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EP-3678141-B1 - SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR DELIVERY A FLUID TO A PATIENT HAVING WIRELESS COMMUNICATION

EP3678141B1EP 3678141 B1EP3678141 B1EP 3678141B1EP-3678141-B1

Inventors

  • BUTTERFIELD, ROBERT D.

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20100630

Claims (15)

  1. A disposable intravenous (IV) fluid delivery set (102), comprising: a fluid carrying tube (108) configured to, when connected to an IV pump (104), deliver a fluid from a fluid reservoir of the IV pump (104) to a patient; a first sensor (202) and a second sensor (204) configured to be in sensing contact with the fluid carrying tube (108) at a first sensing region (212) of the fluid carrying tube and a second sensing region (214) of the fluid carrying tube, respectively, each of the first and second sensors being configured to sense a respective fluid delivery parameter of the fluid inside the fluid carrying tube when the fluid is delivered to the patient, wherein the first sensor (202) is configured to be in direct contact with the fluid in the fluid carrying tube (108); a radio frequency transceiver (208) located on the disposable IV fluid delivery set (102) and coupled to the first sensor (202) and the second sensor (204), and configured to wirelessly communicate with the IV pump (104); and circuitry located on the disposable IV fluid delivery set (102) and configured to operate the first sensor (202) and the second sensor (204), and configured to: wirelessly receive a radio frequency signal from the IV pump (104); rectify and store radio power of the wirelessly received radio frequency signal for the first sensor (202) and the second sensor (204); operate the sensor responsive to the radio power; communicate, using the radio frequency transceiver (208), sensory measurements sampled by the first sensor (202) and the second sensor (204) to the IV pump (104), wherein the disposable IV fluid delivery set (102), which includes the first sensor (202) and second sensor (204) and the radio frequency transceiver (208) and the circuitry, is conductively isolated from the IV pump (104).
  2. The IV fluid delivery set (102) of claim 1, wherein the circuitry comprises excitation and sensing circuitry and an antennae, and a processor (201) communicatively coupled to a memory (206), the sensors (202, 204) and the transceiver (208).
  3. The IV fluid delivery set (102) of claim 2, wherein the memory (206) includes a portion configured to protect stored data from a radiative sterilization.
  4. The IV fluid delivery set (102) of any of claims 2 or 3, wherein the memory (206) comprises a unique identification value of the IV fluid delivery set (102), and wherein the IV fluid delivery set (102) is configured to wirelessly transmit an identification number to the IV pump (104) in response to receiving a query from the IV pump for the identification number of the IV fluid delivery set (102).
  5. The IV fluid delivery set (102) of any of claims 2-4, wherein the processor (201) and the sensor (202), antennae, and excitation and sensing circuitry are implemented in a single integrated circuit (IC) package (200').
  6. The IV fluid delivery set (102) of claim 5, wherein the sensor (204) is external to an integrated circuit package (200') comprising the processor (201), and the sensor (204) is communicatively coupled with the processor (201) via a connector (304) external to the integrated circuit package (200').
  7. The IV fluid delivery set (102) of claim 6, wherein the connector (304) comprises a vapor deposited conductive wire.
  8. The IV fluid delivery set (102) of any of the preceding claims, wherein at least one of: the sensor (202) is one of a fluid pressure sensor, an air-in-line detection sensor and a fluid temperature sensor; the transceiver (208) is configured to communicate using a near-field communication (NFC) protocol; and the IV fluid delivery set (102) is fluidly from the IV pump (104).
  9. An apparatus for delivery of intravenous (IV) fluid, comprising: the IV fluid delivery set (102) according to claim 1; and said IV pump (104).
  10. An apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the second sensor (204) is fluidly isolated from the fluid, and wherein the IV pump (104) comprises a central processing unit (CPU) (250) configured to wirelessly control operational parameters of the first sensor (202) and the second sensor (204) based on user input.
  11. The apparatus of any of the preceding claims, wherein the IV fluid delivery set (102) is configured to (A) wirelessly receive a query for an identification number of the disposable IV fluid delivery set (102) from the IV pump (104), (B) wirelessly transmit the identification number to the IV pump (104) in response to receiving the query from the IV pump (104) for the identification number, (C) receive operational parameters for operation of the first sensor (202) and the second sensor (204) from the IV pump (104) based on the transmitted identification number, and (D) periodically sample the first sensor (202) and the second sensor (204) based on the operational parameters received from the IV pump (104).
  12. A method of delivering fluid, implemented at a processor of a fluid pump (104), the method comprising: providing a disposable intravenous (IV) fluid delivery set (102) including a transceiver (208), a sensor (202) and a second sensor (204), and circuitry for operating the first and second sensors (202, 204), the first and second sensors (202) configured to be in sensing contact with a fluid carrying tube (108) at a first sensing region (212) of the fluid carrying tube and a second sensing region (214) of the fluid carrying tube, respectively, and each of the first and second sensors being configured to sense a respective fluid delivery parameter of the fluid inside the fluid carrying tube when the fluid is delivered from a fluid reservoir of the fluid pump to a patient, wherein the first sensor (202) is configured to be in direct contact with the fluid in the fluid carrying tube (108), and wherein the disposable IV fluid delivery set (102), which includes the first and second sensors (202, 204) and the radio frequency transceiver (208) and the circuitry, is conductively isolated from the fluid pump (104); wirelessly transmitting a radio frequency signal transferring sufficient power to circuitry of the disposable IV fluid delivery set (102) to activate, responsive to receiving the radio frequency signal, the first and second sensors (202, 204) of the disposable IV fluid delivery set (102) while the fluid carrying tube is delivering the fluid to the patient, wherein radio power of the wirelessly received radio frequency signal is rectified and stored by onboard circuitry of the disposable IV fluid delivery set, and the first and second sensors (202, 204) are activated to sample fluid parameter values of the fluid inside the fluid carrying tube responsive to the radio power; and monitoring, at the fluid pump (104), the delivery of the fluid by wirelessly receiving the fluid parameter values sampled by the first and second sensors (202, 204) of the IV fluid delivery set (102), from the transceiver (208), when the first and second sensors (202, 204) are activated.
  13. The method of claim 12, further comprising: wirelessly transmitting, to the disposable IV fluid delivery set (102), a query for an identification number of the disposable IV fluid delivery set (102); wirelessly receiving the identification number in response to transmitting the query for the identification number; wirelessly transmitting operational parameters to the disposable IV fluid delivery set (102) based on the received identification number, wherein the sensor (202) periodically samples the fluid parameter values based on the operational parameters.
  14. The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein the monitoring step comprises: periodically measuring one or more fluid parameters; and/or if a measured fluid parameter value does not meet an acceptability criterion, then issuing an alarm, or pausing the delivery of the fluid.
  15. The method of claim 13, further comprising: periodically making additional measurements of the measured fluid parameter; and restarting the delivery of the fluid if any value from the additional measurements meets the acceptability criterion.

