System and method for verifying alignment of drug pump and fluid supply
AssigneeCareFusion 303, Inc.
InventorsTimothy Vanderveen, Stephen Bollish
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A patient care system is configured for infusing fluid to a patient. The system includes a plurality of fluid infusion pumps, each of which is connected to a respective fluid supply for pumping the contents of a fluid supply to a patient via fluid supply lines. The system includes a pressure sensor downstream of the fluid infusion pumps for determining if a particular fluid is connected to a designated infusion pump.
Claims19
A method for verifying that a particular fluid supply is connected to a pump mechanism wherein the pump mechanism acts on a fluid conduit coupled to the fluid supply to control movement of fluid from the fluid supply through the fluid line, the method comprising:
- causing an operator-induced pressure change in the fluid line at a downstream portion of the fluid line located between the pump mechanism and a patient;
- sensing pressure in the downstream portion of the fluid line;
- detecting the operator-induced pressure change in the downstream portion of the fluid line and
- indicating a connection verification that the fluid supply is connected to the pump mechanism upon detection of the operator-induced pressure change.
A patient care system for infusing multiple medical fluids, the patient care system comprising:
- a plurality of fluid containers each adapted to hold a separate medical fluid;
- a plurality of fluid lines each in fluid communication with a separate fluid container from among the plurality of fluid containers;
- a plurality of pump channels each adapted to receive and connect to a separate fluid line from among the plurality of fluid lines and to operate on the received conduit to pump the fluid from the fluid container connected to the received conduit;
- a plurality of pressure sensors each associated with a pump channel, each coupled to a separate fluid line from among the plurality of fluid lines, and each located downstream of the associated pump channel providing the sensor signals representative of pressure in the fluid line with which the pressure sensor is coupled;
- and
- a processor connected to the plurality of pressure sensors and to the plurality of pump channels, the processor configured to verify that a particular fluid container from among the plurality of fluid containers is connected to a particular pump channel from among the plurality of pump channels, wherein the processor has a connection verification mode in which the processor is configured to monitor the pressure signals for a predetermined time period to detect an operator-induced pressure change and to provide a verification indication when the processor receives pressure signals indicative of the operator-induced pressure change in a particular conduit to thereby verify that the particular fluid container is connected to the particular pump channel through the particular conduit.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.