EXTENSIBLE INFUSION DEVICES AND RELATED METHODS

• US 20160263315A1
• Filed: 03/09/2015
• Published: 09/15/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 03/09/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Medtronic Minimed Incorporated (Medtronic Plc)
• Original Assignee: Medtronic Minimed Incorporated (Medtronic Plc)
• Inventors: Lau, Belinda L., Seyed-Bolorforosh, Mirsaid, Keenan, Desmond Barry
• Granted Patent: US 10,307,528 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2005/14208 with a programmable infusion control system, characterised by the infusion program
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2005/14296 Pharmacokinetic models
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2005/1587 suitable for being connected to an infusion line after insertion into a patient
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2202/0007 introduced into the body
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/3303 Using a biosensor
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/3306 Optical measuring means
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/332 Force measuring means
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/3561 local, e.g. within room or hospital
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/3592 using telemetric means, e.g. radio or optical transmission
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/50 with microprocessors or computers
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 5/14244 adapted to be carried by the patient, e.g. portable on the body
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 5/172 electrical or electronic A61M5/16804, A61M5/16831 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 5/1723 using feedback of body parameters, e.g. blood-sugar, pressure measurement of body parameters A61B5/00

Abstract

Infusion systems, infusion devices, and related operating methods are provided. An exemplary method of operating an infusion device to deliver fluid to a user in accordance with an operating mode involves identifying a fluid type associated with the fluid currently onboard the infusion device from among a plurality of possible fluid types that is different from a previous type of fluid previously onboard the infusion device. The identified fluid type has pharmacokinetics characteristics that are different from pharmacokinetics characteristics associated with the previous fluid type. The method continues by updating one or more parameters referenced by a control module of the infusion device implementing the operating mode to reflect the pharmacokinetics characteristics associated with the identified fluid type and autonomously operating the infusion device to deliver the fluid of the identified fluid type to the user in accordance with the operating mode and the one or more updated control parameters.

Claims

1. A method of operating an infusion device to deliver fluid to a user in accordance with an operating mode, the method comprising:

identifying a type associated with the fluid currently onboard the infusion device from among a plurality of possible fluid types, resulting in an identified fluid type different from a previous fluid type onboard the infusion device, the identified fluid type having first pharmacokinetics characteristics different from second pharmacokinetics characteristics associated with the previous fluid type;

updating one or more parameters referenced by a control module of the infusion device implementing the operating mode to reflect the first pharmacokinetics characteristics associated with the identified fluid type, resulting in one or more updated control parameters; and

autonomously operating the infusion device to deliver the fluid of the identified fluid type to the user in accordance with the operating mode and the one or more updated control parameters.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein:

identifying the type comprises identifying the type based on a feature of a reservoir containing the fluid; and

autonomously operating the infusion device comprises the control module generating dosage commands to deliver the fluid from the reservoir in accordance with the operating mode and the one or more updated control parameters.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the type comprises:

generating, on a display device associated with the infusion device, a graphical user interface including a list of the plurality of possible fluid types; and

identifying user selection of the identified fluid type from the list.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein updating the one or more parameters comprises:

determining, by the control module, values for the one or more parameters based on the first pharmacokinetics characteristics associated with the identified fluid type; and

updating one or more registers coupled to the control module to include the values for the one or more parameters.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising, prior to determining the values for the one or more parameters, downloading the first pharmacokinetics characteristics associated with the identified fluid type from another device in response to identifying the type.

6. The method of claim 4, further comprising obtaining the first pharmacokinetics characteristics from a memory of the infusion device, wherein the memory stores respective pharmacokinetics characteristics associated with each of the plurality of possible fluid types, each of the plurality of possible fluid types having respective pharmacokinetics characteristics different from respective pharmacokinetics characteristics associated with other fluid types of the plurality of possible fluid types.

7. The method of claim 4, wherein determining the values for the one or more parameters comprises converting previous values for the one or more parameters to updated values based on a relationship between the first pharmacokinetics characteristics associated with the identified fluid type and the second pharmacokinetics characteristics associated with the previous fluid type.

8. The method of claim 1, the operating mode comprising a closed-loop operating mode including a proportional-integral-derivative control system, wherein:

updating the one or more parameters comprises updating a gain coefficient value of the proportional-integral-derivative control system to an updated gain coefficient value associated with the identified fluid type; and

autonomously operating the infusion device comprises the control module generating dosage commands to deliver the fluid to regulate a physiological condition of the user to a target value in accordance with the proportional-integral-derivative control system using the updated gain coefficient value.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein:

updating the one or more parameters comprises updating a first value of a patient-specific parameter, resulting in an updated value associated with the identified fluid type; and

autonomously operating the infusion device comprises generating dosage commands to deliver the fluid in accordance with the operating mode in a manner that is influenced by the updated value.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein:

updating the one or more parameters comprises updating a prediction time to reflect the first pharmacokinetics characteristics; and

autonomously operating the infusion device comprises;

determining a predicted value for a physiological condition of the user, the predicted value corresponding to the prediction time into the future; and

automatically adjusting dosage commands for delivering the fluid in accordance with the operating mode in a manner that is influenced by the predicted value.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein:

updating the one or more parameters comprises updating a value for a patient-specific notification threshold, resulting in an updated patient-specific notification threshold value; and

autonomously operating the infusion device comprises automatically generating a user notification on a display device associated with the infusion device based on the updated patient-specific notification threshold value while operating the infusion device to deliver the fluid of the identified fluid type to the user in accordance with the operating mode.

