Electromagnetic radiation delivery and monitoring system and methods for preventing, reducing and/or eliminating catheter-related infections during institutional or in-home use
Inventors
Croll, Perry • Long, Curtis D.
Assignees
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Publication Number
US-11497932-B2
Publication Date
2022-11-15
Expiration Date
Abstract
An electromagnetic radiation (EMR) delivery system for delivering EMR at wavelengths, intensities, exposures, and durations to locations inside and/or outside a patient's body in, on, and surrounding a catheter and/or a catheter extension to prevent, reduce, and/or eliminate infectious agents in, on, or surrounding the catheter and/or catheter extension. A smart light engine box generates the therapeutic EMR, controls treatments, and monitors the health of the system. A fiber optic disposable makes at-home use of the EMR delivery system possible. Specific embodiments of the EMR delivery system for use with peritoneal dialysis catheters, dialysis accesses, and hemodialysis accesses are also disclosed.
Core Innovation
The invention relates to an electromagnetic radiation (EMR) delivery system for delivering non-ultraviolet, therapeutic EMR to locations in, on, and surrounding a catheter and/or a catheter extension. The system is connected to a power supply and includes at least one light engine box with at least one laser assembly that generates therapeutic EMR. The therapeutic effect includes at least one of inactivating one or more infectious agents and enhancing healthy cell growth.
The delivery pathway includes at least one cable adapter connected to one laser assembly and a light transmission cable having a proximate end and a distal end. The cable adapter receives therapeutic EMR from the laser assembly and facilitates propagation through the light transmission cable to the distal end for delivery to at least one of the catheter and the catheter extension. An optical element connected to the light transmission cable comprises a fiber optic disposed within a lumen of at least one of the catheter and the catheter extension, and the fiber optic includes at least one radial emission portion disposed between a coupling end and a distal end.
In dialysis embodiments, the system delivers therapeutic EMR to locations in, on, and surrounding a dialysis catheter and/or a dialysis extension set through which dialysate and/or waste dialysate flows. The smart light engine box generates non-ultraviolet therapeutic EMR and includes laser assemblies and SMA optical fiber connector cable adapters, while a fiber optic disposable has a retracted mode and a collapsed mode using a collapsible/retractable sleeve sealed between proximal and distal ends to keep the fiber optic within a sterile environment in the retracted mode and to advance the fiber optic into the lumen in the collapsed mode.
Additional disclosed features include CPU control of smart light engine box features, including failure-mode behavior and test/validation of delivered therapeutic EMR parameters. The smart light engine box can include a test module and an SMA optical fiber connector to connect the test module to the distal end of the light transmission cable so that delivered therapeutic EMR is tested and the test results are sent to the CPU for analysis against predetermined EMR parameters. The system also includes RFID-based tracking by using a fiber optic disposable with an RFID tag, an RFID reader, and an RFID feature indicator to monitor disposable usage and a CPU-controlled constraint on treatment actuation linked to a predetermined useful life.
Claims Coverage
The independent claims include 1, 14, and 17. Across these claims, the main inventive features are defined by a non-ultraviolet therapeutic EMR delivery system for catheters and dialysis catheters, a laser light engine box architecture with specified intensity, power, and exposure ranges, an optical delivery pathway using a light transmission cable and a fiber optic having radial emission, and CPU-controlled smart light engine functionality including test and monitoring and disposable usage control.
Catheter EMR delivery system with non-ultraviolet therapeutic EMR laser assemblies and radial fiber emission
An electromagnetic radiation delivery system for delivering non-ultraviolet, therapeutic EMR at specified radiant exposure and power ranges to locations in, on, and surrounding a catheter and/or catheter extension, where the system includes at least one light engine box with at least one laser assembly, a light transmission cable with cable adapter, and an optical element comprising a fiber optic disposed in a lumen and having at least one radial emission portion between a coupling end and a distal end.
CPU-controlled smart light engine box with fiber optic disposable sterile retracted/collapsed sleeve and SMA-connected umbilical transmission
An EMR delivery system with a CPU controlling features of a smart light engine box, where the smart light engine box includes at least one laser assembly generating non-ultraviolet therapeutic EMR, at least one cable adapter connected to a laser assembly via an SMA optical fiber connector, an umbilical light transmission cable with at least one transmission wire for data and/or electricity, and a fiber optic disposable having an elongate structure with retracted mode and collapsed mode using a sealed collapsible/retractable sleeve to encapsulate the fiber optic within a sterile environment in the retracted mode and to advance the fiber optic into the lumen in the collapsed mode, with the fiber optic including at least one radial emission portion disposed between a coupling end and a distal end.
Dialysis catheter EMR delivery with CPU-controlled smart light engine box, SMA-connected umbilical transmission, and fiber optic disposable retracted/collapsed sleeve
An EMR delivery system for delivering therapeutic EMR to locations in, on, and surrounding a dialysis catheter and/or dialysis extension set through which dialysate and/or waste dialysate flows, including a CPU controlling features provided by a smart light engine box, at least one smart light engine box with at least one laser assembly generating non-ultraviolet therapeutic EMR, cable adapters connected to the laser assemblies via an SMA optical fiber connector, an umbilical light transmission cable connected to the cable adapter and facilitating propagation to delivery to the dialysis catheter and/or dialysis extension set, and a fiber optic disposable with a retracted mode and a collapsed mode and a sealed collapsible/retractable sleeve that provides a sterile environment in the retracted mode and advances the fiber optic into the lumen in the collapsed mode, with axial propagation and at least one radial emission portion disposed between a coupling end and a distal end.
Across the independent claims, the coverage centers on an EMR delivery architecture that uses non-ultraviolet therapeutic EMR generated by laser assemblies in one or more light engine boxes, delivered via light transmission or umbilical transmission cables to a fiber optic disposed in catheter lumen(s) with a radial emission portion. The claims further emphasize CPU-controlled smart light engine box functionality and the sterile retracted/collapsed operation of a fiber optic disposable, with dialysis-specific delivery to dialysis catheters and extension sets.
Stated Advantages
Prevents, reduces, and/or eliminates infectious agents in, on, or surrounding the catheter and/or catheter extension.
Produces a therapeutic effect of at least one of inactivating one or more infectious agents and enhancing healthy cell growth.
Prevents, reduces, and/or eliminates infectious agents in, on, or surrounding the dialysis catheter and/or dialysis extension set.
Documented Applications
Catheter-related infection prevention/reduction and therapeutic EMR delivery to locations in, on, and surrounding a catheter and/or catheter extension.
Dialysis applications delivering therapeutic EMR to locations in, on, and surrounding a dialysis catheter and/or dialysis extension set through which dialysate and/or waste dialysate flows.
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