Medical treatment system and methods using a plurality of fluid lines

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9981079-B2
Application number	US-201715432265-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 14, 2017
Priority date	Nov 4, 2011
Publication date	May 29, 2018
Grant date	May 29, 2018

Abstract

A medical treatment system, such as peritoneal dialysis system, may include control and other features to enhance patient comfort and ease of use. For example, a peritoneal dialysis system may include a control system that can adjust the volume of fluid infused into the peritoneal cavity to prevent the intraperitoneal fluid volume from exceeding a pre-determined amount. The control system can adjust by adding one or more therapy cycles, allowing for fill volumes during each cycle to be reduced. The control system may continue to allow the fluid to drain from the peritoneal cavity as completely as possible before starting the next therapy cycle. The control system may also adjust the dwell time of fluid within the peritoneal cavity during therapy cycles in order to complete a therapy within a scheduled time period. The cycler may also be configured to have a heater control system that monitors both the temperature of a heating tray and the temperature of a bag of dialysis fluid in order to bring the temperature of the dialysis fluid rapidly to a specified temperature, with minimal temperature overshoot.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A heating system for a peritoneal dialysis apparatus comprising:
a pumping apparatus configured to pump dialysate into or out of a heater bag;
an electric heater configurable to operate at an AC line voltage in a range of about 100 to 120 volts or an AC line voltage in a range of about 200 to 240 volts;
a heater controller configured to control a temperature of the dialysate using the electrical heater;
a current sensor configured to measure current flow through the electric heater; and
a universal power supply configured to convert line voltage to one or more DC voltages to power the pumping apparatus and heater controller, and to configure the electric heater to operate at a voltage in a range of about 100 to 120 volts or in a range of about 200 to 240 volts, based on the measured current flow through the electrical heater.

2. The heating system of claim 1 , wherein the electric heater comprises two heating elements, an end of each heating element connected to a common point; wherein the universal power supply comprises one or more electrical switches connecting the heating elements to line voltage in a configuration that is switchable between a parallel or series configuration; and wherein the current sensor comprises a circuit to measure electrical current through the electrical heater, and a power supply controller arranged to control the electrical switches to configure the heating elements based on the measured current.

3. The heating system of claim 2 , wherein the current sensor is configured to measure electrical current through the electric heater in a series configuration, and the power supply controller is configured to control the one or more electrical switches to change the configuration of the heating elements if the measured current is less than a pre-determined value.

4. The heating system of claim 2 , wherein the one or more electrical switches comprises a heater select relay to connect the heating elements in a parallel configuration when the power supply controller controls the heater select relay to be in an energized state.

5. The heating system of claim 4 , wherein the heating elements are in a series configuration when the heater select relay is in a non-energized state.

6. The heating system of claim 1 , wherein the heater controller is configured to control a solid state relay connected to the electrical heater to control power delivery to the electrical heater via pulse width modulation.

7. The heating system of claim 2 , wherein the heater controller is configured to control two solid state relays each connected to a separate one of the heating elements to control power delivery to the heating elements via pulse width modulation.

8. The heating system of claim 7 , wherein both solid state relays are either connected to an active line of an AC line voltage source, or to a neutral line of the AC line voltage source.

9. The heating system of claim 7 , wherein one of the two solid state relays is connected to an active line of an AC line voltage source, and a second of the two solid state relays is connected to a neutral line of the AC line voltage source.

10. The heating system of claim 2 , wherein the heater controller and the power supply controller comprise a single heater circuit controller.

11. The heating system of claim 2 , further comprising a safety relay configured to disconnect the electrical heater from the AC line voltage based on a signal received from a safety controller.

12. The heating system of claim 11 , wherein the heater controller, the power supply controller and the safety controller comprise a single heater circuit controller.

13. The heating system of claim 3 , wherein the pre-determined value of the measured current corresponds to a current resulting from an AC line voltage of about 200-240 volts applied to the electric heater in a series configuration.

14. The heating system of claim 7 , wherein the heater controller is configured to command the solid state relays to a 100% duty cycle, the one or more electrical switches are configured to place the heating elements in a series configuration, the current sensor is configured to measure electrical current through the electric heater and the power supply controller is configured to command the one or more electrical switches to place the heating elements in a parallel configuration if the measured current is less than a pre-determined value.

15. A method of configuring heating elements of an electrical heater for a peritoneal dialysis apparatus, the electrical heater comprising two heating elements, an end of each heating element connected to a common point, the method comprising:
configuring the heating elements initially in a series configuration;
connecting the electrical heater to line voltage;
measuring electrical current flow through the electrical heater;
determining from the measured current flow whether the line voltage is in a range of about 100-120 volts, or in a range of about 200-240 volts;
providing a user of the peritoneal dialysis apparatus with information about the determined line voltage; and
receiving a signal from the user confirming the determined line voltage before finally configuring the heating elements in either a series configuration or a parallel configuration.

Assignees

• Deka Products Lp

Inventors

• Scarpaci Jacob W
• Bryant Jr Robert J
• Spencer Geoffrey P
• Hibbard David J
• Dale James D
• Kerwin John M
• Coll Andrew S
• Beavers David A
• Mcgill David W
• Helmore Simon C

Classifications

• A61M2205/3327

  Measuring · CPC title

• A61M2205/3379

  Masses, volumes, levels of fluids in reservoirs, flow rates · CPC title

• A61M2205/3334

  Measuring or controlling the flow rate · CPC title

• A61M2205/3331

  Pressure; Flow · CPC title

• A61M2205/18

  with alarm · CPC title