Container for fluids and apparatus for temperature control, e.g. warming, of medical fluids

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11786646-B2
Application number	US-201816611525-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 9, 2018
Priority date	May 11, 2017
Publication date	Oct 17, 2023
Grant date	Oct 17, 2023

Abstract

A container for warming fluids comprises an inlet port, an outlet port, a fluid conduit configured for fluidly communicating the inlet and outlet ports, and deflection sections. The fluid conduit has a non-constant maximum width in a direction of fluid flow through the fluid conduit. The deflection sections further comprise an entry section and an exit section, each respective exit section being arranged downstream, in the direction of fluid flow, from each respective entry section. The maximum width of the fluid conduit decreases along the direction of fluid flow through the entry section over a first distance and the maximum width of the fluid conduit increases along the direction of fluid flow through the exit section over a second, different distance. An apparatus for warming fluids in, an extracorporeal blood circuit including, and a blood treatment apparatus including the container are also provided.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A container for enabling fluid flow, wherein the container comprises a flexible bag with at least a first and a second film sealed to one another, the container comprising:
an inlet port;
an outlet port; and
a fluid conduit to put the inlet port in fluid communication with the outlet port and comprising one or more deflection sections,
wherein the fluid conduit has a maximum width in a direction of the fluid flow through the fluid conduit,
wherein at least one of the one or more deflection sections further comprises an entry section and an exit section, each respective exit section being arranged downstream, in the direction of the fluid flow, from each respective entry section,
wherein a width of the fluid conduit decreases along the direction of the fluid flow through the entry section over a first distance, from the maximum width to a narrower width and the width of the fluid conduit constantly increases along the direction of the fluid flow through the exit section over a second distance, from the narrower width to the maximum width, and
wherein the first distance is between 0.5 and 0.7 times the maximum width of the fluid conduit and the second distance is between 1.0 and 2.0 times the maximum width of the fluid conduit.

2. The container according to claim 1 , wherein the first distance is smaller than the second distance.

3. The container according to claim 1 ,
wherein

0.5
≤

L
t

L
c

≤
0.85

,

and
wherein L t is a width of an intermediate section located between the entry and exit sections and L c is the maximum width.

4. The container according to claim 1 , wherein the width of the fluid conduit decreases along the direction of the fluid flow through the entry section according to a first radius of curvature in a first phase of the entry section and according to a second radius of curvature in a second phase of the entry section, wherein the first radius of curvature is different than the second radius of curvature.

5. The container according to claim 1 , wherein the maximum width is between 18 and 22 millimeters.

6. The container according to claim 1 , wherein, for each of the one or more deflection sections, the entry section has a first end and a second end, the first end of the entry section being upstream, in the direction of the fluid flow, of the second end of the entry section,
wherein the exit section has a first end and a second end, the first end of the exit section being upstream, in the direction of the fluid flow, of the second end of the exit section, and
wherein the width of the fluid conduit at the first end of the entry section is equal to the width of the fluid conduit at the second end of the exit section.

7. The container according to claim 1 , wherein each of the one or more deflection sections further comprises an intermediate section interposed between the entry section and the exit section,
wherein each respective intermediate section:
has a constant width equal to the narrower width,
is directly adjacent to the corresponding entry section, the corresponding entry section being a direct extension of the respective intermediate section, and
is directly adjacent to the corresponding exit section, the corresponding exit section being a direct extension of the respective intermediate section,

wherein the fluid conduit is provided with an inner radius R 2 calculated as

R
2

=

(

1
-

L
t

L
c

)

·

L
c

+

weld
2

,

 with L c =the width, L t =the width of the intermediate section, and weld=width of a weld,
wherein the ratio

R
2

L
c

 between the inner radius R 2 and the width ranges from 0.15 to 0.50, and
wherein the fluid conduit is provided with an outer radius R 3 , wherein

R
3

=

L
c

+

weld
2

.

8. The container according to claim 7 , wherein the intermediate section has an inner edge and an opposite outer edge, the inner edge having a radius smaller than a radius of the outer edge, and wherein each of the entry section and the exit section has a respective inner edge in extension to the inner edge of the intermediate section and wherein each of the entry section and the exit section has a respective outer edge in extension to the outer edge of the intermediate section,
wherein the width of the fluid conduit decreases along the direction of the fluid flow through the entry section due to a directional change of the inner edge of the entry section, the outer edge of the entry section continuing straight or tangentially in extension from the outer edge of the intermediate section, and
wherein the width of the fluid conduit increases along the direction of the fluid flow through the exit section due to a directional change of the inner edge of the exit section, the outer edge of the exit section continuing straight or tangentially in extension from the outer edge of the intermediate section.

9. The container according to claim 7 , wherein the intermediate section is provided with a deflection of at least 180°.

10. The container according to claim 1 , wherein the width of the fluid conduit decreases along the direction of the fluid flow through the entry section due to a directional change of an inner edge of the entry section, wherein an outer edge of the entry section is straight, and
wherein the width of the fluid conduit increases along the direction of the fluid flow through the exit section due to a directional change of an inner edge of the exit section, wherein an outer edge of the exit section is straight.

11. The container according to claim 1 , wherein the fluid conduit further comprises a plurality of connection sections,
wherein, along each of

Assignees

• Gambro Lundia Ab

Inventors

• Pouchoulin Dominique
• Nisipeanu Eugen

Classifications

• A61M1/1668 Primary

  Details of containers · CPC title

• A61M1/166

  Heating (for sterilisation A61M1/1686) · CPC title

• A61M1/1623

  Disposition or location of membranes relative to fluids · CPC title

• A61M1/308

  Volume control, e.g. with open or flexible containers, by counting the number of pump revolutions, weighing · CPC title

• F28F13/08

  by varying the cross-section of the flow channels · CPC title