Fluid Collection Vessel Sensor System for Tilt-Resistant Fullness Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing medical apparatus for collecting body fluids, such as wound treatment devices, often prematurely sense when the collection vessel is full, especially when tilted, leading to ineffective therapy due to overfilling.
Innovation Solution
A medical apparatus with a fluid collection vessel and sensor system that accurately detects fullness even when tilted up to a predetermined angle, preventing premature sensing by using a main chamber and sensor chamber arrangement with baffles and a U-shaped sensor chamber, ensuring the sensor is immersed last, and featuring a connector system with a bayonet connection for reliable fluid flow control.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a sensor is placed in the fluid collection vessel to detect fullness, then the therapy can be monitored, but the sensor may prematurely trigger when the vessel is tilted, causing ineffective therapy
Solution Approach 1:
The fluid collection vessel is divided into a main chamber for fluid collection and a separate sensor chamber for sensor placement. This segmentation allows the sensor to be positioned in a location that is filled last during tilting, preventing premature triggering while maintaining reliable fullness detection. The chamber division creates independent functional zones that resolve the contradiction between sensor reliability and measurement precision.
Solution Approach 2:
A baffle structure acts as an intermediary element between the main chamber and sensor chamber. The baffle restricts direct fluid flow to the sensor, creating a controlled intermediate path that ensures fluid reaches the sensor only after the main chamber is substantially full. This intermediary structure prevents premature sensor activation during tilting while maintaining accurate fullness detection.
2Productivity
If the fluid inlet is located at the bottom of the vessel, then fluid collection is efficient, but the pump must work against fluid pressure, increasing energy consumption
Solution Approach 1:
The fluid inlet is inverted from the conventional bottom position to the top of the vessel. This inversion allows fluid to enter the main chamber from above, utilizing gravity to assist flow rather than requiring the pump to work against fluid pressure. The pump only needs to overcome air pressure and minor flow resistance, significantly reducing energy consumption while maintaining collection efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The top inlet position creates a more equipotential flow path where fluid enters at a higher potential energy level and flows downward through the chamber. This reduces the pressure differential the pump must maintain, allowing the system to operate with lower energy input while preserving productivity.
3Ease of operation
If the vessel is made portable for patient comfort, then ease of operation improves, but the vessel may be tilted, causing premature sensor triggering
Solution Approach 1:
The vessel is segmented into functional chambers that accommodate tilting. The sensor chamber is positioned and configured to remain filled last regardless of tilt angle within operational limits, allowing the portable vessel to be moved and positioned flexibly without compromising detection accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The sensor chamber is designed with a U-shaped configuration that extends vertically, creating a detection threshold that accounts for tilting in multiple dimensions. This dimensional design allows the sensor to remain at a consistent effective height relative to the fluid inlet, maintaining measurement precision even when the portable vessel is tilted during patient care.
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 apparatus effectively prevents overfilling by ensuring accurate detection of fullness even when the vessel is tilted, allowing for continuous fluid collection without interrupting the therapy, and includes a connector system that prevents fluid leakage when disconnected, enhancing the reliability and efficiency of fluid collection.
Implementation Method 1
An air pump is used to subject the fluid collection vessel to negative pressure (i.e. a vacuum) so that fluid is removed from the collection site due to the negative pressure gradient between the collection site and the vessel
Implementation Method 2
the sensor comprises two spaced electrical contacts within the fluid collection vessel arranged such that when the fluid collection vessel is substantially full, the fluid completes an electrical circuit between the two spaced contacts
Data Source
AI summary
There is described a medical apparatus, which may comprise a fluid collection vessel and a sensor. The sensor is arranged to sense when the fluid collection vessel is substantially full even when the fluid collection vessel is tilted by up to a predetermined angle from its preferred orientation. The fluid collection vessel may comprise a main chamber and a sensor chamber in fluid communication with one another. The sensor is located in the sensor chamber. The fluid inlet, the main chamber and the sensor chamber are arranged such that fluid entering the fluid collection vessel via the fluid inlet flows into the main chamber even when the fluid collection vessel is tilted by up to the predetermined angle from its preferred orientation, and, once the main chamber is full, any further collected fluid flows from the main chamber into the sensor chamber.