Single riser/single capillary blood viscometer using mass detection or column height detection

US 6,732,573 B2
Filed: 04/22/2002
Issued: 05/11/2004
Est. Priority Date: 05/18/2000
Status: Expired due to Fees

First Claim

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1. An apparatus for determining the viscosity of the circulating blood of a living being over plural shear rates using a decreasing pressure differential, said apparatus comprising:

a lumen being positioned at an angle to a horizontal reference greater than zero degrees, said lumen comprising a first end and a second end, said first end being exposed to atmospheric pressure, said lumen comprising a first known dimension;

a flow restrictor having an inlet and an outlet, said outlet being arranged to deliver any blood that passes therethrough to a collector, said flow restrictor including some known dimensions;

a valve coupled to the vascular system of the living being at a first port, said valve comprising a second port coupled to said second end and a third port coupled to said inlet;

a sensor for detecting the movement of the blood over time through said apparatus, said sensor generating data relating to the movement of the blood over time;

a processor, coupled to said valve and said sensor, said processor arranged to operate said valve to create a column of blood in said first lumen and said flow restrictor and to establish a pressure differential between said first end and said outlet, said column of blood moving through said lumen and said flow restrictor at a first shear rate caused by said pressure differential, said movement of said column of blood causing said pressure differential to decrease from said first shear rate for generating said plural shear rates; and

wherein said processor calculates the viscosity of the blood based on said data relating to the movement of the column of blood over time, said first known dimension of said lumen and said some known dimensions of said flow restrictor.

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Abstract

An apparatus and method for determining the viscosity of the circulating blood of a living being over plural shear rates caused by a decreasing pressure differential by monitoring the changing weight of the blood, or the changing level of a column of blood over time. The apparatus and method utilize a riser, a capillary tube, a collector and a mass detector, such as a precision balance or a load cell, for monitoring the changing weight of a sample of fluid that flows through these components under the influence of the decreasing pressure differential; alternatively, the apparatus and method use a column level detector to monitor the changing level of the column of blood over time.

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24 Claims

1. An apparatus for determining the viscosity of the circulating blood of a living being over plural shear rates using a decreasing pressure differential, said apparatus comprising:
- a lumen being positioned at an angle to a horizontal reference greater than zero degrees, said lumen comprising a first end and a second end, said first end being exposed to atmospheric pressure, said lumen comprising a first known dimension;
  
  a flow restrictor having an inlet and an outlet, said outlet being arranged to deliver any blood that passes therethrough to a collector, said flow restrictor including some known dimensions;
  
  a valve coupled to the vascular system of the living being at a first port, said valve comprising a second port coupled to said second end and a third port coupled to said inlet;
  
  a sensor for detecting the movement of the blood over time through said apparatus, said sensor generating data relating to the movement of the blood over time;
  
  a processor, coupled to said valve and said sensor, said processor arranged to operate said valve to create a column of blood in said first lumen and said flow restrictor and to establish a pressure differential between said first end and said outlet, said column of blood moving through said lumen and said flow restrictor at a first shear rate caused by said pressure differential, said movement of said column of blood causing said pressure differential to decrease from said first shear rate for generating said plural shear rates; and
  
  wherein said processor calculates the viscosity of the blood based on said data relating to the movement of the column of blood over time, said first known dimension of said lumen and said some known dimensions of said flow restrictor.
- View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
- - 2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said outlet remains submerged in the blood that is being collected in said collector when said column of blood is moving.
  - 3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said sensor detects the changing weight of said collector over time as the blood passes from said outlet into said collector.
  - 4. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said column of blood comprises a level that changes with time, said sensor detecting said changing level of fluid over time.
  - 5. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein said flow restrictor is a capillary tube and wherein the pressure drop across said capillary tube, Δ
    - P_c, is given by;
      
      $Δ P_{c} = \frac{4 g}{{πφ}_{R}^{2}} [m_{\infty} - m_{i} - m (t)]$ $\begin{matrix} \begin{matrix} \begin{matrix} \begin{matrix} where, \\ g is gravitational acceleration; \end{matrix} \\ φ_{R} is the diameter of said lumen; \end{matrix} \\ m_{\infty} is the final weight of said collector after a long period of time \end{matrix} \\ m_{i} is the initial weight of said collector before said column of blood starts moving; and \\ m (t) is the changing weight of the collector over time . \end{matrix}$
  - 6. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein the viscosity, η
    - , is given by;
      
