Method and apparatus for separation of matter from suspension
First Claim
1. A system for filtering a cellular suspension, comprising:
- a stationary housing body having a hollow interior and an inner surface;
rotor means rotatable within the housing body, the rotor means having an outer surface spaced from the inner surface of the housing body;
means for feeding the fluid suspension into the space between the rotor means and the inner surface of the housing body;
microporous filter membrane means disposed on the inner surface of the housing body for passing the filtrate to the inner surface of the housing body;
conduit means in the housing body in communication with the inner surface of the housing body for collecting filtrate passing through the filter membrane means; and
means coupled to the rotor means for driving the rotor means at a rate selected to establish annular vortices about the rotor means substantially filling the space between the rotor means and the housing body.
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Abstract
A system for filtration of matter from a liquid suspension through a membrane uses a rotor within a concentric shell rotating with a surface velocity which, together with the rotor-shell gap and suspension viscosity, establishes vigorous vortex cells about the rotor. At least one of the rotor and shell surfaces include a filter membrane. Tangential velocity components at the membrane surface constantly sweep the membrane surface to limit cell deposition tendencies while constantly replenishing the medium to be filtered. The vortex cells are established along the length of the membrane despite the constant extraction of filtrate and the resultant change in physical characteristics of the suspension.
255 Citations
35 Claims
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1. A system for filtering a cellular suspension, comprising:
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a stationary housing body having a hollow interior and an inner surface; rotor means rotatable within the housing body, the rotor means having an outer surface spaced from the inner surface of the housing body; means for feeding the fluid suspension into the space between the rotor means and the inner surface of the housing body; microporous filter membrane means disposed on the inner surface of the housing body for passing the filtrate to the inner surface of the housing body; conduit means in the housing body in communication with the inner surface of the housing body for collecting filtrate passing through the filter membrane means; and means coupled to the rotor means for driving the rotor means at a rate selected to establish annular vortices about the rotor means substantially filling the space between the rotor means and the housing body. - View Dependent Claims (35)
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2. A system for filtering a cellular suspension, comprising:
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a housing body having a hollow interior and an inner surface; rotor means rotatable within the housing body, the rotor means having an outer surface space from the inner surface of the housing body; means for feeding the cellular suspension into the space between the rotor means and the inner surface of the housing body; filter membrane means on at least one of the inner surface of the housing body and the outer surface of the rotor means; conduit means in communication with the filter membrane means for collecting filtrate passing therethrough; means for driving the rotor means at a rate selected to establish annular vortices within the space between the rotor means and the housing body substantially filling the space between the rotor means and the housing body; means for sensing the transmembrane pressure; controllable means for maintaining a desired filtrate extraction rate through the membrane means; and means responsive to the sensed transmembrane pressure for reducing the extraction rate of filtrate while maintaining the vortex action when the transmembrane pressure rises above a calculated value to clean the filter membrane means by action of the annular vortices. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A blood constituent filtering system of the type which, in operation, produces Taylor vortices within a gap area disposed between relatively rotating generally cylindrical surfaces, at least one of which includes a blood constituent filtering membrane to filter out a blood constituent and for passing a filtrate therethrough, said system including:
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first means for detecting the onset of filter membrane pore clogging by cellular blood constituents; and second means for controlling at least one operating parameter of the filtering system to cause cleaning of the clogged pores by the sweeping action of blood constituents entrained in said Taylor vortices and passing adjacent said filtering membranes. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A system for filtering plasma from blood with a disposable unit, comprising:
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a disposable housing body including a rotor therein, at least one of the housing and rotor having a membrane filter thereon with a pore size in the range of 0.1 to 1.0 microns, and plasma conduits therein for conducting plasma to a plasma outlet, the rotor including magnetic means therein, the housing body being spaced apart from the rotor to define an annular gap and including blood inlet means leading into the annular gap, spaced apart cell concentrate outlet means communicating with the annular gap, and plasma outlet means communicating with the plasma conduits; magnetic drive means exterior to the housing body and magnetically coupling to the magnetic means in the rotor for rotating the rotor at a rotational velocity selected, relative to the diameter of the rotor and the annular gap to establish a Taylor number of 70 to 250 throughout the annular gap with a shear rate below 12,000/sec; means coupled to the blood inlet means for feeding blood into the annular gap at a predetermined rate; pressure sensor means communicating with the annular gap for sensing the transmembrane pressure of the blood in the annular gap; means responsive to the transmembrane pressure for comparing the transmembrane pressure to a threshold pressure determined primarily by the pressures required to overcome centrifugal forces, system pressure drop, and plasma flux across the membrane, and generating a responsive control signal when the transmembrane pressure exceeds the comparison; and means responsive to the control signal for varying at least one flow rate in the system apart from the predetermined inlet rate to maintain the Taylor number in the range of 70 to 250 while reducing the tendency of blood cells to clog the membrane. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A system for filtering a cellular suspension passing between a rotating spinner and an outer shell without clogging a filter membrane on one of the surfaces comprising:
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means for establishing a plurality of annular vortices in the suspension about the spinner and adjacent the membrane; means for sensing the transmembrane pressure while maintaining a desired extraction rate of filtrate through the membrane; means for comparing the transmembrane pressure to a transmembrane pressure value calculated to achieve extraction of filtrate with desired membrane efficiency and without substantial damage to the cellulose components; and means for reducing the extraction rate of filtrate while maintaining the vortex action to clean the membrane when the transmembrane pressure rises above the calculated value. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28)
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29. A system for filtering a cellular suspension, comprising:
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a housing body having a hollow interior and an inner surface including a plurality of surface grooves; rotor means rotatable within the housing body, the rotor means having an outer surface spaced from the inner surface of the housing body; means for feeding the fluid suspension into the space between the rotor means, and the inner surface of the housing body; filter membrane means disposed on the inner surface of the housing body for passing the filtrate to the surface grooves in the housing body; conduit means in the housing body in communication with the surface grooves in the housing body for collecting filtrate passing therethrough; and means on said housing body for accessing the inner surface thereof comprising a split housing body having at least two split-apart body parts and means for releasably coupling the split body parts together and means for releasably attaching the filter membrane to the split body parts when split apart.
