Method and apparatus for controlling concentrations in vivos and in tubing systems
First Claim
1. A method for controlling the level of anticoagulant to be infused into a donor comprising:
- receiving blood from a donor;
adding anticoagulant to the received blood;
returning at least a portion of the received blood to the donor;
infusing the anticoagulant in the returned blood to the donor at an infusion rate; and
varying the infusion rate of the anticoagulant as a function of time;
said varying step further comprising;
predicting a rate at which the anticoagulant accumulates in the donor over time to arrive at a predicted accumulation rate;
determining an optimal infusion rate profile using the predicted accumulation rate that varies the infusion rate with time; and
infusing the anticoagulant to the donor at the optimal infusion rate profile.
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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 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.
48 Citations
22 Claims
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1. A method for controlling the level of anticoagulant to be infused into a donor comprising:
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receiving blood from a donor; adding anticoagulant to the received blood; returning at least a portion of the received blood to the donor; infusing the anticoagulant in the returned blood to the donor at an infusion rate; and varying the infusion rate of the anticoagulant as a function of time; said varying step further comprising; predicting a rate at which the anticoagulant accumulates in the donor over time to arrive at a predicted accumulation rate; determining an optimal infusion rate profile using the predicted accumulation rate that varies the infusion rate with time; and infusing the anticoagulant to the donor at the optimal infusion rate profile. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method for regulating the level of an anticoagulant in a donor and an extracorporeal tubing set comprising:
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receiving blood from the donor into an inlet line of the extracorporeal tubing set of a blood processor; adding anticoagulant to the received blood at an anticoagulant flow rate to achieve an inlet anticoagulant level; processing the blood in the extracorporeal blood processor; delivering at least a fraction of the processed blood to an outlet line of the extracorporeal tubing set; determining an outlet anticoagulant level in the outlet line; returning at least a fraction of the processed blood, having the predetermined anticoagulant level, to the donor through the outlet line at an infusion rate; predicting a minimum extracorporeal anticoagulant level that may be present in the extracorporeal tubing set; and varying the anticoagulant flow gradually with time so that the anticoagulant in the extracorporeal tubing set remains above the predicted minimum extracorporeal anticoagulant level. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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Specification