JPH0623039A - Liquid filling method of filter - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To yield the effect of a filter effectively with quick and accurate permeation of a liquid into the material of the filter by a method wherein a pressure in a filter is reduced after a liquid supply line is closed temporarily and the closure of the liquid supply line released to fill the filter with a liquid according to a difference between an outside air pressure and the internal pressure of the filter. CONSTITUTION:A plasma component is housed into a plasma bag 2 of a plasma purification system 1 and a coagulant as plasma protein fraction/separation agent is placed into the plasma bag 2 beforehand. With the action of the coagulant, high molecular protein components are caused to coagulate. An outflow port of the plasma bag 2 is connected to a filter 3 through a connection tube 91 to form a liquid supply line to the filter 3 being combined with the plasma bag 2 and the connection tube 91. The liquid supply line of the filter 3 is closed and a pump P1 is driven to render the pressure vacuum in the filter 3. Then, the closure of the liquid supply line is released to fill the filter 3 with a supply liquid acordin to a difference between the internal pressure of the filter 3 and an outside air pressure thereby enabling the filling of the filter 3 quickly with the supply liquid.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a filling method for filling a filter with a liquid.

[0003]

2. Description of the Related Art In a filter used in a blood circulation circuit, a method of first filling a liquid such as blood into the filter is as follows:
Connect a hydrophobic filter that communicates with the outside, fill the liquid while letting air escape from this filter, and change the posture of the filter so that the liquid outlet of the filter faces upward when filling, One of them is to fill the liquid while letting air escape from the outlet.

According to such a conventional method, it takes a long time for the liquid to permeate into the voids in the filter medium constituting the filter, and there is a drawback that the working efficiency is poor. In particular, when it is necessary to urgently connect to a patient to operate it, it is necessary to shorten the filling time of this filter as much as possible.

On the other hand, in the case of a filter to which a hydrophobic filter is connected, when the pressure of the liquid fed from the upstream side to the filter medium is too large, the liquid flows out of the housing from the hydrophobic filter or the filter medium If the suction force on the downstream side is too large, there is a drawback that air will flow in from the hydrophobic filter, so that it can be used only when the fluctuation of the pressure on the filter medium is small, and the application is limited.

As described above, when filling the liquid,
The method of changing the posture of the filter has a problem that it is troublesome to handle and time-consuming. Further, when the filter is large or has a considerable weight, it is not easy to change the posture of the filter in this way.

Further, when it is used by incorporating it into a plasma purification apparatus or the like, it is preferable that filling of plasma can be surely and quickly carried out by a mechanical means without changing the posture of the filter.

In the conventional filling method as described above,
There is also a problem that the liquid may not evenly permeate the filter, and the liquid may not evenly permeate all parts of the filter. For this reason, for example, the liquid may pass through only a part of the filter medium, and the filtering action may be exerted only in that part, so that the filter medium may not be effectively utilized as a whole.

[0009]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a filling method for a filter, which allows a liquid to quickly and surely penetrate into the filter medium and to effectively exhibit the effect of the filter. .

[0010]

This object is achieved by the present invention (1) described below, and further (2) to (6)
Is preferred.

(1) In a circuit having a filter connected to a liquid supply line on the upstream side and a tube connected to a liquid outlet of the filter and directly or indirectly connected to a pump, After temporarily closing the liquid supply line, the pump is driven to reduce the pressure inside the filter, and then the liquid supply line is released from being closed, and the liquid is removed by the pressure difference between the external pressure and the filter internal pressure. A method for filling a liquid in a filter, which comprises filling the filter.

(2) The filter has a filter medium and a deformable housing that houses the filter medium, and deforms the housing due to a difference between an outer pressure and an inner pressure. The liquid filling method for a filter according to (1) above, wherein the volume of the filter medium is reduced and the volume of the filter medium is restored by opening the closing of the liquid supply line.

(3) The housing is deformed while maintaining the restoring force according to the difference between the outer pressure and the inner pressure, and after the liquid supply line is closed, the restoring force causes the pressure in the filter to be negative. The method for filling a liquid in a filter according to (1) or (2) above.

(4) The filter medium is formed in a bag shape, and a spacer having a liquid inflow space therein is provided inside the filter medium according to any one of the above (1) to (3). How to fill the filter with liquid.

