The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 12, 2026
Filed:
Jul. 10, 2024
Fresenius Medical Care Holdings, Inc., Waltham, MA (US);
Fresenius Medical Care Deutschland Gmbh, Bad Homburg, DE;
David Yuds, Hudson, NH (US);
Martin Crnkovich, Walnut Creek, CA (US);
Christian Schlaeper, Wehrheim, DE;
FRESENIUS MEDICAL CARE HOLDINGS, INC., Waltham, MA (US);
FRESENIUS MEDICAL CARE DEUTSCHLAND GMBH, Bad Homburg, DE;
Abstract
A hydraulic system and method are provided for breaking-up, dislodging, removing, and preventing the build-up of biofilm in a dialysate pathway of an extracorporeal blood treatment device. The dialysate pathway can include a dialyzer discharge line, a drain line, a dialyzer feed line, and a bypass system. At least one ultrasonic device can be positioned and configured to generate ultrasonic waves in the dialysate pathway and to propagate the ultrasonic waves along at least a portion of the dialysate pathway. The ultrasonic waves can be used to break-up biofilm. An ionizing electrode pair can also, or instead, be implemented to break-up, dislodge, remove, and prevent a build-up of biofilm. The system and method can particularly be implemented and useful in non-disposable portions of a hydraulic system of an extracorporeal blood treatment device.