Medical Pump Power Supply Redundancy and Abnormality Detection
Solution Overview
Problem
Medical pumps can suddenly stop operating if both the AC adapter cable and built-in battery fail, and users may unknowingly cause a power outage by unplugging the AC adapter without detecting battery failures, leading to potential serious issues for patients.
Innovation Solution
A medical pump system with an external power acquisition unit, two battery units (a main and an auxiliary battery), and abnormality information storage to detect and alert on power supply issues, ensuring continuous operation and preventing sudden stoppages by outputting power supply abnormality state information.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If only one battery unit is used, then the device complexity is reduced, but the reliability of continuous operation deteriorates when the battery fails
Solution Approach 1:
The power supply system is segmented into multiple independent battery units (first battery unit and second battery unit). Each battery unit can independently supply power to the medical pump, allowing the system to maintain operation even when one battery fails. This segmentation resolves the contradiction by providing redundancy without requiring a complex switchable power supply system.
Solution Approach 2:
The system prepares for battery failure by including a backup battery unit that can immediately take over power supply functions. The abnormality detection unit continuously monitors both battery units, and when one is detected as abnormal, the system automatically switches to the other battery unit, cushioning against the harmful effect of battery failure before it can stop the medical pump operation.
2Reliability
If abnormality detection is added to monitor power supply status, then the reliability of operation is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The abnormality detection unit automatically monitors the power supply status of both battery units without requiring external intervention. The system self-diagnoses and self-corrects by detecting battery abnormalities and switching between battery units autonomously, improving reliability while adding minimal complexity through integrated monitoring circuitry.
Solution Approach 2:
The abnormality detection unit provides continuous feedback on the operational status of both battery units to the control unit. This feedback mechanism allows the system to detect abnormalities in real-time and automatically switch to the healthy battery unit, ensuring continuous operation. The feedback loop includes monitoring voltage levels, current flow, and other power supply parameters.
3Reliability
If dual battery units are implemented, then the reliability of power supply is improved, but the loss of energy increases due to having multiple battery components
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements a partial redundancy strategy by including a second battery unit that serves as a backup. Not all energy capacity is utilized simultaneously - only one battery unit is actively powering the medical pump at a time, while the second battery remains in reserve. This partial action approach provides sufficient reliability for emergency situations without excessive energy storage redundancy that would waste resources.
Data Source
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AI summary
To provide a medical pump or the like capable of alerting in advance a user, or the like, to the stoppage or the like of operation of a medical pump. A medical pump 10 including: an external power acquisition unit 21 that acquires power from the outside; two battery units 22 and 23 capable of supplying power without intervention of the external power acquisition unit; and an abnormality information storage unit 42 that stores abnormality information of the external power acquisition unit and the two battery units, in which when abnormality information of any two or more of the external power acquisition unit and the two battery units is stored in the abnormality information storage unit, power supply abnormality state information is output.