(5) The liquid filling method for a filter according to any one of the above (1) to (4), wherein the pump is a roller pump.

(6) The liquid filling method for a filter according to any one of (1) to (5) above, wherein the liquid is blood or a component thereof.

[0017]

By discharging the gas in the filter by the pump, the internal pressure of the filter becomes a negative pressure as compared with the atmospheric pressure outside the filter. At this time, the air pressure in the voids formed in the filter medium in the filter also drops.

When the blockage of the supply line is opened, the pressure difference between the atmospheric pressure outside the filter and the internal pressure of the filter causes
The liquid permeates the filter medium at a rate higher than the permeation rate due to the capillary phenomenon.

Here, the term "void" means, for example, when the filter medium is fibrous, a gap between the fibers constituting the filter medium, and when it is a porous material, it means a hole.

In the case where the housing of the filter is deformed according to the pressure difference between the external pressure and the internal pressure, and the filter medium is crushed by the deformation of the housing and the volume is reduced, As the air pressure inside the void decreases, the volume of the void itself also decreases. Then, when the supply line is closed and opened, the negative pressure in the void and the expansion of the volume of the void itself (recovery of volume) ensure that the liquid permeates the filter medium and the filling amount also increases.

[0021]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A preferred embodiment of the liquid filling method for a filter of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram of a plasma purification system 1 using the liquid filling method for a filter of the present invention.

The plasma purification system 1 has a plasma bag 2, a filter 3, a pump P ₁ , a chamber 4, a dialyzer 5, a pump P ₂ , a storage bag 6, a priming solution storage bag 7 and a pressure gauge 8. There is.

The plasma bag 2 contains the plasma component separated from the blood collected from the patient. An aggregating agent as a plasma protein fraction separating agent is previously put in the plasma bag 2, and the plasma introduced into the plasma bag 2 is highly concentrated in the plasma bag 2 due to the action of the aggregating agent. The molecular weight protein component is aggregated. The outlet of the plasma bag 2 is connected to the liquid inlet 31 of the filter 3 via a connecting tube 91. The plasma bag 2 and the connecting tube 91 form a liquid supply line to the filter 3.

The filter 3 is for removing the agglomerates. As shown in FIG. 2, this filter 3 has a liquid inlet 31 and a liquid outlet 32 in a housing 30, and a sheet-shaped filter medium 33 formed in a bag is housed in the housing 30. Has been done. The filter medium 33 has a liquid inlet 31 provided in the housing 30.
An opening 331 that communicates with the.

The constituent material of the housing 30 is made of a flexible material such as polyvinyl chloride, polyurethane, polyethylene vinyl, polyethylene vinyl acetate (EVA), etc., but the material whose inside can be visually confirmed. For example, it is desirable that it is translucent or transparent.

It is desirable that the shape of the housing 30 is a rectangular strip as a whole, and that the liquid inlet 31 and the liquid outlet 32 are arranged at a diagonal position of the housing 30 or in the vicinity thereof. This is because the filtering ability of the filter material can be exhibited uniformly. Plasma that has flowed in as a liquid from the liquid inlet 31 of the filter 3 passes through the opening 331, flows into the inside of the bag-shaped filter medium 33, passes through the filter medium 33, and passes through the inner surface of the housing 30 and the outer surface of the filter medium 33. It reaches the space 34 formed between the two and flows out from the liquid outlet 32.

As the filter medium in the present embodiment formed in the bag shape, for example, an aggregate of fibers formed in a sheet shape is preferably used. The fibrous body is formed by knitting synthetic fibers such as nylon, polypropylene or polyester, and may be, for example, a non-woven fabric, a woven fabric or a knitted fabric in which synthetic fibers are evenly stacked. The fibers may be in any form such as one or a plurality of long fibers or a plurality of short fibers entangled, and the fiber diameter is preferably about 0.1 to 20 μm, more preferably It is about 1 to 5 μm. The bulk density of the filter medium 33 is preferably 0.1 to 1 g / cm ³ , more preferably 0.3 to 0.6 g / cm ³ , and the fiber shape is linear to achieve such a bulk density. It may be a basic one or a bulky one.

As the filter medium 33, polyurethane,
Examples of the porous material include polypropylene and polyethylene, and the filtering material used varies depending on the size and physical quantity of the substance to be filtered.