      $η = \frac{ρ g φ_{c}^{4}}{8 L_{c} φ_{R}^{2}} (\frac{m_{\infty} - m_{i} - m (t)}{(\frac{\partial m}{\partial t}) (3 + \frac{1}{n^{'}})})$ $\begin{matrix} \begin{matrix} \begin{matrix} where, \\ ρ is the density of the blood; \end{matrix} \\ φ_{c} is the diameter of said capillary tube; \end{matrix} \\ L_{c} is the length of said capillary tube; and \end{matrix}$ $\frac{1}{n^{'}} = \frac{\partial \ln Q}{\partial \ln τ_{w}}, where$
7. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein the quantity $\frac{1}{n^{'}}$
- can be approximated by $\frac{1}{n}$ where n is the exponent of a power law constitutive equation.
8. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein said sensor is a precision balance or load cell.
9. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein said collector comprises:
- a container having an inner compartment in which said outlet is disposed; and
  
  an annular compartment surrounding said inner compartment for forming an overflow chamber.
10. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein said flow restrictor is a capillary tube and wherein the pressure drop across said capillary tube, Δ
- P_c, is given by;
11. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein the viscosity of the blood, η
- , is given by;
  
  $η = \frac{ρ g φ_{c}^{4}}{8 L_{c} φ_{R}^{2}} (\frac{h_{i} - h_{\infty} - Δ h (t)}{\frac{\partial h (t)}{\partial t} (3 + \frac{1}{n^{'}})})$ $\begin{matrix} \begin{matrix} \begin{matrix} where, \\ φ_{c} is the diameter of said capillary tube; \end{matrix} \\ φ_{R} is the diameter of said lumen; \end{matrix} \\ L_{c} is the length of said capillary tube; and \end{matrix}$ $\frac{1}{n^{'}} = \frac{\partial \ln Q}{\partial \ln τ_{w}}, where$ Q is the volumetric flow rate through said capillary tube; and
  
  $τ_{w} is \frac{Δ P_{c} φ_{c}}{4 L_{c}} .$
12. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein the quantity $\frac{1}{n^{'}}$
- can be approximated by $\frac{1}{n}$ where n is the exponent of a power law constitutive equation.
13. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein said sensor is a column level detector.
14. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein said collector comprises:
- a container having an inner compartment in which said outlet is disposed; and
  
  an annular compartment surrounding said inner compartment for forming an overflow chamber.

15. A method for determining the viscosity of the circulating blood of a living being over plural shear rates caused by a decreasing pressure differential, said method comprising the steps of:
- (a) providing a lumen having a first end and a second end and positioned at an angle to a horizontal reference greater than zero degrees, said lumen having a first known dimension, said first end being exposed to atmospheric pressure;
  
  (b) diverting a portion of the circulating blood into said lumen through said second end to form a column of blood therein;
  
  (c) coupling an inlet of a flow restrictor to said second end of said lumen to establish a pressure differential between said first end and said outlet, said flow restrictor having an outlet that is arranged to deliver any blood that passes therethrough to a collector, said flow restrictor having some known dimensions;
  
  (d) controlling said column of blood to form a continuous column of blood in said lumen and said flow restrictor, said column of blood moving through said lumen and said flow restrictor at a first shear rate caused by said pressure differential, said movement of said column of blood causing said pressure differential to decrease from said first shear rate for generating said plural shear rates;
  
  (e) providing a sensor for detecting the movement of the column of blood over time as the column of blood moves and passes from said outlet into said collector while maintaining said outlet submerged in blood that has collected in said collector, said sensor generating data regarding said movement; and
  
