Peritoneal dialysis system with constant volume disposable pump
Inventors
Assignees
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Publication Number
US-12403230-B2
Publication Date
2025-09-02
Expiration Date
Abstract
In one aspect, a peritoneal dialysis (PD) system includes a housing that receives a disposable cassette, a plurality of pinch valves that receive respective sections of fluid tubing of the disposable cassette, an air port that forms an airtight seal with an air line of the disposable cassette, an air pump that alternatingly pushes air out of the air port and pulls air in from the air port, and a computer processor that controls the plurality of pinch valves and the air pump such that the cassette performs a dwell phase in which the diaphragm pump pumps fresh dialysate from a dialysate bag to a heater bag, a fill phase in which the diaphragm pump pumps the fresh dialysate from the heater bag to a patient line, and a drain phase in which the diaphragm pump pumps spent dialysate form the patient to a drain.
Core Innovation
The invention provides a peritoneal dialysis system that includes a housing configured to receive a disposable cassette. The system uses a plurality of pinch valves configured to receive respective sections of fluid tubing of the disposable cassette, and an air port configured to form an airtight seal with an air line of the disposable cassette. An air pump alternately pushes air out of the air port and pulls air in from the air port.
A computer processor controls the plurality of pinch valves and the air pump so that the disposable cassette performs a dwell phase, a fill phase, and a drain phase. During the dwell phase, a diaphragm pump pumps fresh dialysate from a dialysate bag to a heater bag, during the fill phase the diaphragm pump pumps the fresh dialysate from the heater bag to a patient line, and during the drain phase the diaphragm pump pumps spent dialysate from the patient to a drain.
The disclosure also describes operation with constant-volume pumped output from the diaphragm pump stroke, enabling calculation of pumped volume and/or pumped flow rate based on constant volume and a number of pump cycles. An air bubble trap and check valves support pneumatic control of flow, together with sensing including pressure and level sensing for occlusion and air-trap alerts, and valve and check-valve functionality checks.
Claims Coverage
The independent claim defines a peritoneal dialysis system with coordinated pinch-valve control and an airtight air-port/air-line interface to an alternately push/pull air pump, performing dwell, fill, and drain phases using a diaphragm pump moving dialysate between a dialysate bag, heater bag, patient line, and drain. Dependent claims further refine phase flow path selection via pinch-valve subsets and restrict pumping control to air flow through the air port, and add computation based on constant volume and pump cycle count, plus additional parallel second diaphragm pump/air port arrangements and an air-pump piston pump structure.
Disposable cassette in a housing with pinch valves and an airtight air-port interface
A housing configured to receive a disposable cassette; a plurality of pinch valves configured to receive respective sections of fluid tubing of the disposable cassette; and an air port configured to form an airtight seal with an air line of the disposable cassette.
Alternating push/pull air pumping controlled by a processor
An air pump configured to alternatingly push air out of the air port and pull air in from the air port; and a computer processor configured to control the plurality of pinch valves and the air pump.
Sequential dwell, fill, and drain phases using a diaphragm pump
Control such that the cassette performs a dwell phase, a fill phase, and a drain phase where a diaphragm pump pumps fresh dialysate from a dialysate bag to a heater bag, pumps the fresh dialysate from the heater bag to a patient line, and pumps spent dialysate from the patient to a drain.
Phase switching by opening subsets of pinch valves
The processor alternates fluid flow paths for the dwell, fill, and drain phases solely by changing which subset of pinch valves is open while the remainder of the pinch valves are closed.
Fresh and spent pumping by controlling air flow through the air port
The system pumps fresh dialysate and spent dialysate during the dwell, fill, and drain phases by controlling only the air flow into and out of the air port.
Calculating pumped volume or flow rate from constant volume and cycle count
The processor calculates, based on a constant volume pumped by the diaphragm pump and a number of pump cycles, at least one of the pumped dialysate volume or the pumped dialysate flow rate.
Parallel second diaphragm pump with a second air port
The system includes a second air port, and the disposable cassette includes a second air line forming an airtight seal with the second air port and a second diaphragm pump disposed in parallel flow paths with the diaphragm pump.
Piston pump air-pump structure with air ports on opposite sides of a piston head
The air pump is a piston pump including a cylinder and a piston head, where a first air port communicates with an interior volume of the cylinder on a first side of the piston head and a second air port communicates with an interior volume of the cylinder on a second side opposite the first side.
Overall claim coverage centers on a peritoneal dialysis system that coordinates pinch valves and an alternately push/pull air pump via an airtight air port/air line interface to drive a diaphragm pump through sequential dwell, fill, and drain phases. Dependent claims narrow phase switching to pinch-valve subset opening, narrow pumping control to air flow through the air port, add computation of pumped volume/flow rate from constant pumped volume and pump cycle count, and add parallel second air-port/second diaphragm-pump structure and a piston-pump configuration with air ports on opposite sides of a piston head.
Stated Advantages
Enables calculation of pumped volume and/or pumped flow rate based on constant volume pumped by the diaphragm pump and a number of pump cycles.
Documented Applications
Peritoneal dialysis using a peritoneal dialysis cycler that performs dwell, fill, and drain phases to move fresh dialysate from a dialysate bag to a heater bag, then to a patient line, and to move spent dialysate from the patient to a drain.
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