Cardioplegic agent delivery system
AssigneeSpectrum Medical Ltd.
InventorStephen Turner
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A cardioplegic agent delivery system comprises a syringe pump for providing cardioplegic agent into a carrier fluid of a perfusion system, a flow sensor for sensing a flow of the carrier fluid, and an interlock responsive to the flow sensor. The interlock prevents operation of the syringe pump in the absence of carrier fluid flow sensed by the flow sensor. This provides increased safety in a cardioplegic agent delivery system.
Claims15
A cardioplegic agent delivery system comprising:
- a syringe pump for providing cardioplegic agent into a carrier fluid of a perfusion system;
- a flow sensor for sensing a flow rate of the carrier fluid;
- and
- an interlock responsive to the flow sensor, the interlock preventing operation of the syringe pump to provide cardioplegic agent into the carrier fluid in the absence of flow sensed by the flow sensor, wherein the interlock is programmed to control actuation of the syringe pump to feed cardioplegic agent into the carrier fluid only when the flow rate of the carrier fluid exceeds a predetermined threshold.
A syringe pump for use in a cardioplegia circuit, the syringe pump comprising
- a reservoir containing a cardioplegic agent;
- an actuator for dispensing the cardioplegic agent into a carrier fluid of the cardioplegia circuit;
- and
- a controller to control the actuator, wherein the controller is programmed to receive a signal indicative of a flow rate of the carrier fluid and to dispense cardioplegic agent only if the flow rate exceeds a predetermined threshold.
A method of controlling a cardioplegic agent delivery system to prepare a cardioplegic solution, wherein the delivery system comprises a syringe pump for providing cardioplegic agent into a carrier fluid, and further comprises a flow sensor and an interlock responsive to the flow sensor, and wherein the method comprises the steps of:
- using the flow sensor to sense a flow rate of the carrier fluid, and
- operating the interlock to allow operation of the syringe pump when the flow sensor senses flow of the carrier fluid, and to prevent the syringe pump from delivering cardioplegic agent into the carrier fluid in the absence of flow sensed by the flow sensor.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.