US-20260124350-A1 - WEARABLE HEMOFILTRATION ARTIFICIAL KIDNEY

Abstract

An artificial kidney configured to automatically or semi-automatically perform priming, procedure running, purging, flushing, and procedure ending. The artificial kidney is wearable and can be used while ambulating, sitting, and lying down. The artificial kidney can be used at home as a supplement to standard intermittent hemodialysis therapy in the clinic. In an example, the artificial kidney can be configured to perform alert event detection, start a timer, and take steps to resolving the alert event. The steps can include automated steps and can include instructions to be manually performed by the user (or the patient). If the alert event is resolved within a set time, the artificial kidney can continue to perform procedure running. If the alert event is not resolved within the set time, the artificial kidney performs the procedure ending.

Inventors

• Gordon John CAMPBELL
• Robert McGregor LINDSAY
• Salem TREESH
• Shih Han Huang
• Charles Anthony RUPAR
• Robert Gonzales BARBEITO

Assignees

• VOLUTROL INC.

Dates

Publication Date

20260507

Application Date

20251231

Claims (8)

1. 1 . A method for controlling an artificial kidney, the artificial kidney including a blood circuit, a hemofilter connected to the blood circuit, a blood pump for circulating through the blood circuit, a 3-port, 2-position blood inlet stopcock connected to the blood circuit, a 3-port, 2-position blood outlet stopcock connected to the blood circuit, a saline circuit for providing saline and connected to the 3-port, 2-position blood inlet stopcock, a waste circuit for waste removal and connected to the 3-port, 2-position blood outlet stopcock, the method comprising: controlling the 3-port, 2-position blood inlet stopcock; controlling the 3-port, 2-position blood outlet stopcock; and activating the blood pump.
2. 2 . The method as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising: detecting an alert event, and in response: deactivating the blood pump, outputting a timer, performing one or more steps to resolve the alert event, detecting that the alert event has been resolved by a set time, and reactivating or maintaining the activating of the blood pump.
3. 3 . The method as claimed in claim 2 wherein the artificial kidney includes an air detector and a flow sensor, the method further comprising temporarily deactivating, in response to the detecting the alert event, the air detector and the flow sensor.
4. 4 . The method as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the artificial kidney further includes an ultrafiltrate circuit connected to the hemofilter for removal of ultrafiltrate, the ultrafiltrate circuit including an ultrafiltrate pump for circulating through the ultrafiltrate circuit and an ultrafiltrate bag for storing the ultrafiltrate, wherein the artificial kidney further includes a replacement fluid circuit connected to the blood circuit for providing replacement fluid, the replacement fluid circuit including a replacement fluid pump for circulating through the replacement fluid circuit, the method further comprising: deactivating, in response to the detecting the alert event, the ultrafiltrate pump and the replacement fluid pump; and reactivating or maintaining activating, in response to the detecting that the alert event has been resolved by the set time, the ultrafiltrate pump and the replacement fluid pump.
5. 5 . The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the artificial kidney further includes a controller, a first actuator for controlling the 3-port, 2-position blood inlet stopcock, and a second actuator for controlling the 3-port, 2-position blood outlet stopcock, wherein the controlling the 3-port, 2-position blood inlet stopcock includes the controller controlling the first actuator, wherein the controlling the 3-port, 2-position blood outlet stopcock includes the controller controlling the second actuator, wherein the activating the blood pump is performed by the controller.
6. 6 . The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the artificial kidney further includes an ultrafiltrate circuit connected to the hemofilter for removal of ultrafiltrate, the ultrafiltrate circuit including an ultrafiltrate pump for circulating through the ultrafiltrate circuit and an ultrafiltrate bag for storing the ultrafiltrate, wherein the artificial kidney further includes a replacement fluid circuit connected to the blood circuit for providing replacement fluid, the replacement fluid circuit including a replacement fluid pump for circulating through the replacement fluid circuit, the method further comprising: activating the ultrafiltrate pump; and activating the replacement fluid pump.
7. 7 . The method as claimed in claim 6 , wherein the artificial kidney further includes a controller, wherein the activating the blood pump, the activating the ultrafiltrate pump, and the activating the replacement fluid pump are performed by the controller.
8. 8 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium, including instructions that, when executed by a controller, causes the controller to control an artificial kidney, the instructions comprising: instructions for performing the method as claimed in claim 1 .

