Fluid management system for arthroscopic surgery
First Claim
1. An improved fluid management system for irrigation of a body cavity comprising:
- means for supplying an uninterrupted supply of irrigation fluid;
means for pumping said irrigation fluid from said irrigation fluid supply to a body cavity to create pressure inside said body cavity;
a supply conduit connecting said supply of irrigation fluid to said body cavity;
a fluid discharge conduit leading from said body cavity to withdraw fluid from said body cavity;
means for creating a vacuum in said fluid discharge conduit to create suction inside said body cavity;
pressure sensing means for sensing pressure inside said body cavity; and
means for controlling said suction and pressure inside said body cavity wherein said pumping means is a peristaltic pump, and said means for controlling said suction and pressure comprise a processor controlling the pump speed of said peristaltic pump and the rate of fluid flowing through said supply conduit to said body cavity;
a pressure transducer for sensing the pressure inside the body cavity, said processor communicating with said pressure transducer; and
at least one valve for controlling the rate of fluid flow from said body cavity, said processor controlling said valve;
wherein said processor communicates with a display console and a hand held remote control having a plurality of control buttons for an operator to manually input functions to control said peristaltic pump speed, said pressure inside the body cavity and for the control by said processor of said pump and said valves.
5 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An improved fluid management system for irrigation of a body cavity and in particular for use in arthroscopic surgery having a pressurized fluid circuit for supplying irrigation fluid and a vacuum fluid circuit for withdrawing waste fluid from the cavity. In a preferred embodiment there is an uninterrupted fluid supply comprised of a plurality of sterile solution saline bags with an automatic spiker to perforate the bags. The system is processor controlled with numerous safety and design features to automate arthroscopy to the highest degree possible. Some of the features include the monitoring and tracking of cavity pressure and flow rates to predetermined pressure and flow rates, tracking cavity to mean blood pressure, overpressure protection, a plurality of pressure and flow rate baseline settings, monitoring, setting and controlling saline supply, and specialized functions for providing pressure and flow rates for typical surgical procedures such as lavage, clear view, and burr/shaver. One or more vacuum discharge lines may be provided with an automatic self-cleaning feature. The system is compact and optionally employs a number of disposable components, including a novel fluid accumulator.
-
Citations
49 Claims
-
1. An improved fluid management system for irrigation of a body cavity comprising:
-
means for supplying an uninterrupted supply of irrigation fluid; means for pumping said irrigation fluid from said irrigation fluid supply to a body cavity to create pressure inside said body cavity; a supply conduit connecting said supply of irrigation fluid to said body cavity; a fluid discharge conduit leading from said body cavity to withdraw fluid from said body cavity; means for creating a vacuum in said fluid discharge conduit to create suction inside said body cavity; pressure sensing means for sensing pressure inside said body cavity; and means for controlling said suction and pressure inside said body cavity wherein said pumping means is a peristaltic pump, and said means for controlling said suction and pressure comprise a processor controlling the pump speed of said peristaltic pump and the rate of fluid flowing through said supply conduit to said body cavity; a pressure transducer for sensing the pressure inside the body cavity, said processor communicating with said pressure transducer; and at least one valve for controlling the rate of fluid flow from said body cavity, said processor controlling said valve; wherein said processor communicates with a display console and a hand held remote control having a plurality of control buttons for an operator to manually input functions to control said peristaltic pump speed, said pressure inside the body cavity and for the control by said processor of said pump and said valves. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
-
-
5. An improved fluid management system for irrigation of a body cavity comprising:
-
means for supplying an uninterrupted supply of irrigation fluid; means for pumping said irrigation fluid from said irrigation fluid supply to a body cavity to create pressure inside said body cavity; a supply conduit connecting said supply of irrigation fluid to said body cavity; a fluid discharge conduit leading from said body cavity to withdraw fluid from said body cavity; means for creating a vacuum in said fluid discharge conduit to create suction inside said body cavity; pressure sensing means for sensing pressure inside said body cavity; means for controlling said suction and pressure inside said body cavity, wherein said means for controlling said suction and pressure comprises a processor receiving signals from said pressure sensing means relating to the pressure inside said body cavity, a valve controlling the flow of fluid through said fluid discharge conduit, and said processor controlling the amount of fluid discharged from said body cavity and said pressure inside said body cavity by selectively opening and closing said valve, and further comprising a second fluid discharge conduit leading from said body cavity to withdraw fluid from said body cavity, and a second valve controlling the flow of fluid through said second conduit in said second conduit and controlled by said processor. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9)
