Syringe pump

Abstract

A syringe pump has a motor rotating a leadscrew, which drives a plunger head retainer to push a plunger along the barrel of a syringe so as to dispense medication to a patient. A force sensor in the head retainer measures the force on the plunger to detect when there is an occlusion restricting flow of medication. When an excess force is detected an alarm is generated and the motor is reversed to reduce the force to about 10% of that at which the occlusion is detected. The occlusion can be removed with a reduced risk of a bolus of medication being dispensed after which the user restarts the pump so that the plunger is driven normally.

Description

field of invention

[0001] The present invention relates to a syringe pump suitable for certain syringes. The syringe pump includes a plunger movable along the barrel, and the pump includes an occlusion detector responsive to an occlusion of the syringe flowing out of the drug fluid. Background technique

[0002] Syringe pumps are used to deliver medical fluids from filled syringes to patients through infusion tubing. The syringe pump exerts a force on the syringe plunger, causing the liquid medicine to flow into the infusion line at a controlled rate. There will usually be means to detect an obstruction of the flowing liquid in the pump, for example caused by a bend in the pipe, and in response to said obstruction, stop the pump and issue an audible warning. The occurrence of clogging can be detected by measuring the force exerted by the pump drive on the plunger head, and excessive force can be detected. A strain sensor is mounted on the plunger head stop as described in...

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