Method and apparatus for kidney dialysis
DC CAFCFirst Claim
1. In a method of operating a hemodialysis machine, an improvement in a man/machine interfacing process used in changing and setting a treatment parameter, the improvement comprising:
- (a) providing a touch screen interface with an indicium thereon corresponding to a treatment parameter;
(b) touching the indicium;
(c) in response to said touching, invoking a data-entry display on a region of the touch screen;
(d) entering a parametric value corresponding to the treatment parameter by touching one or more buttons of the data-entry display;
(e) touching a first region of the data-entry display to signal entry of the parametric value;
(f) displaying on the touch screen a button soliciting verification of the newly entered parametric value;
(g) touching the button soliciting verification; and
(h) in response to steps (b)-(g), causing the parametric value corresponding to the treatment parameter to be changed, wherein erroneous changes of said parametric values are minimized.
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Abstract
A number of improvements relating to methods and apparatuses for kidney dialysis are disclosed. These include checking of dialysate bypass status using flow measurement; using a flow sensor to confirm the absence of ultrafiltration during bypass; automatic testing of ultrafiltration function by removal of a discrete volume from a portion of the dialysate flow path coupled with a pressure test of that part of the flow path; using a touch screen user interface; bar graph profile programming of ultrafiltration, sodium, and bicarbonate parameters; using a RAM card to upload treatment instructions to, and to download treatment data from, the machine; automatic setting of proportioning mode (acetate or bicarbonate) based on connections of concentrate lines; predicting dialysate conductivity values based on brand and formulation of concentrates; minimizing no-flow dead time between dialysate pulses; initiating operation in a timed mode from a machine power-off condition; preserving machine mode during machine power-fail condition; calibration scheduling and reminding; automatic level adjusting; and blood leak flow rate detecting.
745 Citations
34 Claims
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1. In a method of operating a hemodialysis machine, an improvement in a man/machine interfacing process used in changing and setting a treatment parameter, the improvement comprising:
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(a) providing a touch screen interface with an indicium thereon corresponding to a treatment parameter; (b) touching the indicium; (c) in response to said touching, invoking a data-entry display on a region of the touch screen; (d) entering a parametric value corresponding to the treatment parameter by touching one or more buttons of the data-entry display; (e) touching a first region of the data-entry display to signal entry of the parametric value; (f) displaying on the touch screen a button soliciting verification of the newly entered parametric value; (g) touching the button soliciting verification; and (h) in response to steps (b)-(g), causing the parametric value corresponding to the treatment parameter to be changed, wherein erroneous changes of said parametric values are minimized. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11)
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8. A method of programming a time-varying parameter in a process-control system, the method comprising the steps:
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(a) providing a touch screen interface; (b) displaying on the touch screen first and second axes, the first axis corresponding to the time-varying parameter, the second axis corresponding to time; (c) touching the touch screen at a plurality of points to define points on a parameter-versus-time curve; (d) presenting on the touch screen a series of bars corresponding to said curve; (e) selecting one of said bars for alteration; (f) displaying on the screen a numeric parameter corresponding to the selected bar; (g) touching the screen at first or second locations to increase or decrease, respectively, the displayed numeric parameter and thereby alter the value of the numeric parameter to which the selected bar corresponds; (h) touching the screen at a third location to signify completion of steps (b)-(g); and (i) storing data corresponding to the bars in a memory to which the process-control system can refer in changing the time-varying parameter with time.
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12. In a method of operating a hemodialysis machine, an improvement in a user/machine interfacing process, the improvement comprising:
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(a) providing a touch screen operably coupled to the machine, the touch screen adapted to display an indicium soliciting a user of the machine to touch a region on the screen so as to select a machine-operation parameter; (b) touching the region to select the machine operation parameter; (c) in response to said touching, invoking on the screen a data-entry display associated with the machine-operation parameter, the data-entry display including a display of a permissibly settable range of the machine-operation parameter, so as to allow the user to select and enter a parametric value associated with the machine-operation parameter within said range; and (d) touching the data-entry display to select and enter the parametric value so as to cause the machine to operate in conformance with the selected machine-operation parameter and the entered parametric value. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. In a method of operating a hemodialysis machine capable of operating in any of plurality operating modes, an improvement in a user/machine interfacing process, the improvement comprising:
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(a) providing a touch screen operably coupled to the machine, the touch screen adapted to display a mode-select indicium soliciting a user of the machine to touch a first region on the screen corresponding to an operating mode; (b) touching the first region to select the corresponding operating mode; (c) prompting the user to confirm the operating mode selected in step (b) so as to prevent unintentional changing of machine operating modes; (d) confirming selection of the operating mode so as to cause the machine to operate in said operating mode. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A hemodialysis machine comprising:
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(a) means for controlling a dialysate parameter selected from a group consisting of dialysate temperature and dialysate concentration, and means for delivering the dialysate to a dialysate compartment of a hemodialyzer; and (b) a user/machine interface operably coupled to said dialysate-delivery means, the user/machine interface comprising a touch screen adapted to display an indicium corresponding to a parameter pertinent to operation of the hemodialysis machine for performing hemodialysis and to permit the user, by touching the indicium, to cause a change in the parameter. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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32. In a method of operating a hemodialysis machine, an improvement in a man/machine interfacing process used in changing and setting a treatment parameter, the improvement comprising:
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(a) providing a touch screen interface with a parameter-select indicium thereon; (b) touching the parameter-select indicium; (c) in response to said touching, invoking on the touch screen a value-select indicium and a value-enter indicium; (d) touching the value-select indicium to select a parametric value corresponding to the treatment parameter; (e) touching the value-enter indicium to enter the parametric value; and (f) in response to steps (b)-(e), comparing the entered parametric value against preset limits corresponding to a permissible operational range for said parametric value and, if the entered parametric value is within said limits, causing the treatment parameter to operate in accordance with the entered parametric value.
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33. In a method of operating a hemodialysis machine, an improvement in a man/machine interfacing process used in changing and setting a treatment parameter, the improvement comprising:
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(a) providing a touch screen interface with a parameter-select indicium thereon; (b) touching the parameter-select indicium; (c) in response to said touching, invoking on the touch screen a value-select indicium and a value-enter indicium; (d) touching the value-select indicium to select a parametric value corresponding to the treatment parameter; (e) touching the value-enter indicium to enter the parametric value; and (f) in response to steps (b)-(e), invoking an alarm limit to be set at a preset increment relative to the entered parametric value so as to enable an alarm signal to be triggered whenever, during subsequent operation of the hemodialysis machine, the parametric value passes outside the alarm limit.
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34. In a method of operating a hemodialysis machine, an improvement in a user/machine interfacing process, the improvement comprising:
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(a) providing a touch screen operably coupled to the machine, the touch screen adapted to display an indicium soliciting a user of the machine to touch a region on the screen so as to cause the screen to display a machine-operation parameter; (b) touching the region on the screen; (c) in response to said touching, invoking on the screen an analog display associated with the machine-operation parameter, the analog display including a display of a previously set value of the machine-operation parameter and allowing the suer to select and enter a desired value associated with the machine-operation parameter; and (d) touching the data-entry display to select and enter the desired value of the machine-operation parameter so as to cause the machine to operate in conformance with the desired value.
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Specification