Method and apparatus for controlling concentrations in vivos and in tubing systems
First Claim
1. A method for regulating the amount of anticoagulant infused to a donor, comprising the steps of:
- removing the blood from the donor;
treating the blood in the extracorporeal blood treatment apparatus;
returning at least a fraction of the processed blood to the donor at a flow rate;
infusing an amount of anticoagulant in blood to the donor at an anticoagulant infusion rate;
predicting a maximum level of anticoagulant that may be present in the donor;
estimating the level of anticoagulant in the donor;
varying the amount of anticoagulant added to the blood at an anticoagulant infusion rate so that the estimated level of anticoagulant in the donor does not exceed the predicted maximum level of anticoagulant in the donor;
and varying the flow rate of the processed blood returned to the donor to maximize the flow rate while simultaneously preventing the estimated level of anticoagulant in the donor from exceeding the predicted maximum level of anticoagulant in the donor.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and apparatus for maximizing the total amount of blood processed during an apheresis procedure by optimizing the concentration of anticoagulant in a donor/patient and the associated extracorporeal tubing set is provided. A simplified model of an anticoagulant accumulation in a donor/patient'"'"'s body is used to calculate an optimal anticoagulant infusion rate profile to the donor/patient during a blood processing procedure. A maximum acceptable anticoagulant concentration in the donor/patient acts as an upper limit on the rate at which anticoagulant may be infused to the donor/patient using the optimized infusion rate profile. A minimum acceptable anticoagulant level acts as a lower limit in optimally controlling the anticoagulant concentration in the extracorporeal tubing set. Both the maximum acceptable anticoagulant level in the donor/patient and the minimum acceptable anticoagulant level in the extracorporeal tubing set may be customized for a specific donor/patient thereby allowing the optimized infusion rate profile and the extracorporeal tubing set anticoagulant concentration to be customized for the specific patient.
58 Citations
15 Claims
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1. A method for regulating the amount of anticoagulant infused to a donor, comprising the steps of:
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removing the blood from the donor; treating the blood in the extracorporeal blood treatment apparatus; returning at least a fraction of the processed blood to the donor at a flow rate; infusing an amount of anticoagulant in blood to the donor at an anticoagulant infusion rate; predicting a maximum level of anticoagulant that may be present in the donor; estimating the level of anticoagulant in the donor; varying the amount of anticoagulant added to the blood at an anticoagulant infusion rate so that the estimated level of anticoagulant in the donor does not exceed the predicted maximum level of anticoagulant in the donor; and varying the flow rate of the processed blood returned to the donor to maximize the flow rate while simultaneously preventing the estimated level of anticoagulant in the donor from exceeding the predicted maximum level of anticoagulant in the donor. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A method for regulating the amount of anticoagulant infused to a donor, comprising the steps of:
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removing the blood from the donor; treating the blood in the extracorporeal blood treatment apparatus; returning at least a fraction of the processed blood to the donor at a flow rate; infusing an amount of anticoagulant in blood to the donor at an anticoagulant infusion rate; predicting a minimum level of anticoagulant that may be present in the blood in the extracorporeal blood treatment apparatus; estimating the level of anticoagulant in the blood in the extracorporeal blood treatment apparatus; varying the amount of anticoagulant added to the blood at an anticoagulant infusion rate so that the estimated level of anticoagulant in the extracorporeal blood treatment apparatus does always exceed the predicted minimum level of anticoagulant in the blood in the extracorporeal blood treatment apparatus; and varying the flow rate of the processed blood returned to the donor to maximize the flow rate while simultaneously causing the estimated level of anticoagulant in the blood in the extracorporeal blood treatment apparatus to exceed the predicted minimum level of anticoagulant in the extracorporeal blood treatment apparatus. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9)
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10. An extracorporeal blood treatment apparatus for treating blood from a donor, comprising:
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means for removing the blood from the donor;
means for treating the blood;means for returning at least a fraction of the processed blood to the donor at a flow rate; means for predicting a maximum level of anticoagulant that may be present in the donor; means for estimating the level of anticoagulant in the donor; means for varying the amount of anticoagulant added so that the estimated level of anticoagulant in the donor does not exceed the predicted maximum level of anticoagulant in the donor; and means for varying the flow rate of the processed blood returned to the donor to maximize the flow rate while simultaneously preventing the estimated level of anticoagulant in the donor from exceeding the predicted maximum level of anticoagulant in the donor. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. An apparatus for treating blood from a donor in an extracorporeal blood treatment apparatus, comprising:
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means for removing the blood from the donor; means for treating the blood in the extracorporeal blood treatment apparatus; means for returning at least a fraction of the processed blood to the donor at a flow rate; means for predicting a minimum level of anticoagulant that may be present in the blood in the extracorporeal blood treatment apparatus; means for estimating the level of anticoagulant in the blood in the extracorporeal blood treatment apparatus; means for varying the amount of anticoagulant added to the blood so that the estimate level of anticoagulant in the extracorporeal blood treatment apparatus always exceeds the predicted minimum level of anticoagulant in the blood in the extracorporeal blood treatment apparatus; and means for varying the flow rate of the processed blood returned to the donor to maximize the flow rate while simultaneously causing the estimated level of anticoagulant in the blood in the extracorporeal blood treatment apparatus to exceed the predicted minimum level of anticoagulant in the extracorporeal blood treatment apparatus.
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Specification