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A mass/heat exchange device for use as blood oxygenator, dializer, heat exchanger and the like, includes a rectangular or cylindrical elongated housing with first and second opposite axial ends. The interior of the housing is subdivided into three chambers, including an inlet chamber located at one

A mass/heat exchange device for use as blood oxygenator, dializer, heat exchanger and the like, includes a rectangular or cylindrical elongated housing with first and second opposite axial ends. The interior of the housing is subdivided into three chambers, including an inlet chamber located at one axial end, an outlet chamber located at the opposite axial end and a central mass/heat transfer chamber located therebetween. A plurality of parallel tubes extend through the central chamber and connect the inlet and outlet chambers to provide passageways for treating medium to flow therebetween. The outer surface of each tube has the shape of a series of spherical lobes, connected end-to-end. Further, adjacent tubes are offset from one another to allow internesting of their lobes in a tight orderly packed manner. The treating medium, for example oxygen, flows through the tubes while a medium to be treated, for example blood, flows through the interstitial spaces between the tubes. The tight orderly packing of the tubes (a) reduces the priming volume, i.e. the total volume formed by the interstitial spaces to a mimimum while the outer surfaces of the tubes provide a large mass/heat exchange surface area; (b) enhances secondary flows within the main flow of the to-be-treated medium; and (c) provides even distribution of the to-be-treated medium within the exchanging chamber. The above-mentioned features make the apparatus very efficient in regard to its small priming volume.

대표청구항 ▼

A mass/heat transfer apparatus, comprising: an enclosed housing having first and second opposite ends; a first plate in the housing adjacent the first end and a second plate in the housing adjacent the second end, the first and second plates dividing the interior of the housing into three chambers i

A mass/heat transfer apparatus, comprising: an enclosed housing having first and second opposite ends; a first plate in the housing adjacent the first end and a second plate in the housing adjacent the second end, the first and second plates dividing the interior of the housing into three chambers including a first and a second chamber which are adjacent, respectively, to the first and second ends of the housing, and a central chamber between the plates; a plurality of layers of mass exchanging material located in and filling the central chamber and sequentially abutting one another, each layer including a plurality of semi-permeable, substantially spherical, lobes and the lobes in each said layer being so arranged that each group of adjacent lobes defines a lobe-holding nest, adjacent layers of said plurality of layers being positioned relative to one another such that substantially every one of the lobes is disposed in at least one respective nest which is located in the layers of lobes adjacent thereto; a plurality of passageways extending from the first to the second chamber, each passageway passing through the first and second plates and through a plurality of the lobes, each lobe having at least one of the passageways passing therethrough and the passageways being sealed from the central chamber; and a plurality of inlets and outlets at the housing including a treating medium inlet into the first chamber, a treating medium outlet from the second chamber, a medium to be treated inlet into the central chamber and a medium to be treated outlet from the central chamber.