Pumps – Ambulant – body supported – or with carrying handle
Reexamination Certificate
1999-05-12
2001-07-31
Thorpe, Timothy S. (Department: 3746)
Pumps
Ambulant, body supported, or with carrying handle
C604S153000, C604S262000, C604S408000, C604S415000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06267564
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to flexible bags for use in medical infusion systems, and more particularly to flexible bags for use with infusion pump systems.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Infusion systems are known which include a flexible bag as a fluid reservoir, a pump for pumping fluid from the bag to a patient, and a tubing from a bag to the pump and from the pump to the patient for transporting the fluid. Typically the bag is a flexible bag made from polymeric material, and the pump is an infusion-style pump designed to deliver a premeasured fluid drug dose at a given rate to the patient in need of the drug.
The bag may be hung from a pole or carried in an enclosure. Various enclosures are known including flexible pouches and more rigid enclosures. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,540,561 and 5,567,119, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference, concern rigid enclosure arrangements designed to protect fluid reservoirs. These enclosure arrangements include a chamber for receiving a fluid reservoir such as a flexible bag. The enclosures each include an opening for accessing the chamber. The enclosures each further include a latch arrangement for mounting an ambulatory pump to the enclosure to protect the reservoir and tubing.
These enclosures have a number of advantages as enumerated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,540,561 and 5,567,119. For example, flexible fluid reservoirs prepared from the polymeric materials are capable of being punctured or torn by sharp objects. This can be a problem for patients who use the pumps outside the hospital or caregiver's office. This creates a particular problem when the fluid contained within the bag is irritating to the skin or where the fluid contains a controlled substance. Where the fluid contained within the bag is a controlled substance, such as a narcotic, the enclosures prevent the controlled substance from being withdrawn from the bag by a needle punctured through the polymeric material or the tubing.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,879,143, the disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference, concerns adapters designed to secure an infusion-type pump to an enclosure such that the enclosures discussed above may be used with a wide variety of pump sizes and shapes.
Many of the known flexible medical bags, for use in such infusion systems include outlet ports at their lower peripheral edge. Such arrangements may be problematic in that the enclosure arrangements used to protect the bags are sized to accommodate the peripheral space taken by the structure of the outlet port. Furthermore, the peripheral ports are more likely to present problems regarding occlusion. Often times, additional structure such as a bag post is included within the enclosure arrangement to hold the bag and thereby prevent the bag from laying on or otherwise occluding the fluid outlet port, or the tubing leading to the fluid outlet port.
There is a need for a flexible bag arrangement to address these concerns. It is desirable that the bag arrangement is usable within infusion systems having enclosure arrangements. It is also desirable that the bag arrangement allow for smaller enclosures in the enclosure arrangements, and that the bag provide for protection against occlusion without the need for additional structure within the enclosure arrangement.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
One aspect of the present invention relates to a bag arrangement for containing fluid for use with an infusion pump. The bag arrangement includes a first end and a second end, and includes a panel defining a interior chamber. The arrangement further includes a fluid outlet port in the panel, the outlet port in fluid communication with the interior chamber. An elongated hollow member is in fluid communication with the port, and extends in a direction from the first end toward the second end of the bag arrangement tangentially along the panel.
In one embodiment, the bag arrangement includes a bag having a first wall and a second wall defining an interior chamber. The bag has a first end and a second end, and a fluid outlet port through the first wall in fluid communication with the interior chamber. The fluid outlet port includes an elongated hollow member extending through an opening in the first wall, and is oriented tangentially to the first wall. The elongated hollow member extends from within the interior chamber from the first end of the bag, through the opening, and toward the second end of the bag along the first wall. Preferably, the hollow elongated member is a tube, and the first wall is formed by two segments sealed around the tube at the port. The tube is also preferably attached to the first wall within the bag.
Another aspect of the invention relates to a pump system. The pump system includes an enclosure arrangement defining a chamber, the chamber accessible through an opening. A pump is mounted to the enclosure arrangement to close the opening to the chamber. A bag arrangement containing fluid is located in the chamber. The bag arrangement includes a panel defining a interior chamber, and the bag arrangement includes a first end and a second end. A fluid outlet port is in the panel, and the outlet port is in fluid communication with the interior chamber. An elongated hollow member is in fluid communication with the port, and extends in a direction from the first end toward the second end of the bag arrangement. The pump system further includes a fluid conduit arrangement to provide a fluid path to the pump. The pump may include an adapter for mounting the pump to the enclosure so as to close the opening to the enclosure.
REFERENCES:
patent: 2062040 (1936-11-01), Rigney
patent: 2273128 (1942-02-01), Madsen et al.
patent: 2378719 (1945-06-01), Madsen et al.
patent: 2816596 (1957-12-01), Welch, Jr.
patent: 2850422 (1958-09-01), Welch, Jr.
patent: 2949712 (1960-08-01), Bieberdorf et al.
patent: 3030955 (1962-04-01), Gossett et al.
patent: 3177871 (1965-04-01), Meyers
patent: 3244576 (1966-04-01), Swartz
patent: 3298597 (1967-01-01), Bellamy
patent: 3343541 (1967-09-01), Bellamy
patent: 3403064 (1968-09-01), Bellamy
patent: 3554256 (1971-01-01), Anderson
patent: 3642047 (1972-02-01), Waage
patent: 3901235 (1975-08-01), Patel et al.
patent: 3915212 (1975-10-01), Bujan et al.
patent: 4332252 (1982-06-01), Taylor
patent: 4484904 (1984-11-01), Fowler
patent: 4535820 (1985-08-01), Raines
patent: 4609369 (1986-09-01), Ball
patent: 4619648 (1986-10-01), Rath et al.
patent: 4636412 (1987-01-01), Field
patent: 4683916 (1987-08-01), Raines
patent: 4906495 (1990-03-01), Martini et al.
patent: 4950347 (1990-08-01), Futagawa
patent: 4959062 (1990-09-01), Gellman
patent: 5176634 (1993-01-01), Smith et al.
patent: 5226564 (1993-07-01), Steer et al.
patent: 5391150 (1995-02-01), Richmond
patent: 5405333 (1995-04-01), Richmond
patent: 5445623 (1995-08-01), Richmond
patent: 5507904 (1996-04-01), Fisher et al.
patent: 5540561 (1996-07-01), Johnson
patent: 5567119 (1996-10-01), Johnson
patent: 5591337 (1997-01-01), Lynn et al.
patent: 5645538 (1997-07-01), Richmond
patent: 5735826 (1998-04-01), Richmond
patent: 5772409 (1998-06-01), Johnson
patent: 5772880 (1998-06-01), Lynn et al.
patent: 5785700 (1998-07-01), Olson
patent: 5820582 (1998-10-01), Keilman
patent: 5848994 (1998-12-01), Richmond
patent: 6196991 (2001-03-01), Keilman
Gartenberg Ehud
Merchant & Gould P.C.
SIMS Deltec, Inc.
Thorpe Timothy S.
LandOfFree
Medical reservoir bag and system does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Medical reservoir bag and system, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Medical reservoir bag and system will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2561006