阅读说明：本技术 用于在肠内或其他输液装置中输送剩余液体的方法 (Method for delivering residual liquid in an enteral or other infusion device ) 是由 杰弗里·T.·朱瑞蒂赫 杰弗里·D.·盖斯勒 约翰·培根 大卫·索恩 于 2020-03-18 设计创作，主要内容包括：一种用于根据预定的治疗协议向患者输送液体的减少浪费的泵送系统和方法,其特征在于在泵送机构的治疗结束停止后由处理器可执行的存储的冲洗模式例程,由此,泵送机构被操作以将给药设备的下游管中剩余的残余液体输送至患者,以防止残余液体被浪费或以不安全的速率被手动输注。(A waste-reducing pumping system and method for delivering a liquid to a patient according to a predetermined treatment protocol, characterized by a stored flush mode routine executable by a processor after cessation of treatment by a pumping mechanism, whereby the pumping mechanism is operated to deliver residual liquid remaining in a downstream tube of a drug delivery device to the patient to prevent the residual liquid from being wasted or manually infused at an unsafe rate.)

1. A pumping system for delivering a liquid to a patient according to a predetermined treatment protocol, the pumping system comprising:

a source of liquid;

an administration set for carrying liquid from a source to a patient, the administration set comprising a tubing segment, an upstream tube communicating from the source to the tubing segment, and a downstream tube communicating from the tubing segment to the patient;

a pumping mechanism arranged to engage the tube segment, the pumping mechanism comprising at least one pumping member, a motor operable to actuate the at least one pumping member to peristaltically deform the tube segment to force liquid through the tube segment in a direction from the upstream tube toward the downstream tube, and a motor controller providing control commands to the motor;

a processor connected to the motor controller;

at least one sensor associated with the administration device and/or source for generating an end-of-treatment signal indicative of an end-of-treatment status, wherein the end-of-treatment signal is transmitted to the processor; and

at least one memory module comprising stored program instructions executable by a processor for operating a motor to control operation of a pumping mechanism;

the stored program instructions include a flush mode routine executable by the processor to operate the pumping mechanism in a flush mode to deliver residual fluid present in the downstream tubing to the patient upon receipt of an end-of-treatment signal by the processor.

2. The pumping system of claim 1, wherein execution of the flush mode routine is initiated in response to a user input action.

3. The pumping system of claim 2, wherein the pumping mechanism, the processor, and the at least one memory module are part of an infusion pump, the infusion pump comprising a user interface having a plurality of keys or buttons, wherein the user input action is pressing one of a key or a button.

4. The pumping system of claim 2, further comprising a display coupled to the processor, wherein the stored program instructions comprise a treatment end routine executable by the processor to stop operation of the pumping mechanism and provide a prompt on the display for a user input action, wherein the treatment end routine is executed in response to a treatment end signal.

5. The pumping system of claim 4, wherein execution of the flush mode routine delivers no more than a predetermined volume of liquid corresponding to a volume of liquid expected to remain in the downstream tubing after operation of the pumping mechanism is stopped in response to the end-of-treatment signal.

6. The pumping system of claim 5, wherein execution of the flush mode routine delivers the entire predetermined volume of liquid in one continuous delivery unless execution of the flush mode routine is terminated.

7. The pumping system of claim 5, wherein execution of the flush mode routine delivers a first incremental portion of the predetermined volume of liquid and then suspends operation of the pumping mechanism, wherein delivery of another incremental portion of the predetermined volume of liquid is initiated in response to another user input action, and termination of the flush mode routine is executed in response to a user input cancellation action.

8. The pumping system of claim 5, wherein execution of the flush mode routine pauses operation of the pumping mechanism in response to a user input pause action.

9. The pumping system of claim 1, wherein the at least one sensor comprises an in-line air sensor associated with the spool piece.

10. The pumping system of claim 1, wherein the at least one sensor comprises a liquid level or liquid volume sensor associated with the liquid source.

11. The pumping system of claim 1, further comprising an air-in-line sensor associated with a distal end of the downstream tube and connected to the processor for automatically terminating execution of the flush mode routine when the air-in-line sensor detects a predetermined threshold volume of air.

