Filtration System Preparation of Fluids for Medical Applications

Abstract

Systems, methods, and devices for preparation of water for various uses including blood treatment are described. In embodiments, fluid is passed either by pump or passively by gravity feed, through various filtration elements from a fluid source to a treatment fluid container. The latter forms a batch that may be used during treatment. The advantage of forming the batch before treatment is that the rate of filtering needn't match the rate of consumption during treatment which provides multiple benefits and liabilities to overcome, as discussed herein. Mechanisms for preparing pure water for infusion or medicaments are described such as elimination of chlorine and colloidal aluminum. Also various control mechanisms to help avoid contamination are describe.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] Many medical applications require purified water and other fluids. for example, hemofiltration, tissue irrigation, and hemodiafiltration. Some prior art systems have focused on continuous purification processes that require a separate dfiltration / purification apparatus that must be periodically purged and verified to provide sufficient constant flow of sterile replacement fluid. (See Chavallet U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,039,877 and 5,702,597.) Such devices are necessarily complicated and require separate pumping systems for the purification process. In addition, the rate of supply of fluid for such systems is very high, requiring expensive filters to be used. The same high-rate problem exists for the generation of replacement fluid for hemofiltration, and therefore also requires expensive filtering apparatus.

[0002] Large and small scale inline systems are known for preparation of infusible fluids and for preparation of dialysate. The following prior art referen...

Images