-
-
10. An improved fluid management system for irrigation of a body cavity comprising:
-
means for supplying an uninterrupted supply of irrigation fluid; means for pumping said irrigation fluid from said irrigation fluid supply to a body cavity to create pressure inside said body cavity; a supply conduit connecting said supply of irrigation fluid to said body cavity; a fluid discharge conduit leading from said body cavity to withdraw fluid from said body cavity; means for creating a vacuum in said fluid discharge conduit to create suction inside said body cavity; pressure sensing means for sensing pressure inside said body cavity; means for controlling said suction and pressure inside said body cavity, wherein said means for creating said vacuum comprises a vacuum pump connected to a vacuum accumulator tank, with said tank connected to said fluid discharge conduit, further comprising; a second fluid discharge conduit leading from said body cavity to withdraw fluid from said body cavity, and a second valve controlled by said means for controlling said suction and pressure, to control the fluid flowing through said second fluid discharge conduit; said second fluid discharge conduit in-line with a waste disposal trap, said second valve opened by said controlling means to allow said second fluid discharge conduit to receive waste fluid from said body cavity during procedures involving the discharge of tissue from said body cavity. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12)
-
-
13. An improved fluid management system for irrigation of a body cavity comprising:
-
means for supplying an uninterrupted supply of irrigation fluid; means for pumping said irrigation fluid from said irrigation fluid supply to a body cavity to create pressure inside said body cavity; a supply conduit connecting said supply of irrigation fluid to said body cavity; a fluid discharge conduit leading from said body cavity to withdraw fluid from said body cavity; means for creating a vacuum in said fluid discharge conduit to create suction inside said body cavity; pressure sensing means for sensing pressure inside said body cavity; means for controlling said suction and pressure inside said body cavity; an accumulator in fluid communication with said supply conduit and connected between said pumping means and said body cavity, wherein said accumulator has an inlet port, an outlet port, and a vent port to atmosphere, said inlet port receiving irrigation fluid from said pumping means, said outlet port discharging said irrigation fluid to flexible conduits leading to said body cavity, wherein said accumulator is sealed from atmosphere and vents to atmosphere through said vent port, said accumulator receiving pressurized irrigation fluid from said pumping means. - View Dependent Claims (14)
-
-
15. An improved fluid management system for irrigation of a body cavity comprising:
-
means for supplying an uninterrupted supply of irrigation fluid; means for pumping said irrigation fluid from said irrigation fluid supply to a body cavity to create pressure inside said body cavity; a supply conduit connecting said supply of irrigation fluid to said body cavity; a fluid discharge conduit leading from said body cavity to withdraw fluid from said body cavity; means for creating a vacuum in said fluid discharge conduit to create suction inside said body cavity; pressure sensing means for sensing pressure inside said body cavity; means for controlling said suction and pressure inside said body cavity, said means for providing an uninterrupted supply of irrigation fluid comprising a plurality of sealed bags each containing a predetermined amount of said irrigation fluid; each said bag being fixedly mounted on a housing; and means for spiking each said sealed bag to allow fluid communication with said supply conduit, wherein said means for spiking is controlled by a processor to allow the uninterrupted flow of fluid from said sealed bag to said body cavity. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
-
-
23. An improved fluid management system for irrigation of a body cavity comprising:
-
means for supplying an uninterrupted supply of irrigation fluid; means for pumping said irrigation fluid from said irrigation fluid supply to a body cavity to create pressure inside said body cavity; a supply conduit connecting said supply of irrigation fluid to said body cavity; a fluid discharge conduit leading from said body cavity to withdraw fluid from said body cavity; means for creating a vacuum in said fluid discharge conduit to create suction inside said body cavity; pressure sensing means for sensing pressure inside said body cavity; means for controlling said suction and pressure inside said body cavity wherein said means for providing said uninterrupted supply of irrigation fluid comprises a plurality of sealed bags containing a predetermined amount of said irrigation fluid; each said bag is fixedly mounted on a vertical post from a carousel; and means for spiking each said sealed bag to allow fluid communication with said supply conduit, wherein said means for spiking is controlled by a processor to allow the uninterrupted flow of fluid from said sealed bag to said body cavity. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25)
