Optical Blood Detection via Hemoglobin Absorption
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing wetness detection systems are inefficient in quickly and accurately detecting blood leaks during extracorporeal blood treatments, often requiring excessive moisture, leading to delayed alerts and false alarms, and are not suitable for reuse or simultaneous monitoring of multiple patients.
Innovation Solution
An optical blood detector system that uses a color sensor to detect blood leaks by analyzing light reflected from or emitted by the gauze, capable of distinguishing blood through bio-fluorescent components and hemoglobin absorption, with a transmitter to alert medical personnel and enter a low power state when no leak is detected, allowing for simultaneous monitoring of multiple patients.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If traditional wetness detectors are used to detect blood leaks, then the system can detect moisture presence, but the detection is delayed because blood must saturate the detector to trigger an alert
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces traditional mechanical/electrical wetness sensors with an optical detection system. The optical sensor detects blood leaks by measuring light absorption or color changes in the gauze, enabling detection with minimal blood saturation and significantly reducing detection delay while maintaining high sensitivity.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the detection parameter from general moisture saturation (traditional wetness detectors) to specific optical properties such as light absorption at particular wavelengths or colorimetric changes. This parameter change allows the system to detect blood presence with much lower saturation levels, improving both sensitivity and response time.
2Reliability
If medical personnel continuously visually inspect patients for blood leaks, then detection accuracy is maintained, but the complexity of continuous monitoring increases and blood loss cannot be prevented quickly
Solution Approach 1:
The optical blood detection system enables self-monitoring of blood leaks without requiring continuous human visual inspection. The device automatically detects blood presence through optical measurements and triggers alerts, making the monitoring process autonomous and eliminating the need for constant personnel attention while maintaining high detection reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
This principle does not apply to the optical detection mechanism. The patent uses optical physics (light absorption, fluorescence) rather than chemical oxidation for blood detection.
3Productivity
If traditional wetness detectors are used, then the system can detect blood leaks, but false alarms occur and the devices cannot be reused or monitored simultaneously for multiple patients
Solution Approach 1:
The optical sensor system can be configured to monitor multiple specific locations simultaneously (e.g., multiple needle insertion sites) with dedicated sensors. Each sensor independently monitors its local area, enabling simultaneous multi-patient or multi-site monitoring while maintaining high detection accuracy and minimizing false alarms through location-specific optimization.
Solution Approach 2:
The optical detection system is designed with universal applicability across multiple patients and monitoring locations. The device can be rapidly deployed and reconfigured for different patients, and the optical sensor technology inherently supports parallel monitoring of multiple sites without cross-interference, enabling high productivity while maintaining reliability.
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 system enables rapid and accurate detection of blood leaks, reducing the need for continuous visual monitoring by medical personnel, minimizing blood loss, and allowing for the system to be reused and reset.
Implementation Method 1
the color sensor being configured to detect one or more of the reflected light of a frequency associated with blood and the emitted light associated with the bio-fluorescence of blood
Implementation Method 2
the system detects blood by detecting one or more of the bio-florescent components of blood
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention relates to an optical blood detector system that rapidly detects the presence of blood due to a blood leak in a system. The blood detector system contains a reusable blood sensor that is able to accurately detect the presence of blood in, for example, an extracorporeal blood treatment system by optically sensing light from a sensing region and determining if the light came from a leaked blood. The blood sensor may be responsive to reflected light or light emitted from blood due to bio-fluorescence excited by a light source in the blood detector system. The blood detector system can be placed against absorbent material adjacent to an intravenous needle injection site and quickly detect any blood wicked into the absorbent material. The blood detector system can eliminate the need for medical personnel to continuously inspect numerous patients visually for potentially fatal blood leaks due to needle dislodgement.