12. A method for delivering a fluid to a patient according to a predetermined treatment protocol, the method comprising:

automatically operating a pumping mechanism according to a predetermined treatment protocol to deliver liquid from a source to a patient through an administration set;

detecting an end-of-treatment condition and automatically stopping operation of the pumping mechanism when the end-of-treatment condition is detected;

prompting a user for execution of a flush mode routine for operating the pumping mechanism to deliver residual liquid to the patient, the residual liquid being present within a downstream tube of the administration device downstream of the pumping mechanism after ceasing operation of the pumping mechanism upon detection of the end-of-treatment condition; and

execution of the flush mode routine is initiated in response to a user input action.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein execution of the flush mode routine delivers no more than a predetermined volume of liquid corresponding to a volume of liquid expected to remain in the downstream tubing after operation of the pumping mechanism is stopped when the end-of-treatment condition is detected.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein execution of the flush mode routine delivers all of the predetermined volume of liquid in one continuous delivery unless execution of the flush mode routine is terminated.

15. The pumping system of claim 13, wherein execution of the flush mode routine delivers a first incremental portion of the predetermined volume of liquid and then suspends operation of the pumping mechanism, wherein delivery of another incremental portion of the predetermined volume of liquid is initiated in response to another user input action, and termination of the flush mode routine is executed in response to a user input cancellation action.

16. The pumping system of claim 12, wherein execution of the flush mode routine is responsive to user input to pause the operation of the pumping mechanism.

17. The pumping system of claim 1, further comprising detecting when a predetermined threshold volume of air passes through the distal portion of the downstream tube near the patient, and automatically terminating execution of the flush mode routine upon detection of the predetermined threshold volume of air.

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to the field of medical infusion pumps, such as enteral feeding pumps and intravenous drug pumps, for delivering liquids to a patient in a controlled manner.

Background

Programmable infusion pumps for delivering nutritional liquids and medications to patients according to predetermined liquid delivery parameters are widely used. One type of medical pump is a peristaltic pump, which is arranged along a flexible connecting tube of an administration set, carrying liquid from a liquid source to a patient. Peristaltic pumps have a pumping mechanism for progressively squeezing successive portions of tubing to cause fluid to flow through the tubing in a flow direction toward a patient. In a conventional arrangement, the pumping mechanism may comprise a motor driven wheel having radial fingers or rollers that engage a length of tubing arranged around a circumferential portion of the wheel. As the wheel rotates, liquid is pumped through the tube to the patient. The tube section arranged around the pump wheel may be held in a U-shaped configuration by a cassette of the administration device designed for reception in a channel or receptacle of the pump. The cassette may provide terminals for connecting the inlet line of tubing from the source and the outlet line of tubing leading to the patient to opposite ends of the U-shaped tubing section received by the pump. Other pump configurations are also known that use linear and curvilinear pumping mechanisms rather than rotary pumping mechanisms. The tubing extending from the source of fluid to the pumping mechanism is sometimes referred to as the "upstream" tubing and the tubing extending from the pumping mechanism to the patient is sometimes referred to as the "downstream" tubing.

As a safety feature, it is known to provide an air in line ("AIL") sensor on the infusion pump for detecting an air in line condition and triggering an alarm to prevent delivery of air to the patient. For example, the AIL sensor may include an ultrasonic transmitter arranged to direct ultrasonic waves through the tube and a receiver on the opposite side of the tube from the transmitter for receiving the ultrasonic waves after passing through the tube and the fluid carried thereby. The receiver generates an output signal indicating whether the ultrasonic signal passes through the liquid or air as it is transmitted from the transmitter to the receiver. The AIL sensor output is regularly sampled as fluid is pumped through the tube to observe each incremental volume of fluid passing through the sensor's viewing zone, and the AIL state is identified when successive volumes of air reach a predetermined threshold. The AIL sensor signal may also be evaluated to determine an end-of-treatment state when no more fluid remains at the fluid source. Alternatively or additionally, the treatment-ending status may be determined based on a signal from a liquid level sensor or a liquid volume sensor associated with the liquid source.

A recognized drawback of known medical pumps is that the pump motor is commanded to stop by the pump controller (e.g., a programmed microprocessor in the pump) in response to an end-of-treatment decision made by the controller based on signals from the above-described AIL sensor and/or liquid volume or level sensor, thereby trapping an amount of liquid in the downstream portion of the tube. In some cases, the retained residual liquid may be delivered to the patient by manually filling out the residual liquid using the filling feature of the pump or by gravity filling. However, the use of the priming feature of a pump or gravity priming may deliver liquid at a rate that is intolerable to the patient, and these methods require sufficient attention by the medical practitioner to deliver the liquid to the end of the downstream tube and then stop the delivery. In many cases, rather than attempting to deliver residual liquid, the healthcare worker simply wastes the residual liquid by disposing of the used administration set with the residual liquid still remaining in the downstream tubing. The wasted liquid is often an expensive nutritional or medicinal liquid, or precious breast milk.