-
-
26. An improved fluid management system for irrigation of a body cavity comprising:
-
means for supplying an uninterrupted supply of irrigation fluid; means for pumping said irrigation fluid from said irrigation fluid supply to a body cavity to create pressure inside said body cavity; a supply conduit connecting said supply of irrigation fluid to said body cavity; a fluid discharge conduit leading from said body cavity to withdraw fluid from said body cavity; means for creating a vacuum in said fluid discharge conduit to create suction inside said body cavity; pressure sensing means for sensing pressure inside said body cavity; means for controlling said suction and pressure inside said body cavity wherein said pressure sensing means comprises; a sense line for sensing pressure in said body cavity; a branch line of a smaller diameter than said supply line, located outside said body cavity, connecting said supply line to said sense line to allow fluid communication between the lines; a differential pressure transducer for converting differential fluid pressure into an electrical signal representing fluid pressure, said differential pressure transducer having two ports, each measuring a pressure P1 and P2, with one of said ports in fluid communication with said sense line and the other said port in fluid communication with said supply line; wherein the differential pressure transducer measures the difference between pressures P1 and P2 for calculating the pressure inside the cavity. - View Dependent Claims (27)
-
-
28. An apparatus for irrigation of a body cavity comprising:
-
means for providing an uninterrupted and continuous supply of fluid for irrigation of a body cavity; means for pressurizing the irrigation fluid to a body cavity to create pressure inside the body cavity; a flexible supply conduit inflow line connecting the supply of irrigation fluid to the body cavity; a fluid discharge conduit outflow line leading from the body cavity to withdraw fluid from the body cavity; means for creating a vacuum in the fluid discharge conduit outflow line to create suction inside the body cavity; and means for controlling the suction and pressure inside the body cavity, wherein the containers are flexible bags and wherein the means to sequentially access each of the plurality of containers comprises a hollow piston inserted into the containers by a pneumatic cylinder fired in response to a signal from the processor. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
-
-
35. An improved fluid management system for irrigation of a body cavity comprising:
-
a housing; a supply of irrigation fluid, said supply of irrigation fluid provided by a plurality of bags hanging vertically from a carousel mounted on a post on said housing; a supply conduit connecting said supply of irrigation fluid to said body cavity; separate means for spiking each of said bags to allow fluid communication with said supply conduit, whereby more than one bag may be in fluid communication with said supply conduit; a fluid discharge conduit leading from said body cavity to withdraw fluid from said body cavity; means for pressurizing said supply of irrigation fluid; pressure sensing means for sensing pressure inside said body cavity. - View Dependent Claims (36, 37)
-
-
38. A auto-accumulating, gravity feed pressure based fluid management apparatus comprising:
-
a housing; a supply of irrigation fluid, said supply of irrigation fluid provided by a plurality of bags hanging vertically from a carousel mounted on a post on said housing; a supply conduit connecting said supply of irrigation fluid to said body cavity; a fluid discharge conduit leading from said body cavity to withdraw fluid from said body cavity; pressure sensing means for sensing pressure inside said body cavity; an accumulator in fluid communication with said supply conduit and connected between said supply of irrigation fluid and said body cavity; wherein pressure is provided to said irrigation fluid by the gravity head by said plurality of bags.
-
-
39. An improved fluid management system for irrigation of a body cavity comprising:
-
a supply of irrigation fluid; means for pumping said irrigation fluid from said irrigation fluid supply to a body cavity; a supply conduit connecting said supply of irrigation fluid to said body cavity; a fluid discharge conduit leading from said body cavity to withdraw fluid from said body cavity; an accumulator in fluid communication with said supply conduit and connected between said pumping means and said body cavity, a post for mounting said accumulator, wherein said accumulator is raised to a height above said pumping means wherein said accumulator is pressurized with irrigation fluid by said means for pumping and has an inlet port, an outlet port, and a vent port to atmosphere, said inlet port receiving irrigation fluid from said pumping means, said outlet port discharging said irrigation fluid to flexible conduits leading to said body cavity, wherein said accumulator is sealed from atmosphere and vents to atmosphere through said vent port, said accumulator receiving pressurized irrigation fluid from said pumping means, and further comprising a weight sensor mounted on said post for weighing the contents of said accumulator.
