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:
Oct. 20, 1998
Filed:
Sep. 13, 1996
David Shouldice, Lakewood, CO (US);
Coy Vann Toavs, Boulder, CO (US);
COBE Laboratories, Arvada, CO (US);
Abstract
The present invention provides an improved gas/fluid detector for use in contained fluid systems, and is particularly apt for medical applications wherein fluids are transfused to a patient. The invention includes directing energy pulses into a fluid containment region of interest, detecting energy at the region of interest during each of a plurality of intervals associated with the energy pulse, generating a multi-component detection output utilizing the detected energy for each of the time intervals and separately employing each of the components of the multi-component detection output to determine whether a predetermined condition exists within the contained region of interest. Such predetermined condition may be one of the absence/presence of fluid/gas. Preferably, a multi-component detection signature is provided in the form of a digital serial output and compared with a reference signature that is provided in a corresponding digital serial output. The reference signature reflects the detection signature that should be generated for the predetermined condition of interest. The invention allows for the utilization of a single acoustic or ultrasonic transducer for pulse transmission and energy detection in a pulse/ echo implementation, thereby facilitating a single-sided mount arrangement with disposable fluid-containing structures commonly employed in medical applications.