Infusion Pump Closed-Loop Catch-Up Rate for Delivery Delays
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing infusion pumps operate using an open loop system, leading to interruptions in medication delivery due to occlusions or other external conditions, resulting in delays and disrupting nurses' shift planning and patient medication timelines.
Innovation Solution
A configurable closed loop delivery system with a catch-up mechanism that adjusts the infusion rate by a catch-up factor when actual delivery falls behind the expected delivery, ensuring timely completion of medication administration.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If an open loop pumping system is used, then the pump operates at a single target motor speed to deliver the desired flow rate, but flow delivery is interrupted by occlusions or external conditions, resulting in delays in infusion completion
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements a closed-loop feedback mechanism by continuously monitoring the actual accumulated infusion volume and comparing it to the expected volume. When a discrepancy is detected (indicating an interruption or occlusion), the system automatically adjusts the motor speed to catch up on lost delivery time, ensuring reliable medication delivery while compensating for time losses.
Solution Approach 2:
The pump transitions from a static single target motor speed operation to a dynamic system that continuously adjusts motor speed based on real-time feedback. The motor speed is modified dynamically to increase the infusion rate when interruptions occur, allowing the system to adapt to changing conditions and maintain infusion completion timelines.
2Loss of time
If the infusion rate is increased to compensate for interruptions, then the delayed medication delivery can be recovered, but the pump motor speed must be dynamically adjusted which increases system complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The control system uses feedback from volume monitoring to trigger rate modifications only when necessary. The system compares expected versus actual accumulated volumes and automatically adjusts the infusion rate in response to detected interruptions, recovering lost time without requiring continuous complex control adjustments during normal operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The system modifies the infusion rate parameter dynamically based on detected interruptions. When an occlusion or pause is detected, the pump increases the motor speed and infusion rate to compensate for lost time. This parameter change approach allows the system to maintain simplicity during normal operation while enabling complex adaptive behavior when needed.
Data Source
AI summary
An infusion system and pump with configurable closed loop delivery rate catch-up including an infusion system having a medication management unit and a medical device. The medication management unit has programming code to: provide a graphical user interface for modifying a drug library; receive a catch-up rate factor; update the drug library with the catch-up rate factor; and transmit the updated drug library to the medical device. The medical device has programming code to: receive the updated drug library; receive a desired infusion rate; calculate expected accumulated infusion volume from the desired infusion rate; request delivery of the infusion at the desired infusion rate; determine actual accumulated infusion volume at a particular time; increase the infusion rate by the catch-up rate factor to generate a catch-up infusion rate when at the particular time the actual accumulated infusion volume is less than expected; and request infusion at the catch-up infusion rate.