Medical device with a thermal mass flow sensor for bubble detection
AssigneeKoninklijke Philips N.V.
InventorsFrancis Patrick O'NEILL, Ronald Paul CONSIGLIO, Mark Shih-Cheih LIN, Carolus Gerardus THIJSSEN
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A medical device (10) includes a device housing (12). An in-line thermal mass flow sensor (26) includes a heater (28) and at least one temperature sensor (30). The in-line thermal mass flow sensor is vertically mounted on or in the device housing. The in-line thermal mass flow sensor is configured to measure a flow rate of the fluid through the medical device. At least one electronic processor (18) is programmed to: read the flow rate of the fluid measured by the in-line thermal mass flow sensor, and detect at least one bubble in the fluid based on the measured flow rate.
Claims18
A medical device comprising:
- a device housing;
- an in-line thermal mass flow sensor comprising a heater and at least one temperature sensor, the in-line thermal mass flow sensor being vertically mounted on or in the device housing with flow through the in-line thermal mass flow sensor being in one of an upward direction or a downward direction, the in-line thermal mass flow sensor being configured to measure a flow rate of the fluid through the medical device;
- and
- at least one electronic processor programmed to:
- read the flow rate of the fluid measured by the in-line thermal mass flow sensor;
- and
- detect at least one bubble in the fluid based on the measured flow rate.
A method of detecting bubbles in a medical device, the method comprising:
- with an in-line thermal mass flow sensor, measuring a flow rate of a fluid flowing through a medical device, the in-line thermal mass flow sensor being vertically mounted in a device housing of the medical device with flow through the in-line thermal mass flow sensor being in one of an upward direction or a downward direction;
- with at least one processor, reading the flow rate of the fluid measured by the in-line thermal mass flow sensor;
- and
- with the at least one processor, detecting at least one bubble in the fluid based on the measured flow rate.
(canceled)
A medical pump, comprising:
- a motor;
- a housing containing at least the motor;
- an in-line thermal mass flow sensor comprising a heater and at least one temperature sensor, the in-line thermal mass flow sensor being vertically mounted on or in the housing with flow through the in-line thermal mass flow sensor being in one of an upward direction or a downward direction, the in-line thermal mass flow sensor being configured to measure a flow rate of the fluid through the medical pump;
- at least one electronic processor programmed to:
- read the flow rate of the fluid measured by the in-line thermal mass flow sensor;
- and
- detect at least one bubble in the fluid based on the measured flow rate;
- and
- a display configured to display a warning of a detected bubble in the medical pump.
18-20. (canceled)
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.