Liquid concentration detector for a blood purification apparatus

• US 9,212,988 B2
• Filed: 12/14/2010
• Issued: 12/15/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 12/14/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nikkiso Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Nikkiso Company Limited
• Inventors: Akita, Kunihiko, Murakami, Tomoya, Hirano, Takayuki, Takakuwa, Yasushi
• Primary Examiner(s): BASS, DIRK R
• Application Number:
  US12/967,643
• Publication Number:
  US 20110144459A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,827 Days
• Field of Search: 210/88, 210/96.1, 210/647, 600/310
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 1/16 with membranes
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 1/1609 after use, i.e. downstream of dialyser
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/15 Detection of leaks
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/3306 Optical measuring means
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/3313 used specific wavelengths
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 21/05 Flow-through cuvettes G01N21/09 takes precedence; handling fluid samples G01N1/10
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 21/274 Calibration, base line adjustment, drift correction
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 21/59 Transmissivity G01N21/25 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2201/0621 Supply
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2201/0626 Use of several LED's for spatial resolution

Abstract

A blood purification apparatus includes a blood purification instrument for extracorporeally circulating blood of a patient and a concentration detector detecting a concentration of liquid flowing during blood purification. The concentration detector has a light emitter irradiating light onto said liquid, a light receiver receiving light from the light emitter transmitted through said liquid, and a detector detecting the received light intensity received by the light receiver. The concentration detector detects the concentration of the liquid based on the received light intensity and can be calibrated by adjusting an amount of irradiation by the light emitter so that the received light intensity has a predetermined value.

Claims

1. A blood purification apparatus comprising:

a blood purification instrument for extracorporeally circulating blood of a patient; and

a concentration detector for detecting a concentration of liquid flowing during blood purification, the liquid including a dialysate and the blood of the patient, the concentration detector comprising;

a light emitter configured to irradiate the liquid with light,

a light receiver configured to receive the light from the light emitter transmitted through the liquid, and

a detector configured to detect intensity of the light received by the light receiver, the concentration of the liquid being determined based on the intensity of the received light, and

a controller programmed to perform calibration of the concentration detector before the blood purification instruction starts circulating the blood of the patient, in which the controller is programmed to supply only the dialysate to the concentration detector to adjust an amount of light emission from the light emitter so that the intensity of the received light has a predetermined value, wherein

when the controller determines that the intensity of the received light is greater than a predetermined value, the controller controls the light emitter to reduce the amount of the light emission, and

when the controller determines that the intensity of the received light is smaller than the predetermined value, the controller controls the light emitter to increase the amount of the light emission.

2. The blood purification apparatus of claim 1 wherein the controller further configured to:

determine whether the received light intensity detected by the detector is substantially same as the predetermined value, and

based on the determination, control the light emitter so that the received light intensity has the predetermined value.

3. The blood purification apparatus of claim 1 wherein

the light emitter comprises LED(s), and

the light receiver comprises a light receiving element(s) generating a voltage corresponding to the received light intensity, wherein

the controller adjusts light emitting current of the light emitter so that a voltage generated by the light receiver has a predetermined value.

5. The blood purification apparatus of claim 1 wherein the concentration detector is a blood leakage detector configured to detect blood leakage from the concentration of discharged liquid from the blood purification instrument.

6. The blood purification apparatus of claim 1 wherein the concentration detector is arranged on a blood circuit and comprises a blood concentration sensor configured to detect the concentration of blood flowing through the blood circuit.

4. A blood purification apparatus comprising:

a blood purification instrument for extracorporeally circulating blood of a patient; and

a concentration detector for detecting a concentration of liquid flowing during blood purification, the liquid including a dialysate and the blood of the patient, the concentration detector comprising;

a light emitter configured to irradiate the liquid with light,

a light receiver configured to receive the light from the light emitter transmitted through the liquid, and

a detector configured to detect intensity of the light received by the light receiver, the concentration of the liquid being determined based on the intensity of the received light, and

a controller programmed to perform calibration of the concentration detector before the blood purification instruction starts circulating the blood of the patient, in which the controller is programmed to supply only the dialysate to the concentration detector to adjust an amount of light emission from the light emitter so that the intensity of the received light has a predetermined value, wherein

when the controller determines that the intensity of the received light is greater than a predetermined value, the controller controls the light emitter to reduce the amount of the light emission,

when the controller determines that the intensity of the received light is smaller than the predetermined value, the controller controls the light emitter to increase the amount of the light emission, and

the concentration detector is a discharged liquid concentration sensor configured to monitor the blood purification efficiency by detecting the concentration of the liquid discharged from the blood purification instrument.