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 system housing;
a compartment disposed within said housing to receive at least one medical item;
at least one thermal treatment assembly each disposed within said compartment to thermally treat a corresponding medical item;
at least one temperature sensor each associated with a corresponding thermal treatment assembly to contact and measure a temperature of said medical item treated by that assembly;
a timer to measure residence time of each medical item treated by said at least one assembly;
a controller to facilitate entry of said desired temperature for each medical item and to control a thermal output of each assembly to thermally treat said corresponding medical item to said entered desired temperature based on said temperature measured by said associated temperature sensor; and
a report unit to collect information pertaining to at least one of medical item conditions, system conditions, time, corresponding temperature information for at least one medical item, patient information, doctor information and facility information, and to generate a report.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
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.
396 Citations
80 Claims
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1. A temperature control system for thermally treating medical items to desired temperatures comprising:
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a system housing; a compartment disposed within said housing to receive at least one medical item; at least one thermal treatment assembly each disposed within said compartment to thermally treat a corresponding medical item; at least one temperature sensor each associated with a corresponding thermal treatment assembly to contact and measure a temperature of said medical item treated by that assembly; a timer to measure residence time of each medical item treated by said at least one assembly; a controller to facilitate entry of said desired temperature for each medical item and to control a thermal output of each assembly to thermally treat said corresponding medical item to said entered desired temperature based on said temperature measured by said associated temperature sensor; and a report unit to collect information pertaining to at least one of medical item conditions, system conditions, time, corresponding temperature information for at least one medical item, patient information, doctor information and facility information, and to generate a report. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 75)
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20. A temperature control system for thermally treating medical items to desired temperatures comprising:
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a system housing; a compartment disposed within said housing to receive at least one medical item; at least one thermal treatment assembly each disposed within said compartment to thermally treat a corresponding medical item; at least one temperature sensor each associated with a corresponding thermal treatment assembly to contact and measure a temperature of said medical item treated by that assembly; a timer to measure residence time of each medical item treated by said at least one assembly; a controller to facilitate entry of said desired temperature for each medical item and to control a thermal output of each assembly to thermally treat said corresponding medical item to said entered desired temperature based on said temperature measured by said associated temperature sensor; and a usage control unit to control usage of said temperature control system in accordance with usage parameters associated with a user. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22)
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23. A temperature control system for thermally treating medical items to desired temperatures comprising:
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a system housing; a compartment disposed within said housing to receive at least one medical item; a plurality of thermal treatment assemblies each disposed within said compartment to thermally treat a corresponding medical item; a plurality of temperature sensors each associated with a corresponding thermal treatment assembly to contact and measure a temperature of said medical item treated by that assembly; a controller to facilitate entry of said desired temperature for each medical item and to control a thermal output of each assembly to thermally treat said corresponding medical item to said entered desired temperature based on said temperature measured by said associated temperature sensor; a display to simultaneously display information for each assembly; and a report unit to collect information pertaining to at least one of medical item conditions, system conditions, time, corresponding temperature information for at least one medical item, patient information, doctor information and facility information, and to generate a report. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 76)
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35. A temperature control system for thermally treating medical items to desired temperatures comprising:
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a system housing; a compartment disposed within said housing to receive at least one medical item; a plurality of thermal treatment assemblies each disposed within said compartment to thermally treat a corresponding medical item; a plurality of temperature sensors each associated with a corresponding thermal treatment assembly to contact and measure a temperature of said medical item treated by that assembly; a controller to facilitate entry of said desired temperature for each medical item and to control a thermal output of each assembly to thermally treat said corresponding medical item to said entered desired temperature based on said temperature measured by said associated temperature sensor; a display to simultaneously display information for each assembly; and a usage control unit to control usage of said temperature control system in accordance with usage parameters associated with a user. - View Dependent Claims (36, 37)
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38. In a temperature control system, a method of thermally treating medical items to desired temperatures comprising:
