Drop monitoring unit for infusion sets
First Claim
1. A self-contained drop monitoring unit attachable to, for monitoring an infusion set drop formation in an infusion set including a drip chamber to be supported in a vertical position, an inlet tube at the upper end of the drip chamber connectible to a supply of infusion liquid, and an outlet tube at the lower end of the drip chamber connectible to a patient to receive the infusion liquid;
- said drop monitoring unit including;
an attaching section at its upper end for attaching the drop monitoring unit to the inlet tube of the infusion set;
a pair of spaced arms depending below said attaching section to straddle the opposite sides of the drip chamber, one of said arms including a light transmitter, and the other of said arms including a light receiver for optically sensing, and for producing an electrical output corresponding to, the interruptions in the light from said light transmitter caused by the drops formed in and dropping through the drip chamber;
an electrical circuit for energizing said light transmitter and for processing the electrical output of said light receiver to produce an output related to the sensed drop formation in the drip chamber;
and a battery housing for an electrical battery for powering said electrical circuit, light transmitter and light receiver.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A drop monitoring unit for monitoring the rate of drop formation in an infusion set includes an attaching section at its upper end for attaching the drop monitoring unit to the inlet tube of the infusion set, and a pair of spaced parallel arms depending below the attaching section to straddle the opposite sides of the drip chamber, one of the arms including a light transmitter, and the other including a light receiver.
25 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A self-contained drop monitoring unit attachable to, for monitoring an infusion set drop formation in an infusion set including a drip chamber to be supported in a vertical position, an inlet tube at the upper end of the drip chamber connectible to a supply of infusion liquid, and an outlet tube at the lower end of the drip chamber connectible to a patient to receive the infusion liquid;
- said drop monitoring unit including;
an attaching section at its upper end for attaching the drop monitoring unit to the inlet tube of the infusion set; a pair of spaced arms depending below said attaching section to straddle the opposite sides of the drip chamber, one of said arms including a light transmitter, and the other of said arms including a light receiver for optically sensing, and for producing an electrical output corresponding to, the interruptions in the light from said light transmitter caused by the drops formed in and dropping through the drip chamber; an electrical circuit for energizing said light transmitter and for processing the electrical output of said light receiver to produce an output related to the sensed drop formation in the drip chamber; and a battery housing for an electrical battery for powering said electrical circuit, light transmitter and light receiver. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
- said drop monitoring unit including;
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15. A drop monitoring unit for monitoring the rate of drop formation in an infusion set including a drip chamber to be supported in a vertical position, an inlet tube at the upper end of the drip chamber connectible to a supply of infusion liquid, and an outlet tube at the lower end of the drip chamber connectible to a patient to receive the infusion liquid;
- said drop monitoring unit including;
a light transmitter for transmitting pulses of light through said drip chamber, and a light receiver for optically sensing, and for producing an electrical output corresponding to, the interruptions in the light from said light transmitter caused by the drops formed in and dropping through the drip chamber; and an electrical circuit for energizing said light transmitter and for processing the electrical output of said light receiver to produce an output related to the sensed rate of drop formation in the drip chamber; said electrical circuit comprising; a light modulator which controls said light transmitter to transmit light pulses; a charging circuit enabled by said light modulator to receive the electrical output from said light receiver during the transmission of said transmitted light pulses, and to output short-duration pulses in the absence of a drop and longer-duration pulses in the presence of a drop; a drop detector circuit for storing a reference time Ta corresponding to that of a reference pulse indicating the absence of a drop, for measuring the sensed time T of the pulses outputted by said charging circuit, and for determining a drop to be present when the sensed time T is greater than the reference time Ta by a predetermined amount; and a drop rate calculator for calculating the drop rate from the output of said drop detector circuit. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
- said drop monitoring unit including;
Specification