초록 ▼

A technique for automatically priming and recirculating sterile fluid through an extracorporeal circuit of a dialysis machine having a blood pump, a dialyzer, and a blood tubing set including an arterial line for drawing blood from a patient and a venous line for returning the blood to the patient.

A technique for automatically priming and recirculating sterile fluid through an extracorporeal circuit of a dialysis machine having a blood pump, a dialyzer, and a blood tubing set including an arterial line for drawing blood from a patient and a venous line for returning the blood to the patient. The dialysis machine selectively opens and closes clamps on the arterial and venous lines and further operates a waste valve for selectively opening and closing a waste line leading to a waste drain. A connector attaches both the arterial and venous lines to the waste line downstream of the arterial and venous clamps and upstream of the waste valve. The dialysis machine automatically operating the blood pump, the clamps and the waste valve to flush the dialyzer and the blood tubing set with the sterile fluid and direct the used fluid down the waste drain. The dialysis machine then operating the blood pump and the clamps to again fill the dialyzer and the blood tubing set with additional sterile fluid and recirculate the sterile fluid through the extracorporeal circuit without the assistance of a dialysis machine operator. The dialysis machine further providing the operator with an indication when the recirculation process is complete. The connector being either one component of the disposable blood tubing set or a permanent component fixed to the dialysis machine.

대표청구항 ▼

[ The invention claimed is:] [1.] An improved dialysis machine having a pump, a dialyzer, and a blood tubing set which includes an arterial line having a distal end adapted to draw blood from a patient and a venous line having a distal end adapted to return the blood to the patient after the blood p

[ The invention claimed is:] [1.] An improved dialysis machine having a pump, a dialyzer, and a blood tubing set which includes an arterial line having a distal end adapted to draw blood from a patient and a venous line having a distal end adapted to return the blood to the patient after the blood passes through the dialyzer, the improved dialysis machine allowing an operator to configure the dialysis machine at one time for both priming and recirculating a sterile solution through the dialyzer anti the blood tubing fet without having to reconfigure the dialysis itac-Iiie after priming and before recirculating the sterile solution, said improvement comprising:a connector adapted to connect the distal ends of the arterial line and the venous line to a waste drain; anda waste valve positioned between the connector and the waste drain to selectively drain fluid from the arterial line and the venous line when the waste valve is opened and to transfer fluid between the arterial and venous lines through the connector when the waste valve is closed.