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(a) receiving at least one medical item by at least one thermal treatment assembly within a compartment disposed within a system housing; (b) thermally treating said at least one medical item via said at least one thermal treatment assembly; (c) measuring a temperature and residence time of each medical item treated by said at least one thermal treatment assembly; and (d) facilitating entry of said desired temperature for each medical item and controlling a thermal output of each assembly to thermally treat a corresponding medical item to said entered desired temperature based on said measured temperature; and (e) collecting information pertaining to at least one of medical item conditions, system conditions, time, corresponding temperature information for at least one medical item, patient information, doctor information and facility information, and generating a report. - View Dependent Claims (39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 77)
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56. In a temperature control system, a method of thermally treating medical items to desired temperatures comprising:
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(a) receiving at least one medical item by at least one thermal treatment assembly within a compartment disposed within a system housing; (b) thermally treating said at least one medical item via said at least one thermal treatment assembly; (c) measuring a temperature and residence time of each medical item treated by said at least one thermal treatment assembly; (d) facilitating entry of said desired temperature for each medical item and controlling a thermal output of each assembly to thermally treat a corresponding medical item to said entered desired temperature based on said measured temperature; and (e) controlling usage of said temperature control system in accordance with usage parameters associated with a user. - View Dependent Claims (57, 58)
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59. In a temperature control system, a method of thermally treating medical items to desired temperatures comprising:
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(a) receiving at least one medical item within a compartment including a plurality of thermal treatment assemblies and disposed within a system housing; (b) thermally treating said at least one medical item via corresponding thermal treatment assemblies; (c) measuring a temperature of each medical item treated by an assembly; (d) facilitating entry of said desired temperature for each medical item and controlling a thermal output of each assembly to thermally treat said corresponding medical item to said entered desired temperature based on said measured temperature; (e) simultaneously displaying information for each assembly; and (f) collecting information pertaining to at least one of medical item conditions, system conditions, time, corresponding temperature information for at least one medical item, patient information, doctor information and facility information, and generating a report. - View Dependent Claims (60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 78)
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72. In a temperature control system, a method of thermally treating medical items to desired temperatures comprising:
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(a) receiving at least one medical item within a compartment including a plurality of thermal treatment assemblies and disposed within a system housing; (b) thermally treating said at least one medical item via corresponding thermal treatment assemblies; (c) measuring a temperature of each medical item treated by an assembly; (d) facilitating entry of said desired temperature for each medical item and controlling a thermal output of each assembly to thermally treat said corresponding medical item to said entered desired temperature based on said measured temperature; (e) simultaneously displaying information for each assembly; and (f) controlling usage of said temperature control system in accordance with usage parameters associated with a user. - View Dependent Claims (73, 74)
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79. A temperature control system for thermally treating medical items to desired temperatures comprising:
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a system housing, wherein said system housing includes a plurality of rollers to transport said temperature control system; a compartment disposed within said housing to receive at least one medical item; a plurality of thermal treatment assemblies each disposed within said compartment to thermally treat a corresponding medical item; a plurality of temperature sensors each associated with a corresponding thermal treatment assembly to contact and measure a temperature of said medical item treated by that assembly; a controller to facilitate entry of said desired temperature for each medical item and to control a thermal output of each assembly to thermally treat said corresponding medical item to said entered desired temperature based on said temperature measured by said associated temperature sensor; and a display to simultaneously display information for each assembly.
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80. A temperature control system for thermally treating medical items to desired temperatures comprising:
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a system housing; a compartment disposed within said housing to receive at least one medical item; a plurality of thermal treatment assemblies each disposed within said compartment to thermally treat a corresponding medical item; a plurality of switching devices each associated with a corresponding assembly to detect the presence of a medical item on that assembly and to enable said corresponding assembly to thermally treat said medical item in response to said detection; a plurality of temperature sensors each associated with a corresponding thermal treatment assembly to contact and measure a temperature of said medical item treated by that assembly, wherein said plurality of temperature sensors are respectively disposed on a corresponding switching device to measure a temperature of a medical item disposed on said associated assembly; a controller to facilitate entry of said desired temperature for each medical item and to control a thermal output of each assembly to thermally treat said corresponding medical item to said entered desired temperature based on said temperature measured by said associated temperature sensor; a timer to measure residence time of each medical item thermally treated by said assemblies; and a display to simultaneously display information for each assembly, wherein said display displays for each assembly at least one of residence time for a corresponding medical item, temperature information for a medical item, an indication of the absence of a medical item and an indication of a temperature outside a predetermined range.
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Specification