Methods for Controlling Medical Fluid Injections

• US 20100056909A1
• Filed: 11/10/2009
• Published: 03/04/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 05/04/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Liebel-Flarsheim Company (Mallinckrodt plc)
• Original Assignee: Mallinckrodt Incorporated (Mallinckrodt plc)
• Inventors: Knipfer, James E., Fago, Frank M.
• Granted Patent: US 9,242,083 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 600/432
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/481 involving the use of contrast agents
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/504 for diagnosis of blood vessels, e.g. by angiography
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2005/14208 with a programmable infusion control system, characterised by the infusion program
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/3362 with minimised length of fluid lines; Taking into account the elastic expansion of fluid lines to increase accuracy
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/6018 providing set-up signals for the apparatus configuration
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/6054 Magnetic identification systems
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/70 with testing or calibration facilities
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 31/005 for contrast media
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 5/007 for contrast media
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 5/14546 Front-loading type injectors
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 5/14566 with a replaceable reservoir for receiving a piston rod of the pump
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 5/172 electrical or electronic A61M5/16804, A61M5/16831 take precedence

Abstract

The present invention is directed to control of medical fluid injection systems. For instance, in some embodiments, an injection protocol may be initiated, and an actual flow rate of the medical fluid utilized in the injection protocol may be adjusted based, at least in part, on an inherent system elasticity of the injection system.

Claims

1. A method of operation for a medical imaging system that includes a medical fluid injection assembly and a medical imaging device, the method comprising:

initiating a contrast media injection protocol corresponding to a desired level of patient enhancement; and

based, at least in part, on an inherent elasticity of the injection assembly, adjusting an actual flow rate of the contrast media injection protocol to achieve the desired level of patient enhancement.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the adjusting comprises accounting for elasticity of a syringe plunger.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the adjusting comprises accounting for elasticity of a syringe barrel.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the adjusting comprises accounting for elasticity of a contrast media container.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the adjusting comprises accounting for elasticity of extension tubing.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising predicting the inherent elasticity of the injection assembly prior to the adjusting.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising performing a test injection prior to the initiating.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the predicting is based, at least in part, on patient enhancement data from the test injection.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein the predicting occurs prior to the initiating.

10. The method of claim 6, wherein the inherent elasticity is predicted based, at least in part, on elasticity data related to a container, syringe, tubing, or a combination thereof utilized in the injection assembly.

11. The method of claim 6, wherein the inherent elasticity is predicted based, at least in part, on viscosity data related to the contrast media.

12. The method of claim 6, further comprising calculating the inherent elasticity using an algorithm.

13. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

sensing an elastic component associated with the injection assembly; and

retrieving a predetermined elasticity factor for the component.

14. The method of claim 13, where the component comprises a contrast media container, a syringe, tubing, or a combination thereof.

15. The method of claim 6, wherein the sensing comprises reading data from an RF-ID data tag that contains information about the component.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the information comprises at least one of pressure profile and elasticity data.

17. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining a flow rate correction factor for the injection protocol based, at least in part, on the inherent elasticity, wherein the adjusting is based, at least in part, upon the flow rate correction factor.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the flow rate correction factor is dependent upon viscosity of the contrast media.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein the flow rate correction factor is dependent upon catheter size.

20. The method of claim 6, wherein the adjusting comprises increasing an actual motor speed of the injection assembly more than a motor speed corresponding with a desired flow rate associated with the desired level of patient enhancement.

21. The method of claim 6, wherein the adjusting comprises decreasing an actual motor speed of the injection system more than a motor speed corresponding with a desired flow rate associated with the desired level of patient enhancement.

22. The method of claim 6, wherein the adjusting comprises reversing a direction of motion of motor of the injection assembly.

23. The method of claim 6, wherein the desired flow rate comprises a plurality of flow rates.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the plurality of flow rates is communicated between the injection assembly and the medical imaging device via a common interface.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the common interface is a CAN interface.

26. The method of claim 24, wherein the common interface is an RS-232 interface.

27. The method of claim 24, wherein the common interface is an RS-422 interface.

28. The method of claim 1, wherein at least a portion of the injection protocol is carried out during medical imaging of the patient.