Extracorporeal blood filtering machine and methods

Inventors

Epshteyn, Vitaliy Gennad'yevich • Sandoval, Steven Daniel • Berg, Kalley Francis • Ulrich, Franz Willems

Assignees

Nuwellis Inc

Abstract

An extracorporeal blood filtering machine can include a blood circuit, an effluent circuit, and a source fluid circuit and can be controlled by a controller. The extracorporeal blood filtering machine can also include access ports for connecting the source fluid circuit to the blood circuit, as well as blood sensors to detect possible issues with the extracorporeal blood filtering machine. The extracorporeal blood filtering machine can include density sensors and flow sensors that enable it to be more accurate and to operate while being transported. The extracorporeal blood filtering machine can further include a user interface and can display fluid inflow/outflow information. A medical fluid container can automatically empty after being filled. An apparatus for supporting a medical fluid container can include a hanger and an attachment member with the apparatus able to adjust to ensure the medical fluid container remains properly oriented directly under a medical fluid container scale.

Core Innovation

The invention describes an extracorporeal blood filtering machine/system with a blood circuit, a source fluid circuit, and an effluent circuit. The blood circuit includes a blood line with a blood inlet configured to receive blood from a patient and a blood outlet configured to return the blood to the patient, a filter fluidly connected between the inlet and outlet, and a blood pump that pumps blood through the filter to remove waste from the blood. The source fluid circuit includes a source fluid line connected to a source fluid reservoir and configured to be connected to the blood circuit, and a source fluid pump that pumps source fluid into the blood circuit through the source fluid line.

The effluent circuit includes an effluent line connected to the filter to receive waste from the filter as effluent, and an effluent pump that pumps the effluent through the effluent line into an effluent receptacle. The invention operates the extracorporeal blood filtering machine using a controller that can run in an open-loop mode or in a closed-loop mode. In the open-loop mode, the controller sets the blood pump speed, the source fluid pump speed, and the effluent pump speed at respective fixed speeds.

In the closed-loop mode, the controller adjusts the source fluid pump speed based on the measured source fluid flow quantity, and adjusts the effluent pump speed based on the measured effluent flow quantity. The machine includes a source fluid flow sensor configured to measure a source fluid flow quantity and an effluent flow sensor configured to measure an effluent flow quantity, with these measured quantities used for closed-loop adjustments. The document additionally describes mode-dependent effluent receptacle configuration, where the effluent receptacle includes a drain in the open-loop mode and includes a bag in the closed-loop mode.

Claims Coverage

The independent claim covers 3 inventive features in an extracorporeal blood filtering machine: the blood, source fluid, and effluent circuit architecture; controller operation in open-loop and closed-loop modes using flow sensors; and mode-dependent effluent receptacle structure.

Overall claim coverage centers on the extracorporeal blood filtering machine architecture combining blood, source-fluid, and effluent circuits, and on the controller-based selection between open-loop and closed-loop operation using source-fluid and effluent flow sensors, together with effluent receptacle selection (drain in open-loop and bag in closed-loop).

Stated Advantages

Documented Applications

No documented applications found