-
-
40. A fluid management system for the uninterrupted supply of fluid to a body cavity, comprising:
-
a supply of fluid comprising a plurality of sealed containers each containing a predetermined supply of fluid; means for pumping said fluid from said fluid supply to a body cavity; a supply conduit connecting said supply of fluid to said body cavity; means for spiking each sealed container to allow fluid communication with said supply conduit, wherein said means for spiking comprises a trocar mounted on a hollow piston housed in a piston chamber and said trocar is protracted from said housing to spike said sealed container, said piston chamber and said hollow piston having fluid ports, said ports in fluid communication when said trocar is protracted, to allow said irrigation fluid from the spiked container to flow into said supply conduit. - View Dependent Claims (41, 42)
-
-
43. A spiker for the spiking of a flexible saline bag comprising:
-
a trocar mounted on a hollow piston housed in a piston chamber within a housing, said trocar in close proximity to a flexible sealed bag containing fluid having an inlet and fixedly secured with respect to said trocar; said trocar being protracted from said housing to spike said sealed bag; said piston chamber and said hollow piston having fluid ports, said ports in fluid communication when said trocar is protracted, to allow said fluid from the spiked sealed bag to flow into a supply conduit, wherein said hollow piston is actuated to a protracted position by a linear actuator. - View Dependent Claims (44)
-
-
45. A fluid accumulator for a peristaltic fluid delivery system in a medical fluid irrigation system comprising:
-
a peristaltic pump; an accumulator chamber having an inlet port and an outlet port; said accumulator inlet port leading into said chamber and connected to said peristaltic pump to receive fluid from said pump, and said outlet port discharging said fluid. - View Dependent Claims (46, 47)
-
-
48. An improved cavity pressure sensing system for measuring pressure in a cavity containing a mixture of air and liquid, comprising:
-
an inflow line for supplying liquid to a cavity; a sense line for sensing pressure in the cavity; a branch line of a smaller diameter than the inflow line, located outside the cavity, connecting the inflow line to the sense line to allow fluid communication between the lines; a differential pressure transducer for converting differential fluid pressure into an electrical signal representing fluid pressure, the differential pressure transducer having two ports, each measuring a pressure P1 and P2, with one of the ports in fluid communication with the sense line and the other port in fluid communication with the supply line; a compensating line operatively connected to one of the two differential pressure transducer ports, said compensating line open at one end to atmosphere and of a substantially small enough diameter that the liquid supplied to the cavity drips out the compensating line with substantially no pressure loss in the cavity; wherein the differential pressure transducer measures the difference between pressures P1 and P2 to calculate the pressure inside the cavity.
-
-
49. The method of irrigating a body cavity during arthroscopic surgery with an improved fluid management system comprising the steps of:
-
supplying an uninterrupted supply of saline solution under pressure, in the range of up to 180 mm-Hg inside a body cavity; inserting a flexible supply tubing to deliver said pressurized saline solution in a surgical incision site of said body cavity where arthroscopic surgery is to be performed; inserting flexible discharge tubing in said incision site to withdraw body cavity fluid from said body cavity; pumping said pressurized saline solution through said flexible supply tubing into said surgical incision site; withdrawing waste fluid from the body cavity through said flexible discharge tubing through suction, in the range of up to 180 mm-Hg vacuum inside said body cavity; monitoring and controlling the supply of said saline solution, the pumping of said saline solution and the withdrawal of waste fluid from said body cavity with a processors, measuring the pressure inside said body cavity with a pressure sensing transducer; monitoring and controlling the flow of fluid from said body cavity to chance the pressure inside said body cavity and track said pressure according to a predetermined set pressure; said monitoring and controlling performed by said processor and at least one valve controlled by said processor that selectively opens and closes the flow of waste fluid through said flexible discharge tubing; attenuating the surges associated with pumping said pressurized saline solution through an accumulator; supplying said uninterrupted supply of saline solution through a plurality of containers having flexible opening capable of perforation; automatically perforating said flexible opening of said containers with a trocar, said trocar actuated by a linear actuator that is controlled by said processor.
-
Specification