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Publication Number
US-10682461-B2
Publication Date
2020-06-16
Expiration Date
Abstract
A pumping chamber (8) for a micro-pump (2), the pumping chamber having a volume of 100 micro litres or less bounded by an interior wall and having an inlet (87) and an outlet (88), wherein the interior wall has at least one inwardly projecting rib (70) having a first end adjacent the inlet and a second end adjacent the outlet.
Core Innovation
A micro-pump includes a pumping chamber having a volume of 100 microlitres or less. The pumping chamber is bounded by an interior wall with an inlet and an outlet, and a portion of the interior wall is movable to vary the pumping chamber volume. The interior wall includes at least one inwardly projecting rib having a first end adjacent the inlet and a second end adjacent the outlet.
The inwardly projecting rib geometry is described as promoting formation of a single fluid front during priming. The priming fluid is drawn along the rib from outlet toward inlet to avoid trapped air bubbles, using fluid dynamic forces, surface tension, and gravity associated with the priming process.
Multiple rib cross-sectional configurations are described, including wedge-shaped ribs, dome-shaped ribs with a possible channel recess, rectangular ribs, stepped/concentric curved ribs, and a single rectangular or curved rib. Other configurations include an open-loop or elliptical loop rib that generates swirl, and the inwardly projecting rib(s) may be integral with or attached to a movable elastomeric pumping-chamber membrane.
Claims Coverage
The independent claims cover two related aspects: a micro-pump pumping chamber with a movable interior wall and an inwardly projecting rib extending from an inlet-adjacent first end to an outlet-adjacent second end, and an infusion system that uses such a pumping chamber with a reservoir for a liquid therapeutic product. Across the independent claims, two inventive-feature sets are defined, with the infusion-system claim incorporating the pumping-chamber structure into a reservoir-plus-pump architecture.
Movable pumping chamber with inlet-to-outlet inwardly projecting rib
A pumping chamber for a micro-pump having a volume of 100 microlitres or less bounded by an interior wall with an inlet and an outlet, wherein a portion of the interior wall is movable so as to vary the pumping chamber volume and the interior wall has at least one inwardly projecting rib having a first end adjacent the inlet and a second end adjacent the outlet.
Infusion system with reservoir and micro-pump pumping chamber
An infusion system comprising a reservoir for storing the liquid therapeutic product and a pump having a pumping chamber, wherein the pumping chamber has a volume of 100 microlitres or less bounded by an interior wall and having an inlet and an outlet, wherein a portion of the interior wall is movable so as to vary the pumping chamber volume and the interior wall has at least one inwardly projecting rib having a first end adjacent the inlet and a second end adjacent the outlet.
The independent claim coverage centers on using a very small micro-pump pumping chamber (100 microlitres or less) with a movable interior wall and an inwardly projecting rib that runs from inlet-adjacent to outlet-adjacent regions. The independent infusion-system claim then requires the same pumping-chamber rib structure integrated with a reservoir for storing a liquid therapeutic product.
Stated Advantages
Promotes formation of a single fluid front during priming to avoid trapped air bubbles.
Documented Applications
Infusion of a liquid therapeutic product, including an infusion system comprising a reservoir and a pump with the described micro-pump pumping chamber.
Continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion [procedural detail omitted for safety].
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