Infusion Pump Adaptive Correction for Variable Delivery Conditions

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Solution Overview

Problem

Environmental conditions and uncontrollable factors affect the operation of medical devices like infusion pumps, leading to inaccurate medication delivery and improper alarms, posing risks to patients and clinicians.

Innovation Solution

A medical device system that monitors delivery conditions using sensors, identifies the infusion set, and adjusts operating parameters in real-time to maintain optimal performance by applying correction factors based on environmental and patient-specific data.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Measurement precision

If environmental conditions are monitored and operating parameters are automatically adjusted, then medication delivery accuracy is improved, but device complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvemedication delivery accuracyVSAvoiddevice complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The infusion pump automatically monitors environmental conditions and adjusts its own operating parameters without external intervention. The system self-corrects for temperature and humidity effects on infusion set flow characteristics, eliminating the need for manual calibration or intervention by healthcare providers.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #25Self-service

Solution Approach 2:

The system changes operating parameters (pump speed, flow rate) based on monitored environmental conditions and pre-stored correction factors. Lookup tables contain parameter adjustments for different temperature and humidity conditions, allowing the pump to adapt to environmental variations while maintaining accurate delivery.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

2Reliability

If adaptive correction algorithms are implemented, then reliability under varying conditions is improved, but device complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:
ImprovereliabilityVSAvoiddevice complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

Correction factors and lookup tables are pre-calculated and stored in the device memory before use. The system performs preliminary characterization of how different infusion sets respond to environmental conditions, allowing rapid adaptation without complex real-time calculations during actual infusion.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The system continuously monitors environmental conditions and compares them against stored correction factors, automatically adjusting operating parameters to compensate for deviations from standard conditions. This closed-loop feedback ensures reliable performance across varying environmental conditions.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #23Feedback

Data Source

PatentEP4115923B1Medical device with adaptive correction for uncontrollable delivery conditions
Publication Date: 2026.05.20 CAREFUSION 303 INC
  • EP4115923B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP4115923B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP4115923B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

An infusion device is configured to monitor delivery conditions associated with a medication infusion, identify an infusion set used with the infusion device, determine that the delivery conditions modify operation of infusion set, and determine correction factors for modifying an operation of the device based on a modification of the operation of the infusion set by the monitored delivery conditions. According to various implementations, an operating parameter of the infusion device may be modified, including modifying a threshold for when the infusion device will experience an alarm condition.