Systems, methods, and components for trapping air bubbles in medical fluid transfer modules and systems
AssigneeICU Medical, Inc.
InventorsThomas F. Fangrow, Jay Hachey
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Bubble traps for use in medical fluid lines and medical fluid bubble trap systems are disclosed herein. In some embodiments, the bubble trap is configured to trap gas (e.g., air) that flows into the bubble trap from a fluid line. In some embodiments, the bubble trap includes an inlet and an outlet and a chamber between the inlet and the outlet. For example, in some embodiments, the bubble trap is configured to inhibit gas from flowing into the outlet once gas flows into the chamber from the inlet. In some embodiments, the bubble trap is in fluid communication with a source container, a destination container, and/or a patient.
Claims17
A method of using an inline bubble trap to reduce an amount of air prior to transfer of medical fluid through the inline bubble trap device and a medical fluid line, the method comprising:
- placing an inline bubble trap device in fluid communication with a medical fluid line, the inline bubble trap device comprising:
- a resilient housing at least partially defining a chamber comprising an interior volume;
- an inlet comprising an inlet projection including an inlet opening having an inlet opening center axis, the inlet projection extending toward a center of the chamber such that the inlet opening is at or near the center of the chamber;
- and
- an outlet comprising an outlet projection including an outlet opening having an outlet opening center axis, the outlet opening center axis being different than the inlet opening center axis such that the inlet opening is misaligned from the outlet opening, the outlet projection extending toward the center of the chamber such that the outlet opening is at or near the center of the chamber,
- wherein the inline bubble trap is configured to inhibit a flow of gas from the inlet to the outlet;
- and
- purging the inline bubble trap device and the medical fluid line, purging comprising:
- subjecting the inline bubble trap device and the medical fluid line to a vacuum;
- and
- at least partially collapsing the resilient housing of the inline bubble trap device to reduce the interior volume of the chamber.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.