Medical apparatus for warming patient fluids
First Claim
1. A parenteral fluid warming system comprising:
- a) a fluid warming bag having an inlet, an outlet, and a counter flow fluid path extending between said inlet and said outlet, said counter flow fluid path being a serpentine path having its coldest fluid path portion positioned adjacent to its warmest fluid path portion, wherein said coldest fluid path portion is the portion of said fluid path receiving fluid from said inlet, and said warmest fluid path portion is the portion of said fluid path providing fluid to said outlet, and said bag having alignment means in the form of parallel guide rails; and
b) a warmer evice, having one energy reservoir with at least one heater, said bag being capable of being placed in thermal proximity to said energy reservoir such that said heater warms fluid passing through said fluid path.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A fluid warming device for warming blood and other fluids prior to introduction into a patient. The counterflow fluid bags utilize a flat counter flow pathway which provides high flow performance and ensuring uniform, gradual and energy efficient blood warming. The warming device contains a pair of opposed, identical heater elements. The guide rails of the bag align the counter flow passageway for the fluid so that the bag is spaced and located precisely between the heater elements. The heater is provided with a receptive slot down the middle, in a horizontal plane, with two different sized guide slots, one on each side of the receptive slot. A pair of guide rails, integrated into the sides of the bag, are parallel to one another providing sufficient rigidity for easy insertion of the bag, and being sized to allow easy insertion in only the correct orientation. The blood warmer preferably incorporates a microprocessor for precise control of the electric current provided to the heater. Fluid temperature is measured by contact of a RTD sensor with a thin dielectric surface layer in contact with the bag and located proximal to the fluid outlet. By monitoring the temperature of the fluid at the outlet of the bag, the temperature controller can compute and provide a visual display of the fluid temperature. In one embodiment, the sensed output temperature is an input parameter to the controller of the heater elements. The device efficiently warms the fluid to about 37.5° C. for anticipated input to a human and, yet, prevents the fluid from exceeding 42° C.
276 Citations
41 Claims
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1. A parenteral fluid warming system comprising:
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a) a fluid warming bag having an inlet, an outlet, and a counter flow fluid path extending between said inlet and said outlet, said counter flow fluid path being a serpentine path having its coldest fluid path portion positioned adjacent to its warmest fluid path portion, wherein said coldest fluid path portion is the portion of said fluid path receiving fluid from said inlet, and said warmest fluid path portion is the portion of said fluid path providing fluid to said outlet, and said bag having alignment means in the form of parallel guide rails; and b) a warmer evice, having one energy reservoir with at least one heater, said bag being capable of being placed in thermal proximity to said energy reservoir such that said heater warms fluid passing through said fluid path. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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5. A parenteral fluid warming system comprising:
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a) a fluid-warming bag having an inlet, and outlet, and a counter flow fluid path extending between said inlet and said outlet, said counter flow fluid path being a serpentine path having its coldest fluid path portion positioned adjacent to its warmest fluid path portion, wherein said coldest fluid path portion is the portion of said fluid path receiving fluid from said inlet, and said warmest fluid path portion is the portion os said fluid path providing fluid to said outlet; and b) a warmer device, having one energy reservoir with at least one heater, said bag being capable of being placed in thermal proximity to said energy reservoir such that said heater warms fluid passing through said fluid path; and c) said fluid warming bag is provided with alignment means and said warmer device is provided with cooperating registry means such that said bag, when inserted into said warmer device, precisely aligns and registers said fluid path; and d) wherein said alignment means are color coded.
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- 28. A fluid warming bag for use in a parenteral fluid warming system as a heat exchanger, said bag comprising an inlet and an outlet, and a counter flow fluid path extending between said inlet and said outlet in the same plane, said fluid path being a serpentine path having the coldest segment of said path located adjacent to the warmest segment of said path, said coldest segment being the segment of said fluid path receiving fluid from said inlet and said coldest segment being the segment of said fluid path providing fluid to said outlet, and said bag having alignment means in the form of parallel guide rails.
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35. A fluid warming bag for use in a parenteral fluid warming system as a heat exchanger, said bag comprising an inlet and an outlet, and a counter flow fluid path extending between said inlet and said outlet in the same plane, said fluid path being a serpentine path having the coldest segment of said path located adjacent to the warmest segment of said path, said coldest being the segment of said fluid path receiving fluid from said inlet and said warmest segment being the segment of said fluid path providing fluid to said outlet, and wherein an alignment means is provided for ensuring that said bag is registered within a fluid warmer device;
- and wherein said alignment means comprises at least two parallel guide rails of different color.
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36. A parenteral fluid warming system comprising:
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a) a fluid-warming bag having an inlet, and outlet, and a flow fluid path extending between said inlet and said outlet, said flow fluid path being a serpentine path, wherein the coldest fluid path portion is the portion of said fluid path receiving fluid from said inlet, and the warmest fluid path portion is the portion of said fluid path providing fluid to said outlet; and b) a warmer device, having one energy reservoir with at least one heater, said bag being capable of being placed in thermal proximity to said energy reservoir such that said heater warms fluid passing through said fluid path; and c) said fluid warming bag being provided with alignment means in the form of parallel guide rails and said warmer device being provided with cooperating registry means such that said bag, when inserted into said warmer device, precisely aligns and registers said fluid path. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38)
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- 39. A fluid warming bag for use in a parenteral fluid warming system as a heat exchanger, said bag comprising an inlet and an outlet, and a flow fluid path extending between said inlet and said outlet in the same plane, said fluid path being a serpentine path having the coldest segment being the segment of said fluid path receiving fluid from said inlet and the warmest segment being the segment of said fluid path providing fluid to said outlet, and wherein an alignment means in the form of parallel guide rails is provided for ensuring that said bag is registered within a fluid warmer device.
Specification