JPH074032Y2 - Bubble removal device for extracorporeal circulation treatment device - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to a device for removing bubbles in an extracorporeal circulation circuit in an extracorporeal circulation treatment device such as a so-called artificial kidney device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 7 shows an artificial kidney device 1 as an example of an extracorporeal circulation treatment device. The artificial kidney device 1 is a device that allows the blood of the patient 2 to pass through the dialyzer 3 to remove waste products and then return the blood to the patient 2. Blood from the patient 2 is first drawn out of the body by the arterial blood circuit 12. A blood pump (blood removal pump) 13 is set in the blood circuit 12 on the arterial side, and blood is sent by the blood pump 13 squeezing a tube constituting the blood circuit 12 while rotating. An anticoagulant circuit 15 that injects an anticoagulant so that blood does not solidify is connected to the blood circuit on the outlet side of the blood pump 13, and the anticoagulant is injected into the blood circuit 12 by the syringe pump 14. The blood injected with the anticoagulant is supplied to the drip chamber 16 on the artery side. The blood passes through the dialyzer 3 after air bubbles are trapped in the drip chamber 16. The dialyser 3 is supplied with a dialysate from a dialysate supply circuit 17a by a dialysate supply device (not shown), waste products in the blood are transferred to this dialysate, and the dialysate containing the waste products is drained. It is discharged from the circuit 17b.
The blood purified by the dialyzer 3 is the blood circuit 1 on the vein side.
It enters into the drip chamber 18 on the vein side through 9 and the air bubbles are trapped there again and then returned to the patient 2.

In the extracorporeal blood circulation circuit 20 from the time when the patient 2 leaves the patient 2 to the time when the patient 2 returns to the patient 2, when air bubbles are generated and accumulated, not only the dialysis efficiency is lowered, but also the blood tends to coagulate. And may lead to serious accidents such as blood clots. Also, because it is more serious and life-threatening that these bubbles enter the patient's body,
A portion of the extracorporeal circulation circuit 20 on the downstream side of the drip chamber 18 of the blood circuit 19, that is, the blood return circuit 19a to the patient is obliged to provide a bubble detector and a means for closing the tube of the circuit. However, the purpose thereof is merely to prevent air bubbles from entering the patient, and the decrease in the dialysis efficiency due to the stay of air bubbles in the extracorporeal circulation circuit and the tendency of blood coagulation to date have been left unattended.

Bubbles are generated when the tube is flattened by the blood pump 13 to reduce the pressure inside the tube, or when priming before dialysis, that is, after forming an extracorporeal circulation circuit, gas inside the tube (or There is a case in which the sterilizing solution) is not completely replaced with physiological saline and air bubbles remain in the blood circuit or the dialyzer, or when the temperature rises and the dissolved substances become air bubbles. Thus, the air bubbles appear in the blood circuits 12 and 19 and the dialyzer 3, and may stay in them depending on the flow state. In particular, the tube is thick at the blood pump 13, and air bubbles are likely to stay at the portion that becomes thin again on the outlet side. Since no anticoagulant has been injected at this site, the tendency to coagulate is stronger than at other sites. Further, since blood normally flows from the upper side to the lower side in the dialyzer 3, air bubbles are likely to accumulate at the inlet on the upper side of the dialyzer 3.

Conventionally, there is no dedicated device for removing air bubbles, and the presence of air bubbles is visually judged, and the blood circuit or dialyzer is tapped with a hand or forceps to separate the air bubbles adhering to the drip chamber. Had been removed from the blood.

[0006]

According to the conventional method, air bubbles appearing before the drip chamber 18 on the vein side are monitored by a field staff such as a nurse or a dialysis technician, and when the air bubble retention or the air bubble amount is large. Had been removed. Therefore, even after finishing complicated priming, it is necessary to monitor whether or not air bubbles are staying frequently, if not always, which not only burdens the staff but also the condition of the patient to be monitored originally. Often, surveillance was overlooked. Further, the work of finding and removing bubbles is originally a mechanical work, increasing the psychological burden on the staff who is forced to perform non-human work.

Although the object of the present invention is thus important, it frees the staff from simple and mechanical work for humans, and automatically detects and removes the appearing air bubbles,
An object of the present invention is to provide a bubble removing device for safely and efficiently performing extracorporeal circulation treatment.

