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US 4,676,905 AGranted
Fluid separation method and apparatus
AssigneeToray Industries, Inc.
InventorsShozo Nagao, Naoyuki Mitani, Teruyuki Nakagawa
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AssigneeToray Industries, Inc.
InventorsShozo Nagao, Naoyuki Mitani, Teruyuki Nakagawa
Estimating the term…
Fluid separation method and apparatus for simultaneously carrying out dialysis and ultrafiltration and exactly controlling the ultrafiltration rate is disclosed. The method and apparatus is concerned with a dialysis system comprising the combination of a fluid separating device; one or more units for dialysate each unit, each unit comprising a pair of dialysate chambers separated by at least one partition which is movable or transformable while keeping the over-all volume of a pair of dialysate chambers constant; a variable speed dialysate feed pump; a variable speed dialysate discharge pump; and other devices e.g. monitoring devices. Fresh dialysate is fed from one of the dialysate chambers into the dialysate inlet of the fluid separating device; separation treatment is carried out through the semi-permeable membrane of the fluid separating device; waste dialysate is discharged from the dialysate outlet of the fluid separating device into the dialysate chamber and the over-all volume of this closed circuit is maintained constant. The controlled ultrafiltrate is exactly discharged from the closed circuit by an ultrafiltration pump; and a continuous operation is carried out in a plurality of units for exchanging dialysate alternately.
In a method for separating components of fluid through a fluid separating device having a fresh dialysate inlet and a waste dialysate outlet and having a semi-permeable membrane effective to perform simultaneous dialysis and ultrafiltration, in an apparatus in which said fluid separating device is connected to at least two dialysate chambers each having at least one movable partition arranged to form separate dialysate units, said dialysate units having essentially equal volume, the improvement which comprises conducting an accurately measured quantity of fresh dialysate fluid from one dialysate unit of a first dialysate chamber to said dialysate inlet of the fluid separating device and concurrently withdrawing waste dialysate fluid from said dialysate outlet of the fluid separating device and returning it to another dialysate unit of said first dialysate chamber, all in a closed circuit, then establishing a separate closed circuit and conducting the same accurately measured quantity of fresh dialysate fluid from one dialysate unit of a second dialysate chamber to said dialysate inlet of said fluid separating device and concurrently withdrawing waste dialysate fluid from said dialysate outlet of said fluid separating device and returning it to another dialysate unit of said second dialysate chamber, all in said separate closed circuit, and continuously alternating operation of said two closed circuits while feeding equal fluid quantities to said units in each cycle, and measuring the amount of ultrafiltration by measuring the excess of dialysate fluid being withdrawn from a closed circuit, said excess being defined by the amount of waste dialysate fluid withdrawn from said fluid separating device which is greater than said quantity of fresh dialysate fluid admitted to said fluid separating device during each said cycle.
In an apparatus for separating components of fluid, the combination which comprises a fluid separating device having a fresh dialysate inlet and a waste dialysate outlet and having a semi-permeable membrane effective to perform simultaneous dialysis and ultrafiltration,
In a fluid system comprising a filled hydraulic circuit for conducting a first fluid through a fluid processing container for admixture with a second fluid, thereby producing a mixture fluid from said first and second fluids, the combination which comprises:
A fluid handling system comprising a filled hydraulic circuit including a pair of receptacles each having movable partition means dividing said receptacles into first and second chambers, means for producing reciprocation of said partition means, a first fluid inlet to said circuit for delivering first fluid to each of said first chambers, a connection from said first chamber of said one receptacle to said second chamber of said one receptacle, a connection between said first chamber of said other receptacle and said second chamber of said other receptacle, said connections including a common section, a second fluid inlet into said common section through which second fluid is admitted to that section to move with the first fluid to said second chambers, valve means operatively associated with said first inlet and said connections and effective to permit controlled movement of the partition means and fluid removal means connected to said common section and constituting means for removing fluid from the circuit in quantities equal to the quantities of the second fluid admitted to the circuit, whereby said circuit is constituted as a filled, constant volume hydraulic system.
An apparatus for hemodialyzing which comprises
An apparatus for hemodialyzing which comprises
In combination with a dialysis apparatus having an inlet for fresh dialysate fluid and an outlet for waste dialysate fluid, fluid handling apparatus which comprises:
In a method of performing dialysis by causing fluid flow through a semi-permeable membrane for removal of waste components from a fluid to be treated, wherein fresh dialysate fluid is introduced into contact with said membrane and waste dialysate fluid is removed from contact with said membrane, the steps which comprise:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.