Ultrasonic detection of bacteria in water of a medical system
AssigneesFresenius Medical Care Holdings, Inc., Fresenius Medical Care Deutschland GmbH
InventorsMartin Crnkovich, Christian Schlaeper, David Yuds
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A medical system for detecting bacteria in water includes: a water distribution or processing system; an inlet for receiving water into the water distribution or processing system; an outlet for expelling water from the water distribution or processing system; and at least one ultrasonic testing system. The at least one ultrasonic testing system: an ultrasonic emitter configured to emit ultrasonic waves into a testing volume containing water, and an ultrasonic sensor configured to detect a sonic response of bacteria in the testing volume based on ultrasonic waves emitted by the ultrasonic emitter. The at least one ultrasonic testing system is arranged at the inlet or the outlet.
Claims20
A medical system for detecting bacteria in water, comprising:
- a water distribution or processing system;
- an inlet for receiving water into the water distribution or processing system;
- an outlet for expelling water from the water distribution or processing system;
- at least two ultrasonic testing systems, each ultrasonic testing system including:
- an ultrasonic emitter configured to emit ultrasonic waves into a testing volume containing water, and
- an ultrasonic sensor configured to detect a sonic response of bacteria in the testing volume based on ultrasonic waves emitted by the ultrasonic emitter;
- and
- a processor configured to:
- receive signals corresponding to a detected sonic response from the ultrasonic sensor of each of the at least two ultrasonic testing systems,
- compare the detected sonic responses, and
- determine, based on the comparison of the detected sonic responses, whether to initiate one or more responsive operations,
- wherein at least one of the ultrasonic testing systems is arranged at the inlet or the outlet, and
- wherein the at least two ultrasonic testing systems are configured to emit ultrasonic waves into different testing volumes.
A method for monitoring a bacterial presence in a water network, comprising:
- emitting, by a first ultrasonic emitter, ultrasonic waves into a first testing volume containing water;
- detecting, by a first ultrasonic sensor, a sonic response of bacteria in the first testing volume to the emitted ultrasonic waves;
- determining, by a processor, an amount of bacteria in the water based on the detected sonic response;
- emitting, by a second ultrasonic emitter, ultrasonic waves into a second testing volume containing water;
- detecting, by a second ultrasonic sensor, a sonic response of bacteria in the second testing volume to the emitted ultrasonic waves;
- comparing, by the processor, the sonic response in the second testing volume to the sonic response in the first testing volume;
- and
- determining, by the processor, based on the comparison of the sonic response in the second testing volume to the sonic response in the first testing volume, whether to initiate one or more responsive operations.
A non-transitory computer-readable medium having processor-executable instructions stored thereon, wherein the processor-executable instructions, when executed by one or more processors, facilitate performance of a method for monitoring a bacterial presence in a water network, comprising:
- emitting, by a first ultrasonic emitter, ultrasonic waves into a first testing volume containing water;
- detecting, by a first ultrasonic sensor, a sonic response of bacteria in the first testing volume to the emitted ultrasonic waves;
- determining, by a processor, an amount of bacteria in the water based on the detected sonic response;
- emitting, by a second ultrasonic emitter, ultrasonic waves into a second testing volume containing water;
- detecting, by a second ultrasonic sensor, a sonic response of bacteria in the second testing volume to the emitted ultrasonic waves;
- comparing, by the processor, the sonic response in the second testing volume to the sonic response in the first testing volume;
- and
- determining, by the processor, based on the comparison of the sonic response in the second testing volume to the sonic response in the first testing volume, whether to initiate one or more responsive operations.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.