Terumo Kabushiki Kaisha

Mitsuaki Ogihara

Hidetaka Nakayama

Kazuhiko Takeuchi

Kazuhiro Mizoguchi

Yukitoshi Kato

Atsuhiko Nogawa

Yukitoshi Katou

Akiyasu Ito

Shinji Maruyama

Yuki Ishikura

An oxygenator that inhibits or prevents bubbles in blood from exiting through a blood outlet includes an oxygenator part which performs gas exchange on blood and a heat exchanging part which performs heat exchange on the blood. The oxygenators part has a housing that is generally in a rectangular parallelepiped form, with a hollow fiber membrane bundle positioned in the housing. The hollow fiber membrane bundle is formed by a multiplicity of hollow fiber membranes adapted to perform gas exchange. Blood flows along a blood passage comprised of gaps between the hollow fiber membranes and contacts the surface of the hollow fiber membranes where gas exchange occurs with gas flowing through the lumens of the hollow fiber membranes. In addition, a filter member is arranged on a downstream side of the hollow fiber membrane bundle so that bubbles present in the blood are caught by the filter member.

Oxygenator

An oxygenator which helps avoid bubbles in the blood from being discharged through the blood outlet port of the oxygenator includes a housing, a hollow fiber membrane bundle in the housing and formed by a multiplicity of hollow fiber membranes serving for gas exchange, gas-inlet and gas-outlet ports communicating with gas passages of the hollow fiber membranes, and a blood-inlet and blood-outlet ports. A filter member is provided on a side closer to the blood outlet port of the hollow fiber membrane bundle and serves to catch bubbles in blood. The blood outlet port projects from the housing and a passage enlargement is provided in a vicinity of the end of the blood outlet port closer to the housing and having an increased passage cross-sectional area. The blood passed the filter member is allowed to reach the blood outlet port by being decelerated in the passage enlargement.

An artificial lung includes a housing, a tubular hollow fiber membrane bundle contained in the housing and providing a multiplicity of hollow fiber membranes having a gas exchange function, a gas inflow port and a gas outflow port communicating with each other through hollow portions of the hollow fiber membranes, and a blood inflow port and a blood outflow port through which blood is distributed. The tubular hollow fiber membrane bundle has a cylindrical overall shape, and a filter member having a bubble-trapping function is provided on an outer peripheral portion of the tubular hollow fiber membrane bundle.

Artificial lung

An extracorporeal circuit, which makes it possible to efficiently collect priming solution by displacing the priming solution with blood after the priming solution is fed to the extracorporeal circuit to prime the extracorporeal circuit, includes a circuit body including first and second tubes, a feed bag that feeds the priming solution, a blood reservoir in which a liquid is temporarily stored, a third tube that branches out from the middle of the first tube, and a collection bag which communicates with the third tube and into which the priming solution is collected through the third tube. After the priming solution is fed from the feed bag to prime at least a housing, when the priming solution in the housing is displaced by blood, the priming solution in the housing is transferred and collected in the collection bag due to a height difference between the liquid level and the collection bag.

Extracorporeal circuit

A bubble trap for removing bubbles from blood flowing through an extracorporeal circuit includes device body possessing blood inlet and outlet ports, and a negative-pressure chamber at the upper part of the device body that is adapted to be connected to a gas evacuator at a gas outlet port so that a negative-pressure state can be kept therein. Two communication passages provide communication between the gas outlet port and the device body. On the first communication passage, a liquid-repellant or water-repellent filter is provided in a manner crossing the passage. On the second communication passage, a valve member is arranged. Within the device body, a buoyant float is provided. A mechanism is provided to remove bubbles from the blood by the cooperation of the float and the valve member.

Bubble trap

An extracorporeal circulator comprising a line for extracting blood from a patient, a pump for supplying blood, an artificial lung section performing gas exchange on blood, a line for supplying blood passed through the artificial lung section to the patient, a unit for removing bubbles mixed into the blood, a controller for controlling the flow rate of blood being supplied such that bubbles are not fed to the patient, and a line for detouring blood delivered from the blood pump to return it to the blood pump.

Extracorporeal circulator

A delivery blood storing member-equipped blood reservoir tank has a blood reservoir tank portion, and a delivery blood storing member that communicates with a blood outlet formed in the blood reservoir tank portion. The delivery blood storing member allows blood to flow out of an interior thereof when pressed from outside. The delivery blood storing member reserves amounts of blood in accordance with the height of liquid surface in the blood reservoir tank portion if the amount of blood in the blood reservoir tank portion becomes equal to or less than a predetermined value. The delivery blood storing member includes a body part that is formed from a hard material, and a flexible diaphragm whose peripheral end is fixed to the delivery blood storing member body part. The diaphragm produces substantially no self-restoring force against deformation.

Delivery blood storing member-equipped blood reservoir tank and blood

A blood reservoir includes a blood tank, a blood accumulator connected in fluid communication with an outlet of the tank for receiving blood from the tank, and a pumping device for driving the accumulator to displace blood out of the accumulator. The accumulator typically in the form of a flexible bag is adapted to store blood in an amount proportional to the volume of blood in the tank when the volume of blood in the tank is reduced below a predetermined value. The pumping device is operated for intermittent blood delivery and can regulate the amount of blood displaced out of the accumulator.

Growing community of inventors

Shizuoka, Japan

Mitsuaki Ogihara