DUAL MICROCONTROLLER-BASED LIQUID INFUSION SYSTEM

• US 20080255517A1
• Filed: 11/19/2007
• Published: 10/16/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 04/10/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham Deemded University
• Original Assignee: Mata Amritanandamayi Center
• Inventors: NAIR, BIPIN, KUMAR, HARISH, GURUVAYURAPPAN, K.
• Granted Patent: US 8,034,019 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 604/152
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/15 Detection of leaks
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/332 Force measuring means
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/50 with microprocessors or computers
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 5/14244 adapted to be carried by the patient, e.g. portable on the body
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 5/1456 with a replaceable reservoir comprising a piston rod to be moved into the reservoir, e.g. the piston rod is part of the removable reservoir
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 5/1684 by detecting the amount of infusate remaining, e.g. signalling end of infusion
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 5/16854 by monitoring line pressure

Abstract

A highly reliable and robust functioning liquid infusion system for use in biomedical applications comprises a dual microcontroller system where the first microcontroller is configured to administer the liquid and the second microcontroller is configured to monitor the accurate functioning of the system and various performance parameters such as flow rate of liquid, presence of leaks or blocks in the liquid passage, level of drug in the cartridge and battery condition. The liquid injection portion comprises a cylindrical airtight liquid holder or drug cartridge with a movable internal piston that is in contact with a movable stem, and a micromotor, which controls the drug delivery. The system is programmable with a dosing system stored into the driver/monitor microcontrollers. A low power LCD module is used to display the operating parameters with multiple language interface and alarm conditions, if any. The system is also equipped with a system of sensors that trigger an alarm to indicate abnormal conditions.

Claims

1. A liquid infusion system for use in biomedical applications comprising:

a dual microcontroller system;

a liquid infusion portion comprising a liquid holder, and

a micromotor for propelling the liquid.

2. The infusion system of claim 1, where the dual microcontroller system comprises a first and second microcontrollers;

wherein the first microcontroller is configured to administer the liquid and the second is configured to monitor the accuracy of functioning of the system and various performance parameters, where the performance parameter is one or more of flow rate of liquid, presence of leaks or blocks in the liquid passage, level of drug in a drug cartridge and battery condition.

3. The infusion system of claim 2, comprising a liquid infusion portion comprising a chamber containing the drug cartridge, a sealed piston arrangement, a stem leading from the piston to a plunger handle and a lever attached to a microscrew.

4. The infusion system of claim 3, where the sealing arrangement for the piston comprises a double O-ring system.

5. The system of claim 1 in which rotation of the micromotor is unidirectional.

6. The system of claim 1 in which programmable memory of the microcontroller is capable of storing a plurality of schedules of dosing parameters, which are dynamically computed by a software program.

7. The system of claim 2 in which an audible alarm is generated when there is a mismatch between the system'"'"'s computed performance data and values that are stored in pre-programmed memory.

8. The system of claim 2 in which an audible alarm is generated when there is a high current indication due to blockage of fluid flow.

9. The system of claim 2 in which an audible alarm is generated when there is a low current indication due to leakage of fluid.

10. The system of claim 1 comprising inputs and outputs for data transfer.

11. The system of claim 10 where multilingual data display is available through a large format LCD screen.

12. The system of claim 10 where the data transfer is through an infrared USB connection.

13. The system of claim 10 where the data input is through a data entry mechanism.

14. The system of claim 13 where the data entry is by using voice activation.

15. A liquid infusion system for use in biomedical applications comprising:

a first and second microcontroller;

where the first microcontroller is configured to administer the liquid and the second microcontroller is configured to monitor the accuracy of one or more performance parameters chosen from (a) flow rate of liquid, (b) presence of leaks or blocks in the liquid passage, (c) level of drug in the cartridge and (d) battery condition;

a liquid injection portion comprising an airtight container with a movable internal piston that can be placed securely in contact with a movable stem;

a micromotor that causes a precision screw to rotate by a pre-specified angular value in response to a stimulating signal to cause linear motion of the movable stem;

a dosing system programmed into the microcontrollers wherein the program is stored in an electrical erasable programmable memory;

a low power LCD module and

separate battery means to maintain the program memory and for driving the micromotor;

a system of movement sensors to transmit a signal to both the first and the second microcontrollers to indicate full, empty and liquid level conditions of the drug cartridge, and a current sensor coupled to the motor circuit to detect blockage of the fluid passage.

16. The system of claim 15 in which the rotation of the micromotor is unidirectional.

17. The system of claim 15 in which programmable memory of the microcontroller is capable of storing a plurality of schedules of dosing parameters, which are dynamically computed by a software program.

18. The system of claim 15 in which an audible alarm is generated when there is a mismatch between the driver'"'"'s computed data and values that are stored in pre-programmed memory.

19. The system of claim 15 in which an audible alarm is generated when there is a high current indication due to blockage of fluid flow.

20. The system of claim 15 in which an audible alarm is generated when there is a low current indication due to leakage of fluid.

21. The system of claim 15 comprising inputs and outputs for data transfer.

22. The system of claim 21 where multilingual data display is available through a large format LCD screen.

23. The system of claim 21 where the data transfer is through an infrared USB connection.

24. The system of claim 21 where the data input is through a data entry mechanism.

25. The system of claim 24 where the data entry is by using voice activation.