Medical item thermal treatment systems and method of monitoring medical items for compliance with prescribed requirements
First Claim
1. A temperature control system for thermally treating medical items to desired temperatures comprising:
- a temperature control unit including;
a unit housing;
a thermal treatment unit disposed within said housing to thermally treat at least one medical item;
a controller to facilitate entry of a desired temperature and to control a thermal output of said thermal treatment unit to thermally treat said at least one medical item to said entered desired temperature; and
a usage control unit to confine operational usage of said temperature control unit by a user for thermally treating said at least one medical item to be within an authorized use interval for said user defined by usage parameters associated with said user, wherein said usage control unit disables operation of said temperature control unit by said user for thermally treating said at least one medical item outside said authorized use interval associated with said user and said usage parameters include at least one of a time interval for said operational usage of said temperature control unit to thermally treat said at least one medical item, a quantity of thermal cycles, a quantity of medical items to thermally treat, and a duration a medical item remains within said system.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Various present invention devices enable adherence to requirements for medical items. A medical item of the present invention includes a monitoring or data recording device to monitor and/or record medical solution conditions. The device may further include indicators to indicate compliance of the medical solution with prescribed requirements (e.g., manufacturer, medical standard or regulation, etc.). The medical item may alternatively include a barcode or transponder to uniquely identify the medical item to a thermal treatment system measuring and storing conditions in a central database. The present invention further includes various thermal treatment systems that monitor medical items for prescribed requirements and display the monitored parameters to medical personnel. In addition, the present invention may place time stamp information on medical items to enable determination by medical personnel of compliance with prescribed requirements.
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Citations
72 Claims
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1. A temperature control system for thermally treating medical items to desired temperatures comprising:
a temperature control unit including; a unit housing; a thermal treatment unit disposed within said housing to thermally treat at least one medical item; a controller to facilitate entry of a desired temperature and to control a thermal output of said thermal treatment unit to thermally treat said at least one medical item to said entered desired temperature; and a usage control unit to confine operational usage of said temperature control unit by a user for thermally treating said at least one medical item to be within an authorized use interval for said user defined by usage parameters associated with said user, wherein said usage control unit disables operation of said temperature control unit by said user for thermally treating said at least one medical item outside said authorized use interval associated with said user and said usage parameters include at least one of a time interval for said operational usage of said temperature control unit to thermally treat said at least one medical item, a quantity of thermal cycles, a quantity of medical items to thermally treat, and a duration a medical item remains within said system. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A temperature control system for thermally treating medical items to desired temperatures comprising:
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a temperature control unit including; a unit housing; a thermal treatment unit disposed within said housing to thermally treat at least one medical item; a controller to facilitate entry of a desired temperature and to control a thermal output of said thermal treatment unit to thermally treat said at least one medical item to said entered desired temperature; and a usage control unit to control usage of said temperature control unit in accordance with usage parameters associated with a user; an information storage device to store said usage parameters, wherein said information storage device is provided by said user to said temperature control unit and said usage parameters stored on said information storage device are adjusted by a service provider to enable further use of said temperature control unit.
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23. A temperature control system for thermally treating medical items to desired temperatures comprising:
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a temperature control unit including; a unit housing; a thermal treatment unit disposed within said housing to thermally treat at least one medical item; a controller to facilitate entry of a desired temperature and to control a thermal output of said thermal treatment unit to thermally treat said at least one medical item to said entered desired temperature; and a usage control unit to control usage of said temperature control unit in accordance with usage parameters associated with a user; an information storage device to store said usage parameters, wherein said information storage device is provided by said user to said temperature control unit; wherein said usage control unit includes a system interface to transfer information with said information storage device, and wherein said system interface disables said controller in response to said usage parameters indicating completion of authorized use of said temperature control unit.