There is a need to make the delivery of residual liquid in the downstream tube easier for the healthcare worker, and safer and more acceptable for the patient.

Disclosure of Invention

The present disclosure provides a reduced waste pumping system and a method for delivering a liquid to a patient according to a predetermined treatment protocol, such as a protocol for continuous infusion of a liquid at a predetermined delivery rate. More specifically, the systems and methods enable execution of a flush mode routine to deliver residual fluid remaining in the administration set tubing after reaching an end-of-treatment state, which residual fluid may have been previously wasted or manually infused to the patient at an unsafe rate.

The pumping system may generally include a source of a liquid, an administration device, a pumping mechanism, a processor, at least one sensor associated with the administration device and/or the source, and at least one memory module comprising stored program instructions executable by the processor.

The administration set may be arranged to carry liquid from a source to a patient and may comprise a tubing segment, an upstream tube communicating from the source to the tubing segment and a downstream tube communicating from the tubing segment to the patient. The pumping mechanism may be arranged to engage with a tubing section of the administration set. The pumping mechanism may comprise a motor operable to actuate the at least one pumping member to peristaltically deform the tube segment to force liquid through the tube segment in a direction from the upstream tube towards the downstream tube, and a motor controller providing control commands to the motor. The at least one sensor may generate a treatment end signal indicative of the treatment end state, wherein the treatment end signal is transmitted to the processor.

The processor may be connected to the motor controller and may execute program instructions stored by the at least one memory module for operating the motor to control operation of the pumping mechanism.

In accordance with the present disclosure, the stored program instructions may include a flush mode routine executable by the processor to operate the pumping mechanism in a flush mode to deliver residual fluid present in the downstream tubing to the patient upon receipt of an end-of-treatment signal by the processor.

Delivery methods may generally include automatically operating a pumping mechanism according to a predetermined treatment protocol to deliver liquid from a source to a patient through an administration set; detecting an end-of-treatment condition and automatically stopping operation of the pumping mechanism when the end-of-treatment condition is detected; prompting a user for execution of a flush mode routine for operating a pumping mechanism to deliver residual fluid in the administration device to the patient; and initiating execution of a flush mode routine in response to a user input action.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of a medical infusion pumping system formed in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is an electronic block diagram of an infusion pump of the pumping system shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating a method for delivering residual liquid from a downstream tube of an administration set when the pump is in a flush mode according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a state machine diagram showing programmed behavior of a pump associated with a flush mode according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; and

fig. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating the functionality of a user interface of the pump when the pump is in a flush mode according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Detailed Description

Fig. 1 and 2 schematically depict a programmable infusion pump 10 embodying the present disclosure. The infusion pump 10 includes a housing 12, a pump wheel or pump rotor 14 and a cassette receiving portion 16 on the outside of the housing, and a door (not shown) connected to the housing to open and close over the cassette receiving portion and the pump wheel. As shown in FIG. 1, administration set 18 may be mounted in association with a pump for delivering fluid from a fluid source 19 to a patient. The administration device may comprise an upstream tube 4 extending from a fluid source 19 to the pump 10, a downstream tube 8 extending from the pump to the patient, a cassette 5 received in the cassette receiving portion 16, and a U-shaped tubular section 6 arranged around the pump wheel 14. The cassette 5 is configured with connection terminals 5U and 5D for connecting the upstream tube 4 to the upstream end of the tube section 6 and the downstream tube 8 to the downstream end of the tube section 6 to complete the flow path through the pump from the upstream tube to the downstream tube.

The impeller 14 is part of a pumping mechanism that is operable to cause fluid to flow through the tube in a predetermined flow direction. The pumping mechanism also includes an electric motor 20 connected to the impeller 14 and operable to rotate the impeller about its axis. The pump wheel 14 has radial fingers or rollers (not shown) which engage the tube segment 6 arranged around a circumferential portion of the wheel. As the pump wheel 14 rotates, successive portions of the tube segment 6 are progressively squeezed to cause fluid to flow through the tube in a flow direction toward the patient. The flow rate of the input fluid may be controlled by controlling the drive rate of motor 20 and/or the length of time motor 20 is driven at a given rate. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that variations of the peristaltic pumping mechanism described above are possible. For example, the motor 20 may drive a cam member connected to a series of parallel fingers or rollers arranged side-by-side, whereby a peristaltic pumping action is applied to a straight section of tubing, rather than a curved section of tubing as shown in FIG. 1. The present disclosure is not limited to a particular pumping mechanism configuration.

