Surgery – Blood drawn and replaced or treated and returned to body
Patent
1993-05-06
1995-03-28
Howell, Kyle L.
Surgery
Blood drawn and replaced or treated and returned to body
604 65, 210646, A61M 116
Patent
active
054012384
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of monitoring a dialysis unit, and has particular application to "acetate free" treatment.
2. Description of the Related Art
As is known, when a doctor prescribes a specific dialysis treatment, he indicates the value of certain parameters which must be set by the operator on the dialysis machine prior to starting the treatment. In practice, the values of the parameters to be set are correlated unambiguously with one or more variables whose control forms the objective of the treatment. For instance, in case of "acetate free" treatment there are five parameters to be set, i.e. type of filter used, type of infusion pack used (supplied as bicarbonate concentration in the infusion pack), blood flow, infusion rate and ultrafiltration rate (supplied as a weight loss) and their value in practice determines the desired bicarbonataemia in the blood in a stable condition.
In these conditions, alteration by the operator of one of the treatment parameters (in particular the last three, bearing in mind that the type of filter and the type of pack used cannot in theory be modified during the actual treatment) generally causes a variation of the bicarbonataemia and therefore a modification of the prescription which may in some cases, if not controlled, place the patient at risk. Such risk includes reduction in blood flow or even its stoppage which in turn may lead in to alkalosis.
Although mathematical models which provide the relationship existing between the treatment parameters set by the operator and the variable formed by the doctor's prescription are currently available, known machines do not in general provide for any control of this variable with the result that it is impossible to avoid risk situations.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the present invention is therefore to provide a method for monitoring a dialysis unit which allows the operator to avoid potential risk situations.
According to the present invention, a method of monitoring a dialysis unit is provided which comprises the stages of acquiring and storing set values of a plurality of parameters relating to the treatment to be carried out, characterized in that it comprises the determination of a clinical prescription on the basis of the stored values of the parameters, the detection of variations in the set values of these parameters, the detection of any variation in the prescription due to these variations in the set values and the generation of an alarm signal if this variation in the prescription is detected.
In practice, the method of the invention provides that, at the beginning of treatment, the control unit of the dialysis machine calculates the desired prescription on the basis of the set values of the parameters and a mathematical model which links these parameters to a variable defining the prescription and then, for any maneuver by the operator causing a variation of the prescription, generates an alarm signal for the operator. This alarm signal is preferably accompanied by the suggestion of new values for some of the parameters so as to maintain the previous prescription, the operator being able to choose between three actions: resetting the previous value of the parameters, setting the suggested value of the parameters or confirming the new values which have just been set and thus updating the prescription correspondingly.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The present invention is described in detail with respect to a preferred embodiment, given purely by way of non-limiting example, made with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the system to which the present method is applied; and
FIGS. 2 and 3 show two flow charts relating to an "acetate free" treatment method of the invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
In FIG. 1, the method of the invention is applied to a system comprising, in outline, a dialysis machine 1 connected to a control unit 2 and, via an extracorporeal cir
REFERENCES:
patent: 4601830 (1986-07-01), Chen
Hospal Ltd.
Howell Kyle L.
Nasser Robert L.
LandOfFree
Method of monitoring a dialysis unit does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Method of monitoring a dialysis unit, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Method of monitoring a dialysis unit will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2247038