of the film-based constituent parts of the system that are arranged outside the body, including the film-like delivering and/or discharging tube structure and the container preferably configured in the form of a bag, incorporate at least one barrier-producing layer of ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer (EVOH), polyvinylidene chloride (PVDC) and/or polyamide (PA), which is combined with at least one carrier layer made of a robust, mechanically loadable, preferably elastic material, for example polyurethane (PUR). The system moreover ensures a continuous decompression of gaseous constituents from the internal space of the system, by a degassing device which is arranged in a particular manner relative to the delivering and/or discharging lumen and by which the adsorbing or filtering, degassing unit is protected against direct exposure to the substances that are to be delivered and/or discharged.