Rotatable Dialyzer Holder with Sensor Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing blood treatment devices face challenges in aligning disposable items reliably and safely, leading to potential air inclusion and obstruction issues during the filling process, which can compromise the effectiveness and safety of blood treatment procedures.
Innovation Solution
A device with a rotatable storage system, drive mechanism, and sensor technology to automatically align and monitor disposable items, ensuring precise positioning and preventing air entrapment by detecting rotation and force data, thereby facilitating safe and efficient blood treatment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If manual alignment of disposable items is performed, then operator flexibility is maintained, but alignment precision and reliability are insufficient leading to air inclusion and obstruction issues
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual mechanical alignment operations with an automated optical-mechanical alignment system. The sensor device detects the rotational position of the disposable item, and the control device automatically adjusts the drive device to achieve precise alignment, eliminating reliance on operator skill and manual positioning.
Solution Approach 2:
The alignment system performs self-alignment through automatic detection and adjustment. The sensor device continuously monitors the rotational position, and the control device autonomously commands the drive device to rotate the disposable item to the correct orientation, enabling the system to align itself without external intervention.
2Reliability
If disposable items are rotatably mounted for automatic alignment, then alignment reliability is improved, but the risk of air entrapment during filling increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary alignment of the disposable item before the filling process begins. The sensor device detects the rotational position, and the control device adjusts the orientation to the optimal position for filling, ensuring that the filling process can proceed without air entrapment issues by preparing the correct orientation in advance.
Solution Approach 2:
The sensor device provides continuous feedback on the rotational position of the disposable item during the filling process. The control device monitors this feedback and makes real-time adjustments to the drive device to maintain the optimal orientation, preventing air entrapment by dynamically responding to position changes during filling.
3Reliability
If sensor devices and control systems are added for automatic alignment, then operational safety is improved, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The control device serves multiple functions: it processes sensor data, determines rotational position, commands the drive device for alignment, and monitors the filling process. By consolidating these functions into a single control unit, the system achieves high operational safety without proportionally increasing complexity, as one device performs multiple critical tasks.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent combines the sensor device, control device, and drive device into an integrated alignment system. The sensor device is positioned to directly detect the disposable item, the control device is coupled to both the sensor and drive device for seamless data flow and command execution, and the drive device is mechanically integrated with the bearing device. This merging reduces overall system complexity while maintaining high safety standards.
Data Source
Figure 1~3
AI summary
The present invention relates to a device (1) for holding a disposable medical article, in particular a dialyzer (2), a plasma filter or an adsorber, for blood treatment, to a system (10) having such a device (1) and to a method for operating a disposable medical article for blood treatment. A storage device (4) is configured to rotatably mount the disposable article, and a drive device (5) is configured to rotate the rotatably mounted disposable article about a longitudinal axis (L) which extends substantially in one direction, in which blood flows through the disposable article during operation of the disposable article. Alternatively or additionally, a sensor device (6) is designed to detect a rotation of the rotatably mounted disposable article about at least one axis of rotation (L, Q), in particular about the longitudinal axis (L) and/or about a transverse axis (Q) running perpendicularly to the longitudinal axis (L), and to output corresponding sensor data. A control device (7) is furthermore configured to control the drive device (5) and/or to process the sensor data output by the sensor device (6).