CONTROL CIRCUIT AND METHOD FOR NEGATIVE PRESSURE WOUND TREATMENT APPARATUS
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Accused Products
Abstract
A negative pressure wound therapy apparatus can include a wound dressing, a fluid collection container, a vacuum pump comprising a pump motor, and tubing. Additionally, the apparatus can include a pressure sensor that measures a pressure in the tubing. One or more tubes can channel a fluid between the wound dressing, the fluid collection canister, and the pump. In addition, first and second control circuits can be provided for controlling the pump motor without using a processor. The first control circuit can generate a difference signal between a desired pressure input and a pressure sensor input, and can further generate a motor control signal responsive to the difference signal. Moreover, a second control circuit can provide an override signal based at least in part on the difference signal and at least one reference signal. The override signal beneficially overrides the motor control signal to prevent the pump motor from stalling.
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Citations
23 Claims
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1. (canceled)
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2. A negative pressure wound therapy apparatus comprising:
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a negative pressure source configured to aspirate fluid from a wound via a fluid flow path; a flow restrictor configured to restrict flow of fluid in a portion of the fluid flow path; and a control circuit configured to; determine a pressure difference between a first location in the fluid flow path upstream of the flow restrictor and a second location in the fluid flow path downstream of the flow restrictor; compare the pressure difference with a pressure difference threshold indicative of a leak in the fluid flow path; and activate a leak alarm in response to the comparison. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method of treating a wound with negative pressure wound therapy, the method comprising:
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applying negative pressure to a wound via a fluid flow path between the wound and a negative pressure source; restricting a movement of fluid in a portion of the fluid flow path; measuring a pressure difference between a first location upstream of the portion of the fluid flow path where movement of fluid is restricted and a second location downstream of the portion of the fluid flow path where movement of fluid is restricted; comparing the pressure difference with a pressure difference threshold indicative of a leak in the fluid flow path; and generating a leak alarm in response to the comparison. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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Specification