Surgery – Means for introducing or removing material from body for... – Material introduced into and removed from body through...
Patent
1994-06-09
1996-12-10
Mendez, Manuel
Surgery
Means for introducing or removing material from body for...
Material introduced into and removed from body through...
A61M 500
Patent
active
055825907
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention concerns a flow control device for therapeutic solutions in a infusion line of a type including a valve with a seal for the infusion line and a circuit for controlling the position of the seal in order to control the flow of therapeutic solution through the valve.
2. Description of Prior Art
Treatment for a certain number of illnesses, such as diabetes, cancer, etc., using chemotherapy requires the practice of infusion on a continuous or intermittent basis, for the purpose of administering one or more therapeutic solutions to the patient.
Infusion systems may be either fixed, generally in a hospital setting, where the flow of therapeutic solution is gravitational, for instance from a plastic bag suspended above the patient's bed, or portable, using a pump carried by the patient for automatic injection of the therapeutic solution into the patient's body. Whichever of these infusion systems is used, it is sometimes necessary to improve the efficiency and safety of the system by adding a flow control device.
Earlier techniques relied on various means for controlling the flow of therapeutic solution. Thus, U.S. Pat. No. 4,623,331 describes a infusion system using a suspended bag in which an alarm is set off when an incorrect number of drops is delivered by the infusion line. This is not truly a flow control device, but rather a simple security device.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,616,801 describes a system using an eccentric roller to compress the infusion line by electrically controlled rotation. The degree of compression modulates the flow. Obviously, the precision of such a system can only be approximate.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,038,981 describes a infusion line with an electromagnetic ball valve for regulating the number of drops over time, setting a minimum and maximum number of drops. The sole purpose of the electromagnetic control of the valve is to raise or lower the ball, i.e., open or close the valve. This system clearly does not provide constant flow control of the therapeutic solution but only counts the number of drops supplied, without any possibility of controlling the volume of each drop.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The purpose of this invention is to achieve constant control of the flow of therapeutic solution in a infusion line.
The invention is a flow control device with electrically controlled valve as will described, in which the valve includes a chamber with a first aperture communicating with the upstream part of the infusion line and a second aperture communicating with the downstream part of the infusion line, a bimetal device inside the chamber, a ball attached to the bimetal device to close one of the apertures in the chamber in whole or in part and a control circuit outside the chamber connected to the bimetal device for constant accurate control of the flow of therapeutic solution in the infusion line.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The invention will be better understood through the description below, in reference to the figures, in which:
FIG. 1 represents a section of a preferred means of making the control device according to the invention,
FIG. 2 represents a section of a first type of piezoelectric bimetal strip to be used in the control device according to the invention,
FIG. 3 represents a section of a second type of piezoelectric bimetal strip to be used in the control device according to the invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
As illustrated in FIG. 1, the infusion line includes a chamber 10 communicating with the input of the infusion line by aperture 12 and communicating with the output of the infusion line by aperture 14. The piezoelectric-type bimetal device 16 is set in one of the sides 18 of chamber 10. A ball 20 is attached to bimetal strip 16 so that, when bimetal strip 16 is in resting position, the ball closes input aperture 12 of the infusion line.
The bimetal device is connected by a 3-wire connection 22 to control circuit 24 which applies voltages to each of the bimetal strip's two blad
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Guyomar Daniel
Hauser Jean-Lue
Sauzade Jean D.
Hancock E. C.
Mendez Manuel
Sirr F. A.
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