Cleaning and liquid contact with solids – Processes – Hollow work – internal surface treatment
Patent
1997-04-08
1999-04-13
El-Arini, Zeinab
Cleaning and liquid contact with solids
Processes
Hollow work, internal surface treatment
134 221, 134 2218, 134169R, B08B 310, B08B 900, B08B 9093
Patent
active
058933824
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and a device for the initial flushing of a blood treatment apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is known that before commencing dialysis treatment, the dialyser has to be flushed and filled (procedure referred to as priming) by passing a flushing solution through the compartments of the dialyser. Various methods have been proposed for carrying out this flushing. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,004,548 describes a method which consists in connecting the outlet of the dialyser's blood compartment to the inlet of the dialysis liquid compartment, and in circulating in series, through the blood compartment and the dialysis liquid compartment, a sterile physiological saline solution issuing from a bag. The outlet of the dialysis liquid compartment is connected to a bag for collection and discharge of the flushing liquid.
In a known flushing method, the flushing liquid is not recovered in a collecting bag, but is eliminated via the dialysis apparatus' pipes for discharge of used liquid. For this purpose, the outlet connection piece of the dialysis liquid compartment is connected, by way of a conduit and an electromagnetic valve, to a discharge pipe provided in the dialysis apparatus in proximity to the outlet of an ultrafilter. At the same time, a dialysis liquid is circulated through the ultrafilter, so that the liquid for flushing the dialyser and the dialysis liquid in preparation are thus discharged together in the discharge pipe.
The advantage of this solution is that it permits considerable savings to be made, by omitting the collecting bag and avoiding the expenses involved in disposing of the latter, and it permits an improvement in the flushing of the dialyser. In addition, there is no risk of the dialyser or of the sterile parts of the apparatus being contaminated by the non-sterile liquid since there is complete separation of the sterile and non-sterile parts of the apparatus.
To ensure satisfactory flushing of the dialyser, any air bubbles present on the membrane of the dialyser have to be eliminated. To do this at the present time, the person charged with performing the dialysis gently taps the dialyser so that the bubbles dislodge from the membrane and are discharged with the flushing liquid.
An object of the invention is to perfect the flushing method indicated above, in such a way as to render it completely automatic, while at the same time retaining the advantages of the known flushing method described hereinabove.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
To achieve this object, the invention provides a method for flushing a blood treatment apparatus, which has a first compartment and second compartment separated by a semi-permeable membrane, consisting in: a flushing liquid source, and an outlet of this compartment to discharge means; waves at time intervals in the flushing circuit in such a way as to dislodge air bubbles adhering to an inner wall of the blood treatment apparatus and to discharge these air bubbles in the flushing liquid.
According to one characteristic of the invention: flushing circuit on the inlet side (or outlet side, respectively) of the compartment; and in that means which are arranged on the flushing circuit on the outlet side (or inlet side, respectively) of the compartment.
In one embodiment of the invention, the opening and closing of the occlusion means are controlled as a function of a pressure Pi measured in a flushing circuit section located between the pumping means and the occlusion means.
In another embodiment of the invention, the opening and closing of the occlusion means are controlled in accordance with a predetermined time sequence.
The invention also provides a device for flushing a blood treatment apparatus, which has a first compartment and second compartment separated by a semi-permeable membrane, this device comprising a flushing circuit which has: circuit; time intervals in the flushing circuit in such a way as to dislodge air bubbles adhering to an inner wall o
REFERENCES:
patent: 4324663 (1982-04-01), Hirel et al.
patent: 4900152 (1990-02-01), Wiegleb
patent: 4923613 (1990-05-01), Chevallet
patent: 5004548 (1991-04-01), Richalley et al.
patent: 5041215 (1991-08-01), Chamberlain, Jr. et al.
El-Arini Zeinab
Hospal AG
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