Capacitance fluid volume measurement
First Claim
1. A device for providing a medical fluid to a patient comprising:
- a plurality of capacitor plates;
a fluid receptacle positioned between the plurality of capacitor plates;
a circuit electrically connected to the plurality of capacitor plates, the circuit having an output indicative of a volume of the fluid in the fluid receptacle; and
a member for providing at least a portion of the volume of the fluid to or from a patient.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A fluid volumetric pumping system has a fluid pump and capacitor plates disposed around a pump chamber of the fluid pump. The capacitance between the capacitor plates changes as the volume of fluid in the pump chamber changes. An electrical circuit measures a change in the capacitance between the plates and outputs a signal indicative of the volume of fluid in the pump chamber. The pump having the capacitance sensor of the present invention fluidly connects to a patient. In an embodiment, a peritoneal dialysis system provides dialysate to the patient via the pump, and the capacitance sensor measures the volume of dialysate supplied to and drained from a peritoneal cavity of the patient.
245 Citations
73 Claims
-
1. A device for providing a medical fluid to a patient comprising:
-
a plurality of capacitor plates;
a fluid receptacle positioned between the plurality of capacitor plates;
a circuit electrically connected to the plurality of capacitor plates, the circuit having an output indicative of a volume of the fluid in the fluid receptacle; and
a member for providing at least a portion of the volume of the fluid to or from a patient. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
-
-
12. A device for providing dialysis to a patient comprising:
-
a plurality of capacitor plates;
a receptacle for holding a volume of dialysis fluid positioned between the plurality of capacitor plates;
a circuit electrically connected to the plurality of capacitor plates, the circuit having an output indicative of the volume of dialysis fluid in the receptacle; and
a fluid line coupled to the patient to deliver at least a portion of the volume of dialysis fluid to or from the patient.
-
-
13. A device for providing continuous flow peritoneal dialysis comprising:
-
a dialysis receptacle capable of being placed in fluid communication with a patient;
first and second capacitor plates having a variable dielectric between the plates that is dependent on an amount of dialysis fluid in the receptacle; and
an electrical circuit connected to the capacitor plates that creates a signal that is related to the variable dielectric.
-
-
14. A system for measuring a volume of a fluid to be provided to or from a patient, the system comprising:
-
a fluid receptacle capable of being fluidly connected to a patient;
first and second capacitor plates having a variable dielectric between the plates that is dependent on an amount of a fluid in the fluid receptacle; and
an electrical circuit connected to the capacitor plates that creates a signal that is related to the variable dielectric. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
-
-
31. A system for measuring a volume of a fluid to be provided to or from a patient, the system comprising:
-
a fluid receptacle that can be placed in fluid communication with the patient;
first and second capacitor plates positioned outside of the fluid receptacle; and
an electrical circuit providing a voltage source that enables a signal indicative of the volume of the fluid in the receptacle to be generated. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34, 35)
-
-
36. A medical fluid delivery system, comprising:
-
a fluid flow path including a patient connection;
a fluid receptacle that is so constructed and arranged to be in fluid communication with the fluid flow path; and
a capacitance sensor positioned relative to the fluid receptacle and capable of indicating a volume of fluid in the receptacle. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46)
-
-
47. A dialysis system, comprising:
-
a fluid flow mechanism capable of conveying a fluid during a dialysis treatment; and
a fluid volume capacitance sensor so positioned and arranged relative to the fluid flow mechanism to measure a volume of the fluid during the dialysis treatment. - View Dependent Claims (48, 49, 50)
-
-
51. A method of measuring a volume of a medical fluid pumped by a fluid pump, comprising the steps of:
-
sensing a first state of a fluid receptacle with capacitor plates when the medical fluid receptacle is substantially empty of fluid;
providing the medical fluid to the fluid receptacle;
sensing a second state of the fluid receptacle with the capacitor plates when the fluid receptacle is substantially full of medical fluid; and
determining a volume of the medical fluid in the fluid receptacle based on the first and second states sensed by the capacitor plates. - View Dependent Claims (52, 53, 54, 55, 56)
-
-
57. A method of providing dialysis to a patient, comprising the steps of:
-
measuring a volume of dialysis fluid with a capacitance sensor; and
passing a portion of the volume of the dialysis fluid into a portion of a patient. - View Dependent Claims (58, 59)
-
-
60. A method of providing continuous flow peritoneal dialysis to a patient, comprising the steps of:
-
passing a volume of dialysis fluid through a pair of capacitor plates to measure the volume of dialysis fluid;
causing the volume of dialysis fluid to move into a portion of a patient; and
removing dialysis fluid from the patient simultaneously as the volume of dialysis fluid is moved into the patient. - View Dependent Claims (61)
-
-
62. A method of providing dialysis to a patient, comprising the steps of:
-
providing a dialysate;
measuring a volume of dialysate with a capacitance sensor;
infusing the volume of dialysate into a patient; and
drawing the dialysate from the patient. - View Dependent Claims (63, 64, 65, 66)
-
-
67. A method of operating a system which displaces a medical fluid that is designed to be received by a patient, comprising the steps of:
-
moving the medical fluid from a first location to a second location; and
measuring a volume of the fluid moved by a capacitance sensor. - View Dependent Claims (68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73)
-
Specification