Description

Technical Field The present invention relates, in general, to fluid delivery systems and, more particularly, to a fluid delivery system in which sensor data is communicated wirelessly. Background Art Intravenous (IV) fluid delivery systems are used to deliver fluid to a patient or to draw out fluid from a patient's body. A typical fluid delivery system includes a disposable portion attached to a non-disposable portion. In operation, fluid being delivered typically comes in contact with the disposable portion but is usually isolated from the non-disposable portion. Due to sterility and contamination concerns, the disposable portion is therefore typically discarded after use. On the other hand, since the non-disposable portion is generally fluidly isolated from the fluid being delivered through the system, it is therefore re-used for multiple fluid delivery operations. During a fluid delivery operation, fluid delivery parameters may be monitored using one or more sensors such as an air-in-line (AIL) sensor, a fluid pressure sensor, a fluid temperature sensor etc. One operational issue of the sensors is that accuracy of measurement of fluid parameters may suffer because of the presence of an intervening isolating membrane. For example, a pressure sensor may produce inaccurate measurement results when an isolating membrane collapses due to negative fluid pressure. To overcome measurement inaccuracies caused by the isolating membrane, some prior art fluid delivery systems placed the sensor elements in contact with fluid being delivered. However, these systems require electrical wires running to the sensors and/or other electronics associated with the sensors to supply power. Due to the presence of electrical wires connecting the non-disposable portion to the sensor elements, such systems suffer from the drawback that accidental leakage from a sensor element could result in the fluid leaking along the electrical wires into the non-disposable portion, resulting in contamination and damage to the non-disposable portion. Furthermore, such placement of electrical wires in close proximity of fluids elevates the danger of accidental shocks to a patient connected to the fluid delivery system. Such shocks may be hazardous to the patients. Hence, there are concerns regarding the current systems and methods for measuring fluid delivery parameters during fluid delivery by a fluid delivery system. These include, but are not necessarily limited to, accuracy of measurement and potential shock hazard. US20020038392A1 discloses a method and apparatus for controlling IV medication delivery and monitoring, the method including providing information tags on IV bags that specify delivery parameters, obtaining delivery parameters for at least one bag, associating a controller with a particular patient, comparing patient information for the particular patient with the delivery parameters, determining the efficacy of delivering the medicant to the patient and affecting pump control as a function of the comparison. The method also includes various timing rules and other verification procedures. Disclosure of the Invention The invention is defined by the claims. The above discussed and other concerns are fulfilled by fluid delivery systems and methods according to various configurations described in the present disclosure. FIG. 1 is a block diagram depicting a fluid delivery system for use with embodiments of the present disclosure.FIG. 2A is a block diagram depicting a fluid measurement system at a disposable portion, in accordance with certain configurations of the present disclosure.FIG. 2B is a block diagram depicting a fluid monitoring system at a non-disposable portion, in accordance with certain configurations of the present disclosure.FIG. 3 is a block diagram depicting a fluid measurement system with an off-chip sensor, in accordance with certain configurations of the present disclosure.FIG. 4 is a flow chart depicting exemplary fluid delivery operations performed in accordance with certain embodiments of the present disclosure.FIG. 5 is a flow chart depicting exemplary fluid delivery operations performed in accordance with certain embodiments of the present disclosure.FIG. 6 is a flow chart depicting exemplary fluid delivery operations performed in accordance with certain embodiments of the present disclosure.FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a fluid delivery system using embodiments of the present disclosures. Detailed Description of the Invention The embodiments of the present disclosure address and solve problems related to the measurement of fluid parameters by providing, in part, a fluid delivery system having a disposable portion and a non-disposable portion configured to wirelessly communicate with each other. In one aspect, the disposable portion is configured to have no active electronics (power source) and is configured to wirelessly receive operational power from the non-disposable portion. In one aspect, a fluid delivery