Liquid delivery system particularly useful as an implantable micropump for delivering insulin or other drugs
First Claim
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1. A liquid delivery system comprising:
- a collapsible reservoir for a feed liquid to be delivered;
a first rigid housing enclosing said collapsible reservoir;
a collapsible container for a drive liquid;
a second rigid housing enclosing said collapsible container for the drive liquid;
a refill container;
and pumping means for selectively pumping said drive liquid either from the drive liquid container into said first rigid housing between its inner face and the collapsible reservoir for pumping the feed liquid therefrom, or out of said first rigid housing into the drive liquid container for refilling said collapsible reservoir with feed liquid from said refill container;
the interior of said second rigid housing being maintained under sub-ambient pressure so that in the event of malfunction of the pumping means, said sub-ambient pressure tends to draw the drive liquid into its collapsible container, and thereby provides fail-safe protection against the pumping out of the feed liquid from its reservoir.
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Abstract
A liquid delivery system, particularly useful as an implantable micro-pump for delivering insulin or other drugs, comprises a collapsible reservoir for the feed liquid to be delivered, which reservoir is enclosed by a rigid housing, a container for a drive liquid, and a pump selectively pumping the drive liquid either from the drive liquid container into the rigid housing between its inner face and the collapsible reservoir for pumping the feed liquid therefrom, or out of the rigid housing into the drive liquid container for refilling the collapsible reservoir with feed liquid.
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Citations
25 Claims
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1. A liquid delivery system comprising:
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a collapsible reservoir for a feed liquid to be delivered; a first rigid housing enclosing said collapsible reservoir; a collapsible container for a drive liquid; a second rigid housing enclosing said collapsible container for the drive liquid; a refill container; and pumping means for selectively pumping said drive liquid either from the drive liquid container into said first rigid housing between its inner face and the collapsible reservoir for pumping the feed liquid therefrom, or out of said first rigid housing into the drive liquid container for refilling said collapsible reservoir with feed liquid from said refill container; the interior of said second rigid housing being maintained under sub-ambient pressure so that in the event of malfunction of the pumping means, said sub-ambient pressure tends to draw the drive liquid into its collapsible container, and thereby provides fail-safe protection against the pumping out of the feed liquid from its reservoir. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A liquid delivery system, comprising:
- a pumping chamber having at least one wall including a membrane deflectable to expand and contract said chamber and thereby to pump a liquid therefrom;
a drive for deflecting said membrane to expand and contract said chamber; and
a sensor sensing the deflections of said membrane to provide a measurement of the quantity of the liquid pumped by the pumping chamber. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11)
- a pumping chamber having at least one wall including a membrane deflectable to expand and contract said chamber and thereby to pump a liquid therefrom;
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12. A liquid delivery system comprising a feed liquid reservoir for a feed liquid to be delivered;
- a refill container for containing a supply of refill feed liquid, which refill container is selectively connectable to the feed liquid reservoir for refilling same;
pumping means for selectively pumping the feed liquid either out from its reservoir for delivering same to another location, or into its reservoir from the refill container for refillling same; and
a control system for controlling said pumping means;
said control system including a memory which continuously stores a value representing the quantity of feed liquid delivered by said pumping means from said feed liquid reservoir; and
control means, effective upon the connection of said refill container to the inlet of the feed liquid reservoir, for automatically operating said pumping means to cause a quantity of feed liquid to be drawn into the feed liquid reservoir from the refill container corresponding to the stored quantity of feed liquid previously delivered by said pumping means, and thereupon to automatically terminate the operation of the pumping means. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
- a refill container for containing a supply of refill feed liquid, which refill container is selectively connectable to the feed liquid reservoir for refilling same;
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21. A liquid delivery system, comprising:
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a feed liquid unit including a feed liquid reservoir, and a drive chamber separated therefrom by a displaceable separator wall; a drive liquid unit including a drive liquid reservoir; an expansible and contractable pumping chamber; a first valve connecting said drive chamber of the feed liquid unit to one end of said pumping chamber; a second valve connecting the opposite end of said pumping chamber to the drive liquid reservoir of the drive liquid unit; drive means for expanding and contracting said pumping chamber; a refill container connectible to said feed liquid reservoir for refilling it; and means for selectively controlling said first and second valves so as either to cause the pumping chamber to pump the drive liquid from said drive liquid reservoir into said drive chamber of the feed liquid unit and thereby to deliver feed liquid from said feed liquid reservoir, or to pump the drive liquid from said drive chamber of the feed liquid unit to the drive liquid reservoir and thereby to draw refill feed liquid from said refill container into said feed liquid reservoir; said feed liquid reservoir being collapsible and being enclosed within a first rigid housing, and said drive liquid reservoir being also collapsible and also enclosed within a second rigid housing; the interior of said second rigid housing being maintained under sub-ambient pressure such that in the event of malfunction, the sub-ambient pressure in said second rigid housing tends to draw the drive liquid into its collapsible reservoir, and thereby prevents pumping out the feed liquid from its reservoir malfunction. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25)
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Specification