Integrated Blood Pump and Gas Flow Control for Heart-Lung Machines
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional heart-lung machines face challenges in the spatial separation of gas supply and blood flow control, which complicates monitoring and increases the difficulty of transportation and operation, posing risks to patient safety and treatment quality.
Innovation Solution
A unified control or regulating device integrates both blood flow and gas flow regulation, allowing for a single device to manage both volumetric blood and gas flow, reducing the need for separate components and enhancing safety and ease of transport.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If separate control units are used for blood pump and gas supply, then each function can be controlled independently, but the device complexity increases and transportation becomes more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the blood pump control unit and gas supply control unit into a single integrated control device. The control device includes a control unit with a microprocessor that can independently regulate both the blood pump motor and the gas flow through integrated circuitry and control algorithms, eliminating the need for separate control units while maintaining independent function control through software-based management of multiple parameters
2Reliability
If separate control units are used for blood pump and gas supply, then each function can be controlled independently, but the difficulty of operation increases
Solution Approach 1:
The control unit is designed as a multi-functional device that can independently control the blood pump, regulate gas flow, monitor system parameters, and provide alarm functions. The microprocessor-based control system manages multiple functions through a unified interface, allowing operators to control both blood and gas parameters from a single device with consistent operational procedures
3Device complexity
If a unified control device is used for both blood flow and gas flow, then the device complexity is reduced and transportation is easier, but the ability to independently control each function may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The control unit is segmented into distinct functional modules within the integrated device: a blood pump control module with motor driver and flow sensing, a gas supply module with flow meters and valve control, and a central microprocessor that coordinates both. This modular segmentation allows independent control of each function while maintaining physical integration, with each module capable of autonomous operation when needed
Data Source
AI summary
The invention concerns a control or regulating device with a control or regulating unit, which both controls or regulates a volumetric blood flow flowing through a blood pump as well as a volumetric flow of a gas able to flow through a gas exchange unit.