[0008]

According to the present invention, a bubble detecting means for detecting bubbles in an extracorporeal circulation circuit, and the bubbles.
It is provided on the downstream side of the detection means and vibrates the extracorporeal circulation circuit.
Excitation means to be applied and control for controlling the excitation of the excitation means
And a bubble removing device of an extracorporeal circulation treatment device comprising:
If the bubble detection means detects a bubble,
A control means for enhancing the vibration is provided, and the bubble detection means and the vibration
The shaking means is detachably attached to the blood circuit in a clothespin type
It is designed to be struck. Blood in the extracorporeal circulation circuit
Of an extracorporeal circulation therapy device adapted to pump blood
In the bubble removal device, the blood circulation
Air bubble detection means for detecting air bubbles in
Means for applying vibration to the blood circuit on the output side of the pump
Is provided, and if the bubble detection means detects bubbles, the
The control means that activates the vibration means or strengthens the vibration of the vibration means
The air bubble detecting means and the vibrating means are provided for the blood circuit.
It is configured to be detachably attached. Also outside the body
A dialyzer is inserted into the circulation circuit, and the blood circuit is
Blood supplied through contact with dialysate through dialysis membrane
And the vibration was applied to the dialyzer by vibrating means.
In the bubble removal device of the extracorporeal circulation treatment device, insert the dialyzer.
A bubble detection means for detecting bubbles in the blood circuit is provided on the force side.
And provide a means to rotate the dialyzer upside down.
When the bubble detection means detects bubbles, the rotation means transmits the bubbles.
Turn the analyzer upside down and activate the vibration means, or
The control means for strengthening the vibration of the vibration means is provided.

[0009]

[Operation] When the bubble detection means detects a bubble, the wall of the extracorporeal circulation circuit is vibrated by the vibrating means at the downstream side of the bubble detection position, and the vibration is intensified and adheres to the circuit wall surface of that portion. Air bubbles separate from the circuit wall. The detached bubbles are removed from the blood in the drip chamber downstream thereof. Also, the bubble detection means on the input side of the dialyzer detects bubbles.
The dialyzer is rotated upside down by the rotating means.
And is vibrated by the vibrating means, and the vibration is strengthened.
Air bubbles in the dialyzer are removed by the drip chamber on the vein side.
To be left.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS First Embodiment FIG. 1 is a view showing a bubble removing device of an extracorporeal circulation treatment device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment is an embodiment in which the bubbles appearing in the blood circuit in the extracorporeal circulation circuit are detected and the bubbles are removed.

A bubble detecting means 22 for detecting bubbles in the blood circuit 12 is provided. In this example, the blood circuit 12a at the inlet of the blood pump 13 is used as the portion where bubbles are likely to appear.
The case where the bubble detection means 22 is provided is shown in FIG. Also,
This is a case where bubbles are detected using ultrasonic waves. In other words, the ultrasonic transmitter 23 and the ultrasonic receiver 24 are provided so as to face each other with the tube forming the blood circuit 12 a interposed therebetween, and the ultrasonic transmitter 23 is output by the oscillation circuit 29.
Is excited, and the ultrasonic waves emitted from the ultrasonic transmitter 23 are received by the ultrasonic receiver 24 through the blood flowing inside the tube, that is, inside the tube. If air bubbles are present in the path of the ultrasonic waves, that is, in the blood, the level of the ultrasonic waves received by the ultrasonic receiver 24 decreases. The output of the ultrasonic receiver 24 is amplified and detected by the amplification / detection circuit 25, the output is smoothed by the smoothing circuit 26, and the smoothed output is compared with the reference level from the comparison level signal generation circuit 27 by the comparator 28. To be done. When the output of the smoothing circuit 26 is higher than the reference level, the comparator 28 outputs a low level, and when the output of the smoothing circuit 26 is lower than the reference level, that is, when the bubble 30 is present in the tube, the comparator 28 is high. When the bubble 30 is configured to output the level and is present in the blood circuit 12a, this is detected.

In this example, the case where the air bubble detecting means 22 can be easily and removably attached to the blood circuit is shown. That is, as shown in FIG. 2, the support pieces 31a and 31b are openably and closably connected to each other by the shaft 32 at the intermediate portions thereof, and the springs 33a are interposed between the opposing one ends of the support pieces 31a and 31b. , 31b are elastically contacted with each other at their other ends to form a clothespin. Semi-cylindrical recesses having axes parallel to the shaft 32 are formed in the intermediate portions of the facing surfaces of the support pieces 31a and 31b that are opposed to each other. The transmitter 23 and the ultrasonic receiver 24 are supported by the support pieces 31a and 31b, respectively. The bubble detecting means 22 can be attached to the blood circuit 12a by sandwiching the tube of the blood circuit 12a in both of these semi-cylindrical surfaces.