Spacers 35a and 35b are superposed on the outer and inner surfaces of the bag-shaped filter medium 33. The spacers 35a and 35b are, for example, woven cloth,
It is made of a material having good air permeability and liquid permeability such as non-woven fabric and mesh. This spacer 35a, 35
As will be described later, b is for reducing the pressure in the housing 30 to bring the inner wall of the housing 30 and the filter medium 33 into close contact with each other, and then when the plasma is allowed to flow in, the filter medium 33 and the filter medium 33 are separated from each other.
The purpose is to allow the inner wall of the housing 30 and the inner wall of the housing 30 to be easily separated from each other.

In order to exert such effects, it is preferable that the spacers 35a and 35b are fibrous bodies having a coarser mesh than the filter medium 33. In this way, a sufficient inflow space for the inflow of plasma is secured between the fibers of the spacers 35a and 35b, and the above effect is effectively exhibited.

When the spacer is a non-woven fabric, the thickness thereof is preferably about 20 to 1000 μm and the basis weight is preferably about 10 to 25.

A suction port of the pump P ₁ is connected to the liquid outlet 32 of the filter 3 via a connecting tube 92. By this pump P ₁ , the plasma is converted into the plasma bag 2
And is guided into the filter 3.

The inflow port of the chamber 4 is connected to the discharge port side of the pump P ₁ via a connecting tube 93. In the chamber 4, when the filter 3 is filled with the liquid, gas such as air remaining in the connection tube is separated from plasma. The plasma inlet of the dialyzer 5 is connected to the outlet of the chamber 4 via a connecting tube 94.

The dialyzer 5 removes an excessive coagulant dissolved in the filtered plasma. In the dialyzer 5, the dialysate from the storage tank 11 via the pump P ₃ , for example, 400 to
The liquid is sent at a flow rate of about 600 ml / min and discharged to the storage tank 12.

The plasma liquid outlet of the dialyzer 5 is connected to the suction port of the pump P ₂ via the connecting tube 95, and the pump P ₂
The discharge port ₂ is connected to the storage bag 6.

Here, examples of the pumps P ₁ and P ₂ include a roller pump and a centrifugal pump.
Roller pumps are preferred.

The connection tube 96 has a connection tube 97.
A priming liquid storage bag 7 in which the priming liquid is stored is connected via the. Further, the discharge tube 98 and the pressure gauge 8 are connected to the connection tube 93. The pressure gauge 8 measures the pressure inside the dialyzer 5.

Each of the connection tubes 91, 96, 97, 9
It is preferable that the material constituting 8 is a flexible material that can be easily closed by crushing it from the outside, for example, polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene, polypropylene, ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer, polyurethane, polyester elastomer, styrene. Examples thereof include thermoplastic elastomers such as -butadiene-styrene copolymer and silicones, and among them, polyvinyl chloride and silicones are particularly preferable. If each tube is made of polyvinyl chloride, it is easy to handle because it has sufficient flexibility and flexibility, and it is suitable for clogging due to clemme etc., and has good bondability with each bag and dialyzer 5. It is because Further, the other connection tubes can be made of the same material.

In the above configuration, the plasma purification system 1
The operation of the connection tube 91 will be described. The connection tube 91 is pressed from the outside with the clamp 13 which is a closing device to close it, and the pump P ₁ is driven. At this time, the discharge tube 98 is left open. At the same time, the storage bag side of the connecting tube 96 is closed by the clamp 16 and the priming liquid is sent from the priming liquid storage bag 7 to the dialyzer 5 by the pump P ₂ .

Dialyzer 5 discharged by priming
Waste air such as internal air and priming liquid, and the pump P
The air in the filter 3 discharged by ₁ is discharged from the discharge tube 98 which is open together.

By the forced suction and discharge of the air in the filter 3 by the pump P ₁ , the housing 30 of the filter 3 comes into close contact with the filter medium 33 by compressing it from both sides as shown in FIG. And filter media 33
The air pressure in the void formed inside also decreases and becomes negative with respect to the external air pressure. Further, the filter medium 33 is the housing 30.
When compressed, the voids are reduced and the volume of the filter medium itself is reduced.

