Bubble Trap Grate Design for Infusion Pump Fluidic Systems
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Solution Overview
Problem
Infusion pump devices face issues with air bubbles in the fluidic system, which can lead to dangerous dosing errors and make it difficult to measure pressure accurately due to the compressibility of gases, affecting the detection of blockages or occlusions.
Innovation Solution
A bubble trap system with a containment chamber and grates that trap bubbles larger than a certain diameter, preventing them from passing through and maintaining the flow of liquid, utilizing hydrophilic materials and specific grate inlet designs to maximize interface tension and retain bubbles effectively.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If a rigid container with displacement piston is used, then the device can be compact, but the device becomes longer and thicker than desired
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a flexible container made of collapsible material that can be compressed in multiple directions. The container walls are designed to be flexible yet maintain structural integrity, allowing the container to collapse as liquid is dispensed, thereby maintaining a compact form factor without increasing device length or thickness.
2Device complexity
If air bubbles remain in the container or fluidic system, then the device structure is simpler, but dangerous dosing errors occur and pressure measurement becomes inaccurate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent incorporates a bubble trap component that extracts air bubbles from the liquid stream before the liquid reaches the patient. The bubble trap uses a grate structure with specific pore sizes that allow liquid to pass through while trapping bubbles, thereby removing the harmful air phase from the fluidic system and ensuring accurate dosing.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a hydrophilic coating on internal surfaces that acts as an intermediary to prevent air bubble formation and adhesion. This coating modifies the surface properties to be highly hydrophilic, causing any trapped air to be expelled and ensuring that the fluidic system remains filled with liquid, thereby maintaining accurate pressure measurements and dosing.
3Device complexity
If air is present in the fluidic system, then the system is simpler, but the compressibility of gases makes it difficult to measure exact pressure and detect blockages
Solution Approach 1:
The bubble trap component extracts air bubbles from the fluidic system, ensuring that only liquid remains in the pressure measurement pathway. This eliminates the compressibility issue caused by gas presence, allowing accurate pressure measurements for detecting blockages and monitoring system status.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The bubble trap system effectively removes bubbles of a certain size, ensuring accurate medication delivery and pressure measurement, reducing the risk of dosing errors and improving the detection of fluidic system blockages, while being cost-effective and compact.
Implementation Method 1
The at least one grate is configured to trap bubbles in the containment chamber, preventing the bubbles from passing through the at least one grate to the outlet conduit
Implementation Method 2
utilizing hydrophilic materials and specific grate inlet designs to maximize interface tension and retain bubbles effectively
Data Source
AI summary
Bubble traps for removing bubbles from a stream of liquid and flexible containers comprising such bubble traps are disclosed. The bubble trap includes a containment chamber fluidly coupled to an outlet conduit. At least one grate is disposed between the containment chamber and the outlet conduit. The at least one grate includes a plurality of grate inlets formed in a grate wall and fluidly coupled to the outlet conduit with a plurality of grate conduits such that the containment chamber is fluidly coupled to the outlet conduit. The grate traps bubbles entrained in the stream of liquid flowing from the containment chamber to the outlet conduit in the containment chamber when the bubbles are greater than or equal to a diameter of the grate inlets.