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30. A system for filtering a suspension having a cellular component subject to trauma when stressed comprising:
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a stationary housing body having a hollow interior and an inner surface; rotor means rotatable within the housing body, the rotor means having an outer surface spaced from the inner surface of the housing body; means for feeding the fluid suspension into the space between the rotor means and the inner surface of the housing body; microporous filter membrane means disposed on the inner surface of the housing body for passing the filtrate to the inner surface of the housing body; conduit means in the housing body in communication with the inner surface of the housing body for collecting filtrate passing through the filter membrane means; and means coupled to the rotor means for driving the rotor means at a rate selected to establish annular vortices about the rotor means, the annular vortices substantially filling the space between the rotor means and the housing body without causing substantial trauma to the cellular components.
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31. A system for filtering a suspension containing at least one cellular blood component, comprising:
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a stationary housing body having a hollow interior and an inner surface; rotor means rotatable within the housing body, the rotor means having an outer surface spaced from the inner surface of the housing body; means for feeding the fluid suspension into the space between the rotor means and the inner surface of the housing body; microporous filter membrane means disposed on the inner surface of the housing body for passing the filtrate to the inner surface of the housing body; conduit means in the housing body in communication with the inner surface of the housing body for collecting filtrate through the filter membrane means; and means coupled to the rotor means for driving the rotor means at a rate selected to establish annular vortices about the rotor means, the annular vortices substantially filling the space between the rotor means and the housing body without causing substantial damage to the cellular blood component.
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32. A system for filtering a cellular suspension, comprising:
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a housing body having a hollow interior and an inner surface; rotor means rotatable within the housing body, the rotor means having an outer surface spaced from the inner surface of the housing body; means for feeding the fluid suspension into the space between the rotor means and the inner surface of the housing body; filter membrane means disposed on the inner surface of the housing body for passing the filtrate to the inner surface of the housing body; conduit means in the housing body in communication with the inner surface of the housing body for collecting filtrate passing through the filter membrane means; means coupled to the rotor means for driving the rotor means at a rate selected to establish annular vortices about the rotor means substantially filling the space between the rotor means and the housing body, and the housing body also includes means for accessing the inner surface comprising a split housing body having at least two split apart body parts and means for releasably coupling the split body parts together, the housing body further including means for releasably attaching the filter membrane means to the inner surface when split body parts are apart.
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33. A system for filtering a suspension having a cellular component subject to trauma when stressed, comprising:
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a housing body having a hollow interior and an inner surface; rotor means rotatable within the housing body, the rotor means having an outer surface spaced from the inner surface of the housing body; means for feeding the fluid suspension into the space between the rotor means and the inner surface of the housing body; microporous filter membrane means disposed on the inner surface of the housing body for passing the filtrate to the inner surface of the housing body; conduit means in the housing body in communication with the inner surface of the housing body for collecting filtrate passing through the filter membrane means; means coupled to the rotor means for driving the rotor means at a rate selected to establish annular vortices about the rotor means, the annular vortices substantially filling the space between the rotor means and the housing body without causing substantial trauma to the cellular components; and the housing body also includes means for accessing the inner surface comprising a split housing body having at least two split apart body parts and means for releasably coupling the split body parts together, the housing body further including means for releasably attaching the microporous filter membrane means to the inner surface when split body parts are apart.
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34. A system for filtering a suspension containing at least one cellular blood component, comprising:
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a housing body having a hollow interior and an inner surface; rotor means rotatable within the housing body, the rotor means having an outer surface spaced from the inner surface of the housing body; means for feeding the fluid suspension into the space between the rotor means and the inner surface of the housing body; microporous filter membrane means disposed on the inner surface of the housing body for passing the filtrate to the inner surface of the housing body; conduit means in the housing body in communication with the inner surface of the housing body for collecting filtrate passing through the filter membrane means; means coupled to the rotor means for driving the rotor means at a rate selected to establish annular vortices about the rotor means, the annular vortices substantially filling the space between the rotor means and the housing body without causing substantial damage to the cellular blood component, and the housing body also includes means for accessing the inner surface comprising a split housing body having at least two split apart body parts and means for releasably coupling the split body parts together, the housing body further including means for releasably attaching the microporous filter membrane means to the inner surface when split body parts are apart.
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Specification