Renal failure therapy system having electrically floating fluid pathway

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11116067-B2
Application number	US-201615766087-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 14, 2016
Priority date	Oct 14, 2015
Publication date	Sep 7, 2021
Grant date	Sep 7, 2021

Abstract

A renal failure therapy system (10) includes a dialyzer (102); a blood circuit (100) in fluid communication with the dialyzer (102); a dialysis fluid circuit (30) in fluid communication with the dialyzer (102); and an electrically floating fluid pathway (140) comprising at least a portion of the blood circuit (100) and at least a portion of the dialysis fluid circuit (30), wherein the only electrical path to ground is via used dialysis fluid traveling through machine (12) to earth ground (28), and wherein at least one electrical component (46, 90, 82, 66, 102, 116) in the at least a portion of the dialysis fluid circuit (30) of the electrically floating fluid pathway (140) is electrically bypassed.

First claim

The invention is claimed as follows:

1. A renal failure therapy system comprising:
a dialyzer;
a blood circuit in fluid communication with the dialyzer;
a dialysis fluid circuit in fluid communication with the dialyzer; and
an electrically floating fluid pathway comprising at least a portion of the blood circuit and at least a portion of the dialysis fluid circuit, wherein the only electrical path to ground is via used dialysis fluid traveling through the renal failure therapy system to earth ground,
wherein at least one electrical component in the at least a portion of the dialysis fluid circuit of the electrically floating fluid pathway is electrically bypassed, and
wherein the at least a portion of the dialysis fluid circuit includes at least a portion of a fresh dialysis fluid line and at least a portion of a used dialysis fluid line.

2. The renal failure therapy system of claim 1 , wherein (i) the electrically bypassed portion of the dialysis fluid circuit of the electrically floating fluid pathway is electrically short circuited or (ii) the electrical component is of a type sensitive to electrical disturbances.

3. The renal failure therapy system of claim 1 , wherein the electrically bypassed portion of the dialysis fluid circuit of the electrically floating fluid pathway includes (i) at least one electrical line placed in parallel with the at least one electrical component, (ii) a small passage formed between a fluid inlet and a fluid outlet to the at least one electrical component, or (iii) a conductor located between the fluid inlet and the fluid outlet of the at least one electrical component.

4. The renal failure therapy system of claim 3 , wherein the at least one electrical line placed in parallel with the at least one electrical component includes upstream and downstream conductive couplers placed in fluid lines upstream and downstream, respectively, of the electrical component, and wherein the electrical line is extended from the upstream conductive coupler to the downstream conductive coupler.

5. The renal failure therapy system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one electrical component includes a conductivity sensor having a conductivity probe that contacts dialysis fluid flowing through the at least a portion of the dialysis fluid circuit.

6. The renal failure therapy system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one electrical component includes a flowmeter for measuring the flowrate of dialysis fluid flowing through the at least a portion of the dialysis fluid circuit.

7. The renal failure therapy system of claim 1 , comprising at least one electrically bypassed electrical component in the at least a portion of the fresh dialysis fluid line and at least one electrically bypassed electrical component in the at least a portion of the used dialysis fluid line.

8. The renal failure therapy system of claim 1 , wherein the electrically floating fluid pathway includes an electrical line extending from the at least a portion of the fresh dialysis fluid line to the at least a portion of the used dialysis fluid line, the electrical line positioned to bypass the dialyzer and a patient to be treated.

9. The renal failure therapy system of claim 1 , wherein the electrically floating fluid pathway includes at least one selected from the group consisting of an arterial line, a venous line, arterial and venous needles, a fresh dialysis fluid line, a fresh dialysis fluid tube, liquid concentrate lines, concentrate sources if liquid concentrate sources are used, a water line, a water source if the water is non-deionized, a used dialysis fluid tube, and a used dialysis fluid line.

10. The renal failure therapy system of claim 1 , wherein the electrically floating fluid pathway is connected to an external drain line, which leads to an electrically grounded drain.

11. The renal failure therapy system of claim 1 , wherein the electrically floating fluid pathway includes at least one fluid component that is not electrically bypassed, but which is electrically insulated from a chassis of the system to form a delineated applied part.

12. A renal failure therapy system comprising:
a dialyzer;
a blood circuit in fluid communication with the dialyzer;
a dialysis fluid circuit in fluid communication with the dialyzer, the dialysis fluid circuit including a fresh dialysis fluid line and a used dialysis fluid line;
a first electrical component operable with the fresh dialysis fluid line;
a first electrical bypass shunting current away from the first electrical component;
a second electrical component operable with the used dialysis fluid line; and
a second electrical bypass shunting current away from the second electrical component.

13. The renal failure therapy system of claim 12 , wherein the first and second electrical bypasses are part of an electrically floating fluid pathway in which the only electrical path to ground is via used dialysis fluid traveling through the renal failure therapy system to earth ground.

14. The renal failure therapy system of claim 13 , wherein the electrically floating fluid pathway includes a plurality of fluid operating components located along the fresh dialysis fluid line and the used dialysis fluid line, wherein the fluid operating components are not electrically bypassed.

15. The renal failure therapy system of claim 14 , wherein the plurality of fluid operating components include at least one selected from the group consisting of (i) a pump and (ii) a component mounted to a system chassis via an electrical insulator.

16. The renal failure therapy system of claim 12 , wherein the first and second electrical bypasses contact fluid upstream and downstream of the first and second electrical components, respectively, the fluid electrically connecting the first and second electrical bypasses.

17. A renal failure therapy machine operating with a dialyzer and a blood circuit in fluid communication with the dialyzer, the machine comprising:
a dialysis fluid circuit in fluid communication with the dialyzer, the dialysis fluid circuit including a fresh dialysis fluid line and a used dialysis fluid line; and
an electrically floating fluid pathway, wherein the only electrical path to ground is via used dialysis fluid traveling through the renal failure therapy machine to earth ground, and including an electrical bypass from the fresh dialysis fluid line to the used dialysis fluid line, such that a fault current generated in the fresh dialysis fluid line bypasses the dialyzer via the electrical bypass to the used dialysis fluid line.

18. The renal failure therapy machine of claim 17 , wherein the electrical bypass is (i) located between a furthest downstream fluid component of the fresh dialysis fluid line and the dialyzer, or (ii) located between a furthest upstream fluid component of the used dialysis fluid line and the dialyzer.

19. The renal failure therapy machine of claim 17 , wherein the electrically floating fluid pathway includes at least one additional electrical bypass shunting current away from an electrical component located in the fresh or used dialysis fluid lines.

20. A renal failure therapy system comprising:
a dialyzer;
a blood circuit in fluid communication with the dialyzer;
a dialysis fluid circuit in fluid communication with the dialyzer;
an electrically floating fluid pathway comprising at least a portion of the dialysis fluid circuit, wherein the only electrical path to ground is via used dialysis fluid traveling through the renal failure therapy system to earth ground, and

Assignees

• Gambro Lundia Ab

Inventors

• Hobro Sture
• Torgny Erik
• Lofgren Par

Classifications

• A61M1/16 Primary

  with membranes · CPC title

• A61M2205/3351

  Controlling upstream pump pressure · CPC title

• A61M2205/3344

  Measuring or controlling pressure at the body treatment site · CPC title

• A61M2205/70

  with testing or calibration facilities · CPC title

• A61M2205/502

  User interfaces, e.g. screens or keyboards · CPC title