The infusion pump 10 may include an upstream occlusion sensor 22 at a location along the tubing section 6 upstream of the pump wheel 14 and a downstream occlusion sensor 24 at a location along the tubing section 6 downstream of the pump wheel 14. Upstream sensor 22 and downstream sensor 24 each provide a respective sensor signal indicative of a respective local fluid pressure in the pipe. For example, the upstream sensor 22 and the downstream sensor 24 may be sensors or strain gauges arranged to engage the outer wall of the pipe segment 6 to detect deflection of the flexible pipe wall caused by the pressure of the fluid within the pipe and provide electronic signals proportional to the deflection.

The infusion pump 10 also includes an Air In Line (AIL) sensor 26 for detecting whether the fluid volume observed by the sensor at a given time is air or liquid. In this embodiment, the AIL sensor 26 may comprise an ultrasonic transducer comprising a pair of piezo-ceramic elements 26A and 26B opposed to each other across a portion of the spool piece 6. One ceramic element 26A is driven by the microprocessor 30 at a frequency that sweeps through the resonance lying within the frequency range. Ultrasonic energy is transmitted into one side of the tube by element 26A and a portion of the energy is received by element 26B on the other side. If liquid is present in the tube, the ultrasonic energy received by element 26B will be greater than the preset comparator threshold and then be converted to a "high" logic level. If air is present in the tube, the density of the medium through which the ultrasonic energy propagates is low and the signal produced by element 26B decays below the threshold and is converted to a "low" logic level. Thus, in the embodiment just described, the amplitude of the ultrasonic energy received by element 26B is the primary principle used to determine the difference between liquid and air within the tube. The tubes may be dry coupled to the AIL sensor elements 26A and 26B; i.e. the arrangement of the sensors does not require the use of an ultrasonic gel. As an alternative to ultrasonic AIL detection, an AIL sensor based on detecting optical properties of air and liquid media may be used.

The infusion pump 10 is configured to allow a user to select and/or create, and then run, an infusion therapy protocol that may dictate the rate at which fluid is delivered to a patient. The protocol may be a "continuous therapy" protocol without a predefined total dose, or the protocol may further specify the total amount of fluid to be delivered to the patient. The infusion pump 10 includes a microprocessor 30 connected to a user interface 32, the user interface 32 having input devices such as a keypad, switches and dial controls. The infusion pump 10 also includes a display 34 connected to the microprocessor 30. The display 34 may be a touch screen display that is sometimes part of the user interface 32. The microprocessor 30 is connected to a motor controller 36 for driving the electric motor 20 to execute a selected treatment protocol. One or more memory modules 38 are connected to or integrated with the microprocessor 30 for storing instructions executable by the microprocessor for controlling operation of the pump. The stored instructions may be organized within a software routine. Among the stored software routines is a routine that detects an end-of-treatment condition and enables the user to operate the pump 10 in a flushing mode to deliver residual fluid present in the downstream tube 8 to the patient. These routines are described in detail below. For the purposes of this disclosure, the microprocessor 30 may receive signals from the AIL sensor 26. Alternatively or additionally, the microprocessor 30 may receive a signal from a liquid level or liquid volume sensor (not shown) associated with the liquid source 19. Microprocessor 30 is also connected to upstream occlusion sensor 22 and downstream occlusion sensor 24. An analog to digital conversion circuit 23 is shown for converting the analog voltage signal from the occlusion sensor to digital form for use by the microprocessor 30, however, other forms of occlusion sensor and microprocessor interface may be used. The infusion pump 10 may also include an audio signal generator 35 connected to the microprocessor 30.

Fig. 3-5 generally illustrate process flows and logic associated with a flush mode of the pump 10 in accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure. As indicated in block 40, the microprocessor 30 may be programmed to present a selection to the user upon determining that the end-of-treatment state has been reached. The end-of-treatment status may be determined if the signal from the AIL sensor 26 indicates that a continuous volume of air exceeding a predetermined threshold volume has passed through the interrogation zone of the AIL sensor. The microprocessor 30 can be programmed to issue an AIL alert when this occurs. Alternatively or additionally, the determination of the treatment-ending status may be based on whether the volume or level of liquid in the liquid source 19 falls below a threshold volume or level. The user may be presented with a selection by displaying a "confirm flush" message screen on the display 34 prompting the user to confirm that flush mode operation is desired by pressing a particular key or button (e.g., a "+" button).