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24. A temperature control system for thermally treating medical items to desired temperatures comprising:
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a temperature control unit including; a unit housing; a thermal treatment unit disposed within said housing to thermally treat at least one medical item; a controller to facilitate entry of a desired temperature and to control a thermal output of said thermal treatment unit to thermally treat said at least one medical item to said entered desired temperature; and a usage control unit to control usage of said temperature control unit in accordance with usage parameters associated with a user; an information storage device to store said usage parameters, wherein said information storage device is provided by said user to said temperature control unit; wherein said usage control unit includes a system interface to transfer information with said information storage device, and wherein said system interface updates said usage parameters in accordance with use of said temperature control unit by said user. - View Dependent Claims (25)
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26. A system for confining operational use of a temperature control unit that thermally treats medical items to desired temperatures to be within an authorized use interval in accordance with usage parameters associated with a user and defining said authorized use interval, wherein operation of said temperature control unit by said user for thermally treating at least one medical item is disabled outside said authorized use interval associated with said user, said system comprising:
a server computer system including a web site accessible by said user to modify said authorized use interval by adjusting said usage parameters to enable further use of said temperature control unit by said user, and wherein said usage parameters include at least one of a time interval for said operational usage of said temperature control unit to thermally treat said at least one medical item, a quantity of thermal cycles, a quantity of medical items to thermally treat, and a duration a medical item remains within said temperature control unit. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28)
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29. A system for controlling use of a temperature control unit that thermally treats medical items to desired temperatures in accordance with usage parameters associated with a user, said system comprising:
a server computer system to receive and store information collected by said temperature control unit, wherein said server computer system includes a web site accessible by said user to perform at least one of retrieval of said collected information in the form of a report and adjustment of said usage parameters to enable further use of said temperature control unit, wherein said server computer system communicates with said temperature control unit to receive said collected information and adjust said usage parameters. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31)
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32. A method of thermally treating medical items to desired temperatures comprising:
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(a) receiving at least one medical item within a housing of a temperature control unit for thermal treatment by a thermal treatment unit; (b) facilitating entry of a desired temperature and controlling a thermal output of said thermal treatment unit to thermally treat said at least one medical item to said entered desired temperature; and (c) confining operational usage of said temperature control unit by a user for thermally treating said at least one medical item to be within an authorized use interval for said user defined by usage parameters associated with said user, wherein operation of said temperature control unit by said user for thermally treating said at least one medical item is disabled outside said authorized use interval associated with said user and said usage parameters include at least one of a time interval for said operational usage of said temperature control unit to thermally treat said at least one medical item, a quantity of thermal cycles, a quantity of medical items to thermally treat, and a duration a medical item remains within said system. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48)
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49. A method of thermally treating medical items to desired temperatures comprising:
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(a) receiving at least one medical item within a housing of a temperature control unit for thermal treatment by a thermal treatment unit; (b) facilitating entry of a desired temperature and controlling a thermal output of said thermal treatment unit to thermally treat said at least one medical item to said entered desired temperature; and (c) controlling usage of said temperature control unit in accordance with usage parameters associated with a user, wherein step (c) further includes; (c.1) storing said usage parameters on an information storage device, wherein said information storage device is provided by said user to said temperature control unit; and (c.2) adjusting said usage parameters by a service provider to enable further use of said temperature control unit.
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50. A method of thermally treating medical items to desired temperatures comprising:
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(a) receiving at least one medical item within a housing of a temperature control unit for thermal treatment by a thermal treatment unit; (b) facilitating entry of a desired temperature and controlling a thermal output of said thermal treatment unit to thermally treat said at least one medical item to said entered desired temperature; and (c) controlling usage of said temperature control unit in accordance with usage parameters associated with a user, wherein step (c) further includes; (c.1) storing said usage parameters on an information storage device, wherein said information storage device is provided by said user to said temperature control unit; and (c.2) transferring information with said information storage device and disabling said temperature control unit in response to said usage parameters indicating completion of authorized use of said temperature control unit.
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51. A method of thermally treating medical items to desired temperatures comprising:
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(a) receiving at least one medical item within a housing of a temperature control unit for thermal treatment by a thermal treatment unit; (b) facilitating entry of a desired temperature and controlling a thermal output of said thermal treatment unit to thermally treat said at least one medical item to said entered desired temperature; and (c) controlling usage of said temperature control unit in accordance with usage parameters associated with a user, wherein step (c) further includes; (c.1) storing said usage parameters on an information storage device, wherein said information storage device is provided by said user to said temperature control unit; and (c.2) updating said usage parameters in accordance with use of said temperature control unit by said user. - View Dependent Claims (52)
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53. A method of confining operational use of a temperature control unit that thermally treats medical items to desired temperatures to be within an authorized use interval in accordance with usage parameters associated with a user and defining said authorized use interval, wherein operation of said temperature control unit by said user for thermally treating at least one medical item is disabled outside said authorized use interval associated with said user, said method comprising:
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(a) receiving and storing information collected by said temperature control unit on a server computer system including a web site accessible by said user; and (b) modifying said authorized use interval by adjusting said usage parameters, via said web site, to enable further use of said temperature control unit by said user, wherein said usage parameters include at least one of a time interval for said operational usage of said temperature control unit to thermally treat said at least one medical item, a quantity of thermal cycles, a quantity of medical items to thermally treat, and a duration a medical item remains within said temperature control unit. - View Dependent Claims (54, 55)
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56. A method of controlling use of a temperature control unit that thermally treats medical items to desired temperatures in accordance with usage parameters associated with a user, said method comprising:
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(a) receiving and storing information collected by said temperature control unit on a server computer system including a web site accessible by said user, wherein said server computer system conununicates with said temperature control unit, and step (a) further includes; (a.1) receiving said collected information from said temperature control unit and adjusting said usage parameters via said server computer system; (b) performing, via said web site, at least one of retrieval of said collected information in the form of a report and adjustment of said usage parameters to enable further use of said temperature control unit. - View Dependent Claims (57, 58)
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59. A system for controlling usage of a medical device comprising:
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a medical device; and a usage control unit to confine operational usage of said medical device by a user to be within an authorized use interval for said user defined by usage parameters associated with said user, wherein said usage control unit disables operation of said medical device by said user outside said authorized use interval associated with said user and said usage parameters include at least one of a time interval for said operational usage of said medical device and a quantity of operational cycles. - View Dependent Claims (60, 61, 62, 63, 64)
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65. A method of controlling use of a medical device comprising:
(a) confining operational usage of said medical device by a user to be within an authorized use interval for said user defined by usage parameters associated with said user, wherein operation of said medical device by said user is disabled outside said authorized use interval associated with said user and said usage parameters include at least one of a time interval for said operational usage of said medical device and a quantity of operational cycles. - View Dependent Claims (66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72)
Specification