FLOW METER
First Claim
1. A flow meter, comprising:
- a coupler adapted to couple to a drip chamber;
a support member operatively coupled to the coupler;
an image sensor having a field of view and operatively coupled to the support member, wherein the image sensor is positioned to view the drip chamber within the field of view; and
at least one processor operatively coupled to the image sensor to receive image data therefrom, wherein the at least one processor is configured to;
capture an image including an image of a drip chamber using the image sensor having a field of view including the drip chamber;
subtract the image from a dynamic background image to thereby generate a difference image; and
examine the difference image to determine whether a free flow condition exists.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An flow meter includes a coupler, a support member, an image sensor, and one or more processors. The coupler is adapted to couple to a drip chamber. The support member is operatively coupled to the coupler. The image sensor has a field of view and is operatively coupled to the support member. The image sensor is positioned to view the drip chamber within its field of view. The one or more processors are operatively coupled to the image sensor to receive data thereform. The one or more processors (1) receive image data from the image sensor, and (2) determine an existence of a free flow condition by identifying an optical distortion of an area behind the free flow condition within the drip chamber using the received image data.
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Citations
33 Claims
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1. A flow meter, comprising:
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a coupler adapted to couple to a drip chamber; a support member operatively coupled to the coupler; an image sensor having a field of view and operatively coupled to the support member, wherein the image sensor is positioned to view the drip chamber within the field of view; and at least one processor operatively coupled to the image sensor to receive image data therefrom, wherein the at least one processor is configured to; capture an image including an image of a drip chamber using the image sensor having a field of view including the drip chamber; subtract the image from a dynamic background image to thereby generate a difference image; and examine the difference image to determine whether a free flow condition exists. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A processor-implemented method implemented by an operative set of processor executable instruction configured for execution on at least one processor, the method comprising:
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capturing an image of a drip chamber and a background pattern disposed behind the drip chamber, wherein the image is captured using an image sensor; subtracting the image from a dynamic background image to thereby generate a difference image; and examining the difference image to determine whether a free flow condition exists based upon a distortion of the background pattern as indicated by the captured image. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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26. The method according to 36, wherein the comparison of the image to the dynamic background image only compares pixels within the image to pixels within the dynamic background image if a respective integer of the array of integers indicates a respective pixel within the dynamic background image has been updated at least a predetermined number of times.
Specification