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:
Sep. 03, 2013
Filed:
Sep. 16, 2010
Thomas A. Sullivan, Pine Village, IN (US);
Thomas A. Sullivan, Pine Village, IN (US);
Fresenius Medical Care Holdings, Inc., Waltham, MA (US);
Abstract
A conductivity detector detects the electrical conductivity of a fluid under analysis for determining chemical or physical properties of the fluid that are related its electrical properties. Such conductivity detectors may find use in, for example, hemodialysis systems for analyzing the effectiveness of the hemodialysis treatment. In an aspect, to improve accuracy of the conductivity measurements, the detector utilizes four-wire resistance measurement methods. In another aspect, to avoid fouling or contamination of the electrodes, the detector utilizes capacitively-coupled contactless conductivity detection (C4D) methods so that the electrodes are physically unconnected to the fluid contained in a fluid chamber. In a possible further aspect, the fluid chamber may be a disposable component removable from the electrodes. The conductivity detector can include other features such as calibration circuits and features for electrically isolating the fluid under detection from the fluid in the rest of the system.