12. A method of operating an infusion device in accordance with an operating mode, the method comprising:

autonomously operating the infusion device to deliver a first fluid to a user in accordance with the operating mode and first values for one or more parameters of the operating mode referenced by a control module of the infusion device implementing the operating mode, the first values being associated with a first fluid type of the first fluid;

identifying a second fluid type associated with a second fluid onboard the infusion device, the second fluid type having pharmacokinetics characteristics different from the first fluid type;

in response to identifying the second fluid type, automatically updating the one or more parameters referenced by the control module to second values associated with the second fluid type of the second fluid, the second values reflecting the pharmacokinetics characteristics associated with the second fluid type; and

after updating the one or more parameters, autonomously operating the infusion device to deliver the second fluid to the user in accordance with the operating mode and the second values for the one or more parameters.

13. The method of claim 12, the first fluid being provided in a first reservoir inserted in the infusion device and the second fluid being provided in a second reservoir inserted in the infusion device after the first reservoir, wherein identifying the second fluid type comprises:

automatically detecting a feature of the second reservoir in response to the second reservoir being inserted in the infusion device; and

identifying the second fluid type based on the feature.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein automatically updating the one or more parameters comprises converting the first values to the second values based on a relationship between the pharmacokinetics characteristics associated with the second fluid type and second pharmacokinetics characteristics associated with the first fluid type.

15. The method of claim 12, the one or more parameters including gain coefficients for a closed-loop control system, the first values comprising first gain coefficient values and the second values comprising second gain coefficient values, wherein:

autonomously operating the infusion device to deliver the first fluid comprises generating a first dosage command for operating a motor of the infusion device based on a first difference between a first measurement value for a physiological condition of the user and a target value for the physiological condition of the user using the first gain coefficient values; and

autonomously operating the infusion device to deliver the second fluid comprises generating a second dosage command for operating the motor of the infusion device based on a second difference between a second measurement value for the physiological condition of the user and the target value for the physiological condition of the user using the second gain coefficient values.

16. An infusion device comprising:

a data storage element to maintain initial values for control parameters of an operating mode;

a motor operable to deliver fluid to a body of a user, the fluid influencing a physiological condition of the user; and

a control system coupled to the motor and the data storage element to;

operate the motor to deliver the fluid to the user in accordance with the operating mode using the initial values for the control parameters of the operating mode;

identify a different fluid type associated with the fluid currently onboard the infusion device from among a plurality of possible fluid types, the different fluid type having pharmacokinetics characteristics different from a previous fluid type onboard the infusion device;

in response to identifying the different fluid type, update the initial values for the control parameters maintained by the data storage element to updated values, the updated values being different from the initial values and the updated values reflecting the pharmacokinetics characteristics of the different fluid type; and

thereafter operate the motor to deliver the fluid to the user in accordance with the operating mode using the updated values for the control parameters of the operating mode.

17. The infusion device of claim 16, further comprising a user interface, wherein the control module is coupled to the user interface to generate a list of the plurality of possible fluid types and identify the different fluid type in response to user selection of the different fluid type from the list.

18. The infusion device of claim 16, further comprising a sensing arrangement to detect a feature of a reservoir inserted into a housing of the infusion device, wherein the control module is coupled to the sensing arrangement to identify the different fluid type based on the feature detected by the sensing arrangement.

19. The infusion device of claim 16, further comprising a communications interface coupled to the control module, wherein in response to identifying the different fluid type, the control module downloads the pharmacokinetics characteristics associated with the different fluid type from another device via the communications interface and converts the initial values to the updated values based on a relationship between the pharmacokinetics characteristics associated with the different fluid type and initial pharmacokinetics characteristics associated with the previous fluid type.

20. The infusion device of claim 16, wherein:

the control parameters comprise gain coefficients for a closed-loop control system;

the initial values comprise first gain coefficient values;

the updated values comprise second gain coefficient values;

the control module operates the motor to deliver the fluid using the initial values by generating a first command for operating the motor based on a first difference between a first measurement value for the physiological condition of the user and a target value for the physiological condition of the user using the first gain coefficient values; and

the control module operates the motor to deliver the fluid using the updated values by generating a second command for operating the motor based on a second difference between a second measurement value for the physiological condition of the user and the target value for the physiological condition of the user using the second gain coefficient values.