The atmospheric pressure in the housing 30 is 50 to -60.
It is preferable to evacuate to about 0 mmHg, and further to about -250 to -350 mmHg. When the priming of the dialyzer 5 is completed, the drain tube 98 is inserted with the clamp 15
By closing the roller pumps P ₁ and P ₂ , the connection tubes 92 are closed, the clamp 13 is removed,
The blockage of the connection tube 91 is released.

By releasing the blockage of the connecting tube 91, the plasma in the plasma bag 2 flows into the filter 3 due to the pressure difference between the external pressure and the filter internal pressure, and further due to the gravity drop. At this time, the inflow rate of plasma is much higher than that in the case where plasma is introduced into the filter by the conventional drop. Further, since the plasma quickly permeates into the voids in the filter medium 33 and the plasma is forcibly sucked by the negative pressure, the plasma can permeate the entire filter medium 33 evenly. At this time, the spacers 35a, 3
Due to the effect of 5b, the permeation of the plasma becomes more rapid and uniform, and the plasma easily spreads throughout the filter 3.

Further, since the filter medium 33 of the filter 3 is expanded and restored from the state in which the filter medium 33 is compressed and deformed, the same volume of plasma as the expanded volume is applied to the filter 3 as well.
Flows in.

That is, the blood plasma that first flows into the filter 3 becomes large due to the suction action due to the low atmospheric pressure in the void of the filter medium 33 and the expansion of the filter medium 33 (returns to the original size). Due to the suction action, the permeation into all corners of the filter medium 33 can be ensured more quickly than the permeation by the capillary phenomenon.

As the plasma is introduced into the filter 3, the internal pressure of the filter 3 rises. When the pressure rises to a certain value, the pressure reaches equilibrium, and at that time, the clamp 14 is removed, the clamp 16 that has closed the storage bag side of the connection tube 96 is removed, and the connection tube 97 is closed with the clamp 17. If the pump P ₁ is stopped, the tube 92 and the tube 93 are closed, so the clamp 14 may not be used.

When the pump P ₁ is driven, the plasma bag 2
The plasma inside is introduced into the filter 3, and the plasma filtered here is sent to the chamber 4. In chamber 4,
For example, the air remaining in the connection tube 93 and the like is separated from the plasma.

In the present invention, most of the air in the filter 3 has already been discharged through the discharge tube 98, so the amount of air separated in the chamber 4 is extremely small. Therefore, the volume of the chamber 4 can be set small, which can contribute to downsizing of the entire apparatus.

From chamber 4 to dialyzer 5, pump P ₁
The plasma inflows by the discharge force of. In the dialyzer 5, excess coagulant dissolved in the filtered plasma is removed. Dialyzer 5
The plasma that has passed through the pump is stored in the storage bag 6 by the pump P ₂ .
Sent to.

In the plasma purification system 1 having such a configuration, since the pump for exhausting the filter 3 is not provided separately and is also used as the pump for liquid delivery, the circuit configuration is not complicated and the priming amount can be reduced. There is no increase.

The plasma purification system 1 configured as described above is configured to send plasma from the plasma bag 2 to the storage bag 6, and the liquid supply line is configured by the plasma bag 2 and the connecting tube 91. It is not limited to what is done.
As another configuration example of the liquid supply line, for example, a plasma separator that separates blood collected from a blood vessel of a patient into blood cell components and plasma, and the plasma protein fraction separation into the plasma separated by the plasma separator. A liquid supply line having a mixing container that mixes and dissolves the agents may be used. Further, the purified plasma may be returned to the human body together with the separated blood cell component without being sent to the storage bag 6.

As a structure for discharging the air in the filter 3, in addition to a structure in which a pump connected to the liquid outlet 32 side of the filter 3 is used for exhausting, a pump P ₄ is connected to the liquid inlet 31 side to The structure may be such that the pump P ₄ evacuates. The clamping operation may be performed by controlling an electromagnetic clamp or the like.

4 and 5 show another structure. In these structures, the exhaust tube 99 is connected to the connection tube 91 that connects the plasma bag 2 and the filter 3. In the structure of FIG. 4, the pump P ₄ for exhaust is connected to an exhaust tube 99. When exhausting the inside of the filter 3, the plasma bag 2 side of the connection tube 91 is closed by the clamp 13 and the pump P ₄ is driven.

