Capillary Gas Enrichment via Intersecting Stream Collision
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional methods for enriching liquids with high concentrations of dissolved gas, such as oxygen, often result in bubble formation and require complex extracorporeal circuits, which are costly, difficult to operate, and can lead to inflammatory reactions and coagulation issues.
Innovation Solution
A system using two or more capillaries positioned at an intersecting angle within a conduit to deliver gas-enriched liquid, ensuring localized convective mixing without exposure to boundary surfaces, thereby preventing bubble formation and achieving homogeneous gas distribution within the liquid.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If gas-supersaturated liquid is delivered at ambient pressure, then gas concentration in liquid is improved, but gas bubbles form
Solution Approach 1:
The liquid flow is divided into multiple streams by positioning multiple capillaries at intersecting angles. Each capillary delivers gas-supersaturated liquid that collides with other streams, creating localized mixing zones that prevent bubble formation while maintaining high gas concentration.
Solution Approach 2:
The capillaries are positioned at intersecting angles (e.g., 90 degrees) to each other, creating a three-dimensional mixing pattern. This angular arrangement causes liquid streams to collide and mix in a manner that dissipates gas supersaturation before bubbles can form, adding a spatial dimension to the mixing process.
2Quantity of substance
If conventional oxygenators are used in extracorporeal circuits, then blood oxygenation is achieved, but device complexity and operational difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the oxygenation function from the complex extracorporeal circuit and implements it directly within the blood vessel using simple capillaries. This removes the need for external oxygenators, pumps, and large-volume circuits, leaving only the essential function of delivering oxygen-enriched liquid.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses the patient's own blood flow as the mixing medium. The gas-supersaturated liquid delivered through capillaries mixes automatically with the flowing blood in the vessel, eliminating the need for external pumps or complex circulation systems.
3Quantity of substance
If gas-supersaturated liquid is injected directly into blood, then oxygen enrichment is achieved, but gaseous embolism risk increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary mixing of the gas-supersaturated liquid with blood flow before the mixture reaches areas where bubbles could cause embolism. By injecting through multiple capillaries positioned at angles, the liquid is pre-mixed and de-saturated in controlled zones within the vessel, preventing subsequent bubble formation.
Solution Approach 2:
The flowing blood acts as an intermediary medium that receives and distributes the gas-supersaturated liquid from the capillaries. The blood flow carries the enriched liquid away from the injection site, preventing localized supersaturation that would lead to bubble formation and embolism.
4Productivity
If conventional oxygenators with large blood contact surface area are used, then oxygenation efficiency is improved, but inflammatory reaction and coagulation risk increase
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of using a large surface area oxygenator that contacts blood throughout, the invention concentrates oxygenation at localized points where capillaries inject gas-enriched liquid. This localized approach achieves oxygenation without the extensive blood-surface contact that triggers inflammation and coagulation.
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
This approach allows for efficient gas enrichment of liquids, such as blood, without bubble formation, simplifying the process by eliminating the need for extracorporeal mixing and reducing the risk of inflammatory reactions and coagulation, while achieving hyperbaric oxygen levels.
Implementation Method 1
the first ends of the capillaries form an intersecting angle with respect to the effluent streams such that these streams of gas-enriched liquid collide with each other upon exit from the first ends of the capillaries, effecting localized convective mixing within the larger liquid conduit
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention provides a system for enriching a flowing liquid with a dissolved gas inside a conduit. The system comprises two or more capillaries, each capillary delivering a stream of a gas-enriched liquid to the flowing liquid. The first ends of the capillaries are positioned to form an intersecting angle with respect to the effluent streams such that these streams of gas-enriched liquid collide with each other upon exit from the first ends of the capillaries, effecting localized convective mixing within the larger liquid conduit before these gas-enriched streams are able to come into close contact with the boundary surfaces of the conduit, whereby the gas-enriched liquid mixes with the flowing liquid to form a gas-enriched flowing liquid. In the preferred embodiment, no observable bubbles are formed in the gas-enriched flowing liquid. Methods of making and using such system are also provided.