  (f) calculating the viscosity of the blood based on the generated data, said first known dimension and said some known dimensions.
- View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
- - 16. The method of claim 15 wherein said step of providing a sensor comprises disposing said collector on a mass detector and obtaining an initial weight of said collector before said column of blood begins moving.
  - 17. The method of claim 16 wherein said mass detector comprises a precision balance or a load cell.
  - 18. The method of claim 15 wherein said step of providing a sensor comprises disposing a column level detector adjacent said lumen for detecting the changing position of a level of said column of blood.
  - 19. The method of claim 16 wherein said flow restrictor is a capillary tube and wherein said step of calculating the viscosity comprises determining the pressure drop across said capillary tube, Δ
    - P_c, according to;
      
      $Δ P_{c} = \frac{4 g}{{πφ}_{R}^{2}} [m_{\infty} - m_{i} - m (t)]$ $\begin{matrix} where, \\ g is gravitational acceleration; \end{matrix}$ $φ_{R} is the diameter of said lumen;$ $m_{\infty} is the final weight of said collector after a long period of time$ $m_{i} is the initial weight of said collector before said column of blood$ $starts moving; and$ $m (t) is the changing weight of the collector over time .$
  - 20. The method of claim 19 wherein said step of calculating the viscosity of the blood comprises determining the viscosity, η
    - , of the blood according to;
      
      $η = \frac{ρ g φ_{c}^{4}}{8 L_{c} φ_{R}^{2}} \frac{[m_{\infty} - m_{i} - m (t)]}{(\frac{\partial m}{\partial t}) (3 + \frac{1}{n^{'}})}$
21. The method of claim 20 wherein the quantity $\frac{1}{n^{'}}$
- can be approximated by $\frac{1}{n}$ where n is the exponent of a power law constitutive equation.
22. The method of claim 18 wherein said flow restrictor is a capillary tube and wherein said step of calculating the viscosity comprises determining the pressure drop across said capillary tube, Δ
- P_c, according to;
23. The method of claim 22 wherein said step of calculating the viscosity of the blood comprises determining the viscosity, η
- , of the blood according to;
  
  $η = \frac{ρ g φ_{c}^{4}}{8 L_{c} φ_{R}^{2}} (\frac{h_{i} - h_{\infty} - Δ h (t)}{\frac{\partial h (t)}{\partial t} (3 + \frac{1}{n^{'}})})$ $\begin{matrix} \begin{matrix} \begin{matrix} where, \\ φ_{c} is the diameter of said capillary tube; \end{matrix} \\ φ_{R} is the diameter of said lumen; \end{matrix} \\ L_{c} is the length of said capillary tube; and \end{matrix}$ $\frac{1}{n^{'}} = \frac{\partial \ln Q}{\partial \ln τ_{w}}, where$ Q is the volumetric flow rate through said capillary tube; and
  
  $τ_{w} is \frac{Δ P_{c} φ_{c}}{4 L_{c}} .$
24. The method of claim 23 wherein the quantity $\frac{1}{n^{'}}$
- can be approximated by $\frac{1}{n}$ where n is the exponent of a power law constitutive equation.

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Current Assignee
Health Onvector Incorporated
Original Assignee
Rheologics, Inc. (Codima, Inc.)
Inventors
Kim, Sangho, Hogenauer, William N., Shin, Sehyun, Cho, Young, Kensey, Kenneth
Primary Examiner(s)
Williams, Hezron
Assistant Examiner(s)
Politzer, Jay L

Application Number

US10/127,091
Publication Number

US 20020148281A1
Time in Patent Office

750 Days
Field of Search

375/54.04, 375/54.01, 424/133.1, 424/465, 424/486, 424/78.38, 424/9.52, 435/239, 514/1, 514/2, 514/6, 514/723, 600/370, 600/504, 600/573
US Class Current

73/54.04
CPC Class Codes

A61B 5/02035   Determining blood viscosity

A61B 5/6866   Extracorporeal blood circui...

G01N 11/04   through a restricted passag...

G01N 11/06   by timing the outflow of a ...

G01N 5/00   Analysing materials by weig...

Single riser/single capillary blood viscometer using mass detection or column height detection

First Claim

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112 Citations

24 Claims

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Single riser/single capillary blood viscometer using mass detection or column height detection

First Claim

1 Assignment

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Accused Products

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Abstract

112 Citations

24 Claims

Specification

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Solutions

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