Medical fluid measuring system
First Claim
1. A medical system for measuring liquids discharged from a patient'"'"'s body comprising:
- housing means,a substantially rigid wall container removably mounted in the housing means for collecting liquid discharged from said patient'"'"'s body,ultrasonic measuring means mounted in the housing means in operational relationship to the container and bacteriologically isolated from the interior of the container for measuring the distance to the surface of the liquid collected within the container,control means for determining the volume of liquid collected in the container in a defined time interval in response to the output of the measuring means,display means for visually indicating the volume of liquid collected in the container in a defined time interval as determined by the control means, andmeans for connecting the container to said patient'"'"'s body to collect therein liquid discharged from said body.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A urine discharge measuring system for medical use which includes a gimbal mounted frame supporting a urine container of fixed dimensions to collect urine from a urinary catheter attached to a patient. An ultrasonic transceiver mounted above the container and operated in conjunction with a microprocessor based control unit, positioned adjacent to the transceiver, periodically and automatically measures the height of the urine collected within the container. The measured fluid height is converted to fluid volume by the control unit. To maintain the sterility of the container, the transceiver transducer(s) is mechanically isolated from the urine container by elements which allow the ultrasonic energy to be transmitted to and received from the interior of the container. In one described embodiment, desired measured volume accuracy is achieved by employing a reflective target within the urine container at a known fixed distance from the transceiver transducer. Comparison by the control unit of the measured distance with the actual distance to the target allows generation of corrections for variations of the speed of sound in air due to temperature and humidity to be applied when obtaining the urine height within the container. Digital displays in the control unit provide indication of past and present accumulation of the urinary output of the patient.
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Citations
18 Claims
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1. A medical system for measuring liquids discharged from a patient'"'"'s body comprising:
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housing means, a substantially rigid wall container removably mounted in the housing means for collecting liquid discharged from said patient'"'"'s body, ultrasonic measuring means mounted in the housing means in operational relationship to the container and bacteriologically isolated from the interior of the container for measuring the distance to the surface of the liquid collected within the container, control means for determining the volume of liquid collected in the container in a defined time interval in response to the output of the measuring means, display means for visually indicating the volume of liquid collected in the container in a defined time interval as determined by the control means, and means for connecting the container to said patient'"'"'s body to collect therein liquid discharged from said body. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method of determining the volume of liquid discharged from a patient'"'"'s body in a defined time interval, comprising the steps of:
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connecting a container of known interior dimensions to a patient'"'"'s body, said container being removably mounted in a housing, accumulating said discharged liquid in said container, periodically measuring the height of the accumulated liquid in the container by use of an ultrasonic transducer mounted in said housing and bacteriologically isolated from the liquid in said container periodically deriving the volume of accumulated liquid in the container based upon the measured height of the liquid, continually measuring elapsed time; and visually displaying the derived volume of the liquid accumulated within the container within a measured elapsed time interval. - View Dependent Claims (12)
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13. Medical apparatus for measuring the discharge of liquids, such as urine, from a patient'"'"'s body comprising:
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a substantially rigid wall container having top and bottom portions and including an inlet port in said top portion; a flexible tube having a distal end coupled to said container inlet port and a proximal end adapted to be coupled to said patient'"'"'s body for accumulating liquid discharged from said body in said container; housing means for removably receiving said container to orient said container with said top portion vertically above said bottom portion; measuring means in said housing means including transducer means bacteriologically isolated from the liquid in said container for measuring the quantity of said liquid in said container and clock means for measuring elapsed time; and means responsive to said measuring means for displaying the quantity of liquid accumulated in said container within a defined time interval. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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Specification