When the inside of the filter 3 has a sufficiently negative pressure, the pump P ₄ is stopped, the exhaust tube 99 is closed, and the clamp 13 is removed. As a result, plasma flows into the filter 3. In this structure, the pump P ₄ is used only for exhaust, and does not function as a blood pump for blood plasma or the like. Therefore, unlike the roller pump and centrifugal pump, it is not necessary to consider the delivery of plasma or blood,
It is possible to use a pump having a strong suction force, to further increase the decompression rate in the filter 3 or to set the decompression value to a lower value, so that the effect of the present invention is more effective.
It is possible to make sure that it is demonstrated.

In the structure shown in FIG. 5, after the plasma bag 2 side of the connection tube 91 is closed with the clamp 13,
The roller pump P ₄ is driven to exhaust the inside of the filter 3 from the exhaust tube 99. When the pressure inside the filter 3 has been sufficiently reduced, the connection tube 91 is removed from the roller pump P ₄ , and the exhaust tube 99 is cleaned.
Block and remove the clamp 13. As a result, plasma flows into the filter 3. When the connection tube 91 is not removed from the roller pump P ₄ , the inflow amount of plasma can be controlled by the roller pump, and when pressure is required for filtration, pressure filtration can be performed. There are advantages.

The housing 30 of the filter 3 described above is
Instead of a flexible material, it may be made of a hard material that does not easily deform.

Further, as the constituent material of the housing 30, it is possible to use an elastic material which has a sufficient restoring force after the housing 30 is deformed. Due to the restoring force of the housing 30, the inside of the housing 30 has a negative pressure and the plasma is sucked into the filter 3. In this case,
The plasma can be quickly and reliably permeated into the entire filter medium 33. Examples of such elastic material include polyvinyl chloride, polyurethane, polycarbonate, polypropylene, polyethylene, polyethylene terephthalate, polystyrene and the like.

According to the method of the present invention described above, when the filter 3 is filled with plasma, there is no need to operate the filter 3 upside down, and it is not necessary to move the filter 3 independently. It is possible to integrate the respective components of the purification system 1 into a single integrated purification device. Further, it is particularly effective to use the method of the present invention for a filter using a filter medium having a slow permeation rate and a small pore size.

In the above description, the liquid is a concept including blood or blood components, concentrated liquids thereof, fractionated liquids and the like.

The method of the present invention is not limited to the extracorporeal circulation system including the plasma purification system 1 described above, and any filter may be used as long as it is a filter used for filtering a liquid.
For example, it can be used in a circuit using a filter, a blood filter for blood transfusion, an infusion filter, or when the filter is used alone.

[0061]

As described above, according to the liquid filling method of the present invention, the liquid can be quickly and surely permeated into the filter medium constituting the filter. Furthermore, when the filter medium inside the filter is contracted by the contraction of the housing due to negative pressure and expanded and restored by opening the liquid supply line, a sufficient liquid filling amount is secured and every corner of the filter medium is secured. Liquids can penetrate. In addition, when a spacer is provided, the inflow of the liquid into the filter medium becomes even faster and more reliable.

On the other hand, when the roller pump is used as the exhaust pump, it can be used both as the liquid feed pump and the closing means (clemme), and no special structure for exhaust is required.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall circuit diagram of a plasma purification system implementing the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional side view showing a normal state of the filter.

FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional side view showing a state of the filter in which the internal pressure becomes negative pressure.

FIG. 4 is a partial circuit diagram showing another embodiment of the liquid supply line of the filter.

FIG. 5 is a partial circuit diagram showing another embodiment of the liquid supply line of the filter.

[Explanation of Codes] 1 Plasma Purification System 2 Plasma Bag 3 Filter 30 Housing 31 Liquid Inlet 32 Liquid Outlet 33 Filter Medium 331 Opening 34 Space 35a, b Spacer 4 Chamber 5 Dialyzer 6 Storage Bag 7 Priming Liquid Storage Bag 8 pressure gauge 91 to 99 tubes 11,12 reservoir 13-18 clamp P ₁ to P ₄ pump

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A circuit having a filter having an upstream liquid supply line connected thereto and a tube connected to a liquid outlet of the filter and directly or indirectly connected to a pump, After temporarily closing the liquid line, the pump is driven to reduce the pressure in the filter, and then the liquid supply line is unclosed, and the liquid is filtered by the pressure difference between the external pressure and the filter internal pressure. A method for filling a liquid in a filter, which comprises filling into a filter. [0001]