Apparatus and method for bedside collection of body fluids and automatic volume level monitoring

A bedside apparatus to collect and monitor liquids output from a catheterized patient comprising:

• a holder mountable in a horizontal orientation defining a vertically oriented optical segment cavity having opposite sides, a vertically array of spaced LEDs mounted along a height of said optical segment cavity on one side of said optical segment cavity with their optical axes in parallel substantially perpendicular to the height of said optical segment cavity with the LEDs equally space vertically and each directing its diverging light ray toward the other side of said optical segment cavity, said LEDs being configured so that every LED's diverging light ray partially overlaps the light rays of its upper and lower neighboring LEDs as it traverses the optical segment cavity, and a single vertically oriented photodetector device mounted in said holder on the opposite side of said optical segment cavity, the photodetector device positioned to receive non-refracted light from each LED of said vertical array of spaced LEDs that passes through the optical segment cavity and to output signals correlated to detected intensity or luminance;
• a disposable rigid collecting and measuring vessel of a preselected set of types having an inlet at its top connectable via an inlet valve to a catheter outputting liquid from a patient and an outlet at its bottom and defining a transparent optical part extending vertically from bottom to top of said measuring vessel that is geometrically configured such that light as it passes through the optical part of the measuring vessel has a predetermined refraction in dependence on whether there is liquid present in the light path, which predetermined refraction causes said light to by-pass the photodetector device;
• said apparatus including an identifier capable of differentiating between different types of measuring vessels;
• said measuring vessel being demountably held on said holder in a fixed position with its optical part positioned vertically in said vertically oriented optical segment cavity so that light from said vertically spaced LEDs is directed through the optical part of said measuring vessel as it traverses said optical segment cavity, with the single vertically oriented photodetector device receiving only unrefracted light;
• said holder further includes (i) a memory and (ii) a microprocessor including a program operative (a) for serially and cyclically at defined intervals scanning the LEDs in succession to detect the intensity or luminance of light from each LED detected by the vertically oriented photodetector device and to output signals correlated to the detected intensity or luminance for each LED, (b) for storing said output signals in said memory, (c) for processing said output signals according to a predetermined algorithm to determine the height of collected liquid in the optical part of the measuring vessel, and (d) for storing information about the height of collected liquid in memory, wherein the program is further operative for carrying out multiple scans for each defined interval scanning with recording of results in a temporary memory;
• analysis of temporary recorded results and correction by removal of artifacts;
• averaging of corrected temporary recorded results;
• and storing of the remaining averaged results for data processing to determine the corrected height of collected liquid in the optical part of the measuring vessel;
• said apparatus further includes at least one electrical motor having an output drive shaft that operatively engages with an outlet valve mounted on said measuring vessel, wherein operation of the at least one electric motor opens or closes the outlet valve in response to predetermined conditions of operation of the microcontroller thereby controlling draining of liquid from said vessel according to one of (i) predetermined time intervals and (ii) predetermined fluid level thus enabling clinical staff to view collected liquid characteristics including color, blood in the fluid and sedimentation.

A method of monitoring a bedside apparatus to collect liquids output from a catheterized patient comprising the steps of:

• providing a holder mountable in a horizontal orientation defining a vertically oriented optical segment cavity having opposite sides, a vertically array of spaced LEDs mounted along a height of said optical segment cavity on one side of said optical segment cavity with their optical axes in parallel substantially perpendicular to the height of said optical segment cavity with the LEDs equally space vertically and each directing its diverging light ray toward the other side of said optical segment cavity, said LEDs being configured so that every LED's diverging light ray partially overlaps the light rays of its upper and lower neighboring LEDs as it traverses the optical segment cavity, and a single vertically oriented photodetector device mounted in said holder on the opposite side of said optical segment cavity, the photodetector device positioned to receive non-refracted light from each LED of said vertical array of spaced LEDs that passes through the optical segment cavity and outputs signals correlated to detected intensity or luminance;
• providing a disposable rigid collecting and measuring vessel of a preselected set of types having an inlet at its top connectable to a catheter outputting liquid from a patient and an outlet at its bottom and defining a transparent optical part extending vertically from bottom to top of said measuring vessel that is configured such that light as it passes through the optical part of the measuring vessel has a predetermined refraction in dependence on whether there is liquid present in the light path;
• differentiating between different types of measuring vessels using an identifier;
• mounting said measuring vessel on said holder in a fixed position with its optical part positioned in said vertically oriented optical segment cavity so that light from said vertically spaced LEDs is directed through the optical part of said measuring vessel as it traverses said optical segment cavity, with the single vertically oriented photodetector device receiving only light that has not been refracted due to liquid in the light path;
• wherein said holder further includes (i) a memory including a program and (ii) a microprocessor responsive to said non-transitory program operative (a) for serially and cyclically at defined intervals scanning the LEDs in succession to detect the intensity or luminance of light from each LED detected by the single vertically oriented photodetector device and to output signals correlated to the detected intensity or luminance for each LED, (b) for storing said output signals in said memory, (c) for processing said output signals according to a predetermined algorithm to determine the height of collected liquid in the optical part of the measuring vessel, and (d) for storing information about the height of collected liquid in memory,
• wherein the program is further operative for instructing the microprocessor for carrying out multiple scans for each defined interval scanning with recording of results in a temporary memory;
• analysis of temporary recorded results and correction by removal of artifacts;
• averaging of corrected temporary recorded results and storing of the remaining averaged results for data processing to determine the corrected height of collected liquid in the optical part of the measuring vessel;
• providing further at least one electrical motor having an output drive shaft that operatively engages with an outlet valve mounted on said measuring vessel, wherein operation of the at least one electric motor opens or closes the outlet valve in response to predetermined conditions of operation of the microcontroller thereby controlling draining of liquid from said vessel according to one of (i) predetermined time intervals and (ii) predetermined fluid level thus enabling clinical staff to view collected liquid characteristics including color, blood in the fluid and sedimentation;
• scanning the LEDs cyclically at successive defined intervals to detect the intensity or luminance of light of each LED by the single vertically oriented photodetector device and to output signals for each defined interval correlated to the detected intensity or luminance of each LED;
• storing said output signals in memory;
• carrying out multiple scans for each defined interval scanning with recording of results in a temporary memory;
• processing said output signals for each defined interval according to a predetermined algorithm that a. analyzes temporary recorded results and correcting by removal of artifacts;
• b. averages corrected temporary recorded results;
• c. stores the remaining averaged results;
• and d. then data processes the averaged results to determine the corrected height of collected liquid in the optical part of the measuring vessel at each defined interval;
• and storing in memory information related to volume of liquid contained in the measuring vessel based on the determined height of collected liquid for each defined interval.