In decision block 42, flow will branch depending on which button of the user interface 32 the user pressed. For example, if the "+" button is pressed, the pump 10 will enter a flush mode and a "flush" screen is displayed via the display screen 34, and the audio signal generator 35 may emit an audio signal (e.g., a beep). However, if the user presses the "-" button, clear button, or run/pause button, the software logic treats the treatment as complete and does not enter the flush mode.

When the pump 10 is in the flush mode, the software causes the microprocessor 30 to override the AIL alarm and command the motor controller 36 to operate the motor 20 to deliver a predetermined volume of liquid corresponding to the volume of liquid expected to remain in the downstream tube 8. The predetermined delivery volume may be calculated based on the programmed threshold volume of air required to trigger the AIL alarm and the total volume of lumen flowing through the downstream tube 8, which is known through the use of the administration device 18 that is authorized and designed for use with the pump 10. For example, if pump 10 is an infusion of the applicant for infant feedingA small volume enteral feeding pump, the predetermined delivery volume can be set to 1.2 ml.

The predetermined delivery volume may be delivered in one continuous delivery until completion. However, it may be advantageous to deliver the predetermined delivery volume in increments, as indicated by block 44 in fig. 3, where the pump motor is commanded to stop after delivering one increment. Unless all increments have been delivered, in which case the treatment ends, the branch of decision block 46 flows back to decision block 42 for further input from the user. In this way, the user has the opportunity to cancel further incremental deliveries if the liquid has reached the end of the downstream pipe 8. Especially breast milk is foamy at the transition from milk to air, making it difficult to determine how far down the tube milk is pumped. The user is consciously engaged in the flush mode delivery by commanding the motor to deliver the residual liquid in increments. In the example shown in fig. 3, the total predetermined delivery volume can be delivered in four equal increments. Of course, the microprocessor 30 can be programmed to use a different number of pumping increments, and the volume of the pumping increments can vary.

The user may also pause the delivery in the flush mode by pressing the run/pause button while the motor 20 is operating, and resume delivery by pressing the run/pause button again.

If an alarm (e.g., occlusion alarm) is detected while the pump is delivering liquid in the flush mode, pumping may be suspended and an alarm message may be displayed. In this case, the run/pause button may be pressed to clear the alarm and pressed again to resume the flush mode pumping until the full partial residual is delivered.

The remaining liquid can be delivered at a programmed delivery rate. The pump may also have a separate programmed rate to deliver the downstream volume, or the remaining liquid can be delivered at the same rate as the filling.

Once the additional pumping is complete, the microprocessor 30 can be programmed to display a "flush complete" screen on the display 34 and to emit another audio signal (e.g., another beep) via the audio signal generator 35. If a "flush complete" screen is shown and the user presses the run/pause button, the programming instructions may treat the treatment as ending. The residual delivery volume can be taken into account in the programmed total dose volume. If the total dose volume is reached during the flush mode operation, the program instructions will stop the flush mode by causing the microprocessor to issue a motor stop command, and the software will treat the treatment as finished.

It is understood that the present disclosure may be applicable to Intravenous (IV) pumps. The liquid in the downstream pipe is now discarded. The IV pump may use a similar algorithm to deliver the remaining fluid in the downstream tubing after detecting the AIL status. If the IV pump requires a particular dose, the pump can be programmed to deliver that dose minus the fill volume of the administration set, and then deliver the remaining liquid according to the disclosed flush mode to complete the correct dose. This will prevent the current need to discard the downstream volume of drug.

In another embodiment, the microprocessor 30 may be programmed to enter the flush mode at the command of the user without detecting AIL.

A flush switching mechanism may be used to switch to a hydrated state and deliver the remaining nutrients by pumping water instead of using anything currently in the downstream pipe 8.

In another embodiment, an AIL sensor 26 may be provided at the delivery end of the downstream tube 8 or at an opening of a Gastrointestinal (GI) feeding tube connected to the patient to provide a signal to the microprocessor 30, and the microprocessor 30 may be programmed to automatically terminate the flush mode when a predetermined threshold volume of air is detected at the patient delivery end.

The present disclosure teaches a method and a pump apparatus configured to perform the method by software programming. The present disclosure teaches a pump control algorithm that allows a health care provider to use the last remaining fluid in the downstream tubing. Exemplary embodiments of the method and pump apparatus of the present disclosure are described herein in detail, however, one skilled in the art will recognize that modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.