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE This application is a Continuation Application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 18/025788 filed Mar. 10, 2023, which is a U.S. nationalization under 35 U.S. C. § 371 of International Application No. PCT/CA2021/051811 filed Dec. 14, 2021, which claims the benefit of priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/128,725 filed Dec. 21, 2020, all the contents of which are incorporated by reference into the Detailed Description of Example Embodiments herein below. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 18/025788 filed Mar. 10, 2023 is also a Continuation-In-Part Application of PCT Patent Application No. PCT/CA2021/050274 filed Mar. 2, 2021, which claims the benefit of priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Applcation No. 63/128,725 filed Dec. 21, 2020 all the contents of which are incorporated by reference into the Detailed Description of Example Embodiments herein below. TECHNICAL FIELD Example embodiments relate to artificial kidneys, for example portable or wearable artificial kidneys. BACKGROUND Artificial kidneys are used to perform dialysis on a patient. For example, blood from the patient can be filtered and returned to the patient. In some instances, the patient is required to attend an on-site clinic away from home to perform the dialysis procedure. The dialysis procedure is performed on a schedule that is intermittent, e.g. three times weekly. Another difficulty with existing artificial kidneys is that the patient is to remain in a fixed position when receiving the dialysis procedure, e.g. sitting up in a chair or bed. Another difficulty is that if a problem arises during the dialysis procedure, the procedure needs to be restarted or a trained practitioner needs to be available to address the problem. It is desirable to provide an artificial kidney that is portable and wearable. It is desirable to provide an artificial kidney that can be used while ambulating, sitting, and lying down. It is desirable to provide an artificial kidney that can be used away from a clinic, such as at home. It is desirable to provide an artificial kidney that can be used between clinic appointments and at a lower continuous dialysis flow rate to improve dialysis efficacy. It is desirable to provide an artificial kidney that can detect problems that arise during the dialysis procedure and automatically or semi-automatically take steps to address the problems. Additional difficulties with existing systems may be appreciated in view of the Detailed Description of Example Embodiments, below. SUMMARY An example embodiment is an artificial kidney configured to automatically or semi-automatically perform priming, procedure running, purging, flushing, and procedure ending. In an example, the artificial kidney can be configured to perform alert event detection, start a timer, and take steps to resolving the alert event. The steps can include automated steps and can include instructions to be manually performed by the user (or the patient). If the alert event is resolved within a set time, the artificial kidney can continue to perform procedure running. If the alert event is not resolved within the set time, the artificial kidney performs the procedure ending. An advantage of the artificial kidney is that the artificial kidney can automatically or semi-automatically perform priming, procedure running, purging, flushing, and procedure ending. Another advantage of the artificial kidney is that the time of the alert event can be tracked to remedy the alert event within a set time. If the alarm event can be remedied within the set time, then procedure running can continue to be performed on the patient, which avoids restarting the entire dialysis procedure, and therefore can avoid replacing and re-priming the disposables of the artificial kidney for the restarting. An example embodiment is an artificial kidney, comprising: a garment for supporting at least part of the artificial kidney; a blood inlet circuit; a 3-port, 2-position blood inlet stopcock connected to the blood inlet circuit and for connection to a patient inlet circuit; a saline circuit for providing saline and connected to the 3-port, 2-position blood inlet stopcock; a hemofilter connected to the blood inlet circuit; a blood outlet circuit connected to the hemofilter; a blood pump for circulating through the blood inlet circuit, the hemofilter, and the blood outlet circuit; a waste circuit for waste removal; a 3-port, 2-position blood outlet stopcock connected to the blood outlet circuit and to the waste circuit and for connection to a patient outlet circuit; a first actuator for controlling the 3-port, 2-position blood inlet stopcock; a second actuator for controlling the 3-port, 2-position blood outlet stopcock; and a controller for controlling operation of at least the first actuator, the second actuator, and the blood pump. An advantage of the artificial kidney is that the artificial kidney can be used while ambulating, sitting, and lying down. It is d