Fluid Chamber Bubble Purge Sweep Flow Design
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing fluid pressure sensing chambers in ophthalmic surgical equipment face challenges in purging air bubbles, as they tend to adhere to surfaces and resist movement due to surface tension, leading to pressure variations and fluctuations during procedures.
Innovation Solution
A fluid chamber design with an inlet and outlet at the top, where the entering fluid sweeps across the top surface to direct air bubbles towards the outlet, preventing trapping and enhancing priming by using a roughened or scalloped surface and parallel channels to facilitate fluid flow.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If air bubbles are allowed to enter the pressure sensing chamber during surgery, then the chamber can accommodate fluid flow, but the air bubbles become trapped and cause pressure variations and fluctuations
Solution Approach 1:
The chamber is divided into distinct flow regions including a sweep flow path and a stagnant pool region. The sweep flow path actively directs fluid flow to purge air bubbles, while the stagnant pool region is designed to minimize bubble entrapment. This segmentation allows the chamber to accommodate fluid flow while maintaining reliable pressure measurements by preventing bubble accumulation in the sensing area.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of trying to prevent air bubbles from entering the chamber (which is difficult during surgery), the invention inverts the approach by designing the chamber to actively purge bubbles that do enter. The inlet is positioned and oriented to create a sweep flow that pushes bubbles toward the outlet, transforming the problem from prevention to active removal.
2Ease of manufacture
If the chamber is designed with smooth surfaces and simple geometry, then manufacturing is easier, but air bubbles adhere to surfaces and resist movement due to surface tension
Solution Approach 1:
The chamber incorporates a re-entrant corner (undercut geometry) at a specific location to create a flow reversal zone. This localized geometric feature changes the flow pattern in that specific area, causing fluid to sweep across the top surface and effectively purge air bubbles. The rest of the chamber maintains smooth surfaces for ease of manufacture, while the localized undercut provides the bubble-purging function.
3Ease of operation
If the inlet is positioned to allow easy priming, then initial fluid filling is simpler, but air bubbles introduced during surgery cannot be purged
Solution Approach 1:
The inlet is positioned and oriented during manufacturing to facilitate both initial priming and ongoing bubble purging. The inlet orientation is predetermined to create a sweep flow pattern that naturally directs fluid across the chamber top surface. This preliminary design configuration ensures that the same inlet structure serves dual purposes: easy initial filling and continuous bubble removal during surgery.
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 design effectively prevents air bubbles from becoming trapped, ensuring efficient priming and reducing pressure variations, thereby improving the reliability and safety of surgical procedures.
Implementation Method 1
the surface tension of the air bubble (as opposed to the unencapsulated air generally involved in the initial priming of the system) causing the bubble to be relatively robust and not easily broken and drawn out of the pressure sensing chamber once introduced
Data Source
AI summary
A fluid chamber having an inlet and an outlet at the top of the chamber. The inlet is arrange so that fluid entering the chamber at the inlet sweeps the top of the chamber so as to direct any air bubbles naturally collecting at the top of the chamber or which may be trapped in the entering fluid stream toward the outlet.