On the downstream side of the bubble detecting means 22, a vibrating means 34 for adding vibration to the extracorporeal circulation circuit is provided. The portion where the vibrating means 34 is provided is preferably a portion where the bubbles 30 are likely to stay, and in the example of FIG. 1, it is the blood circuit 12b at the outlet of the blood pump 13. In this example, the vibrating means 34 is a DC motor 35 and a rotary head 36 rotated by the DC motor 35, as shown in FIGS. The rotary head 36 has a chrysanthemum petal shape, that is, relatively large depressions are formed on the circumferential surface of the disk at relatively large center angular intervals, and a plurality of large irregularities are formed in the circumferential direction as a whole. . The peripheral surface of the rotary head 36 is pressed against the outer peripheral surface of the tube of the blood circuit 12b, and the plate surface of the rotary head 36 is substantially parallel to the extension direction of the tube. By the rotation of the rotary head 36, the protrusions hit the outer surface of the tube one by one, and the tube of the blood circuit 12b is vibrated. Therefore, if air bubbles are attached to the tube or air bubbles stay inside, the air bubbles are separated from the tube and the air bubbles can easily flow. The rotation direction of the rotary head 36 is preferably such that the blood flows in the tube of the blood circuit 12b in the forward direction, that is, the direction in which the internal blood flow is accelerated.

In this example, the vibrating means 34 is also detachably attached to the blood circuit. Therefore, the DC motor 35 is fixed in the housing 37 and is attached to the rotary shaft of the DC motor 35. A part of the rotary head 36 projects to the outside from an opening formed at an end of one side surface of the housing 37. A sandwiching piece 39 is rotatably connected by a shaft 38 at an intermediate portion so as to face the side surface of the housing 37 on the protruding side of the rotary head.
A spring 33b is interposed between the holding member 39 and the housing 37 to hold the tube of the blood circuit 12b between the holding piece 39 and the housing 37, and the vibrating means 34 is attached to the tube. The tube is elastically held by the rotary head 36 and the holding piece 39.

In this embodiment, when the bubble detecting means 22 detects a bubble, the control means 40 intensifies the vibration of the vibrating means 34. That is, even when the bubble detecting means 22 does not detect bubbles, the vibrating means 3
4, a relatively weak vibration is constantly applied to the blood circuit 12b. Therefore, the low-level voltage generating circuit 41 is provided, and a constant voltage having a relatively low level is output from the low-level voltage generating circuit 41 and supplied to the adder 42. The output of the adder 42 is supplied to the drive circuit 43,
The DC motor 3 of the vibrating means 34 is controlled by the output of the drive circuit 43.
5 is rotated. At this time, the DC motor 35 rotates at a relatively slow speed and gives a relatively weak vibration to the blood circuit 12b. Further, an addition level voltage generating circuit 44 is provided, and the output voltage of the addition level voltage generating circuit 44 is supplied to the adder 42 through the switch 45. Switch 4
5 is controlled by the output of the comparator 28, and the blood circuit 12
When bubbles are generated in a and the output of the smoothing circuit 26 becomes smaller than the reference level of the comparison level signal generating circuit 27, the switch 45 is closed by the output of the comparator 28 and the output voltage of the addition level voltage generating circuit 44 is added. At 42, it is added to the output voltage of the low level voltage generation circuit 41. Therefore, the rotation speed of the DC motor 35 increases, and the vibration to the blood circuit 12b becomes stronger.

As described above, when there are no bubbles in the blood circuit 12b in the bubble detecting means 22, the vibrating means 34 vibrates the blood circuit 12b relatively weakly so that the bubbles adhere to the blood circuit 12b. It is difficult to do and bubbles are made to flow easily. When bubbles are present in the blood circuit 12a, the vibrating means 34 vibrates the blood circuit 12b strongly, separating the bubbles adhering to the blood circuit 12b and facilitating the remaining bubbles to flow. The bubbles thus caused are removed from the blood in the artery-side drip chamber 16 as in the conventional case.

Another example of the vibrating means 34 is shown in FIGS. This vibrating means is a case where vibration is applied to the blood circuit by intermittently exciting the electromagnet. A leaf spring 52 made of a magnetic material is disposed between one magnetic pole of the electromagnet 51 and the tube of the blood circuit. One end of the leaf spring 52 is fixed and the other end is pressed against the tube. When a current is intermittently applied to the coil 53 of the electromagnet 51, the leaf spring 52 is attracted to the electromagnet 51 when the current flows, and when the current is interrupted, the leaf spring separates from the electromagnet 51 and hits the tube. Therefore, the tube is repeatedly hit. In the cases of FIGS. 4 and 5, the vibrating means can be attached to and detached from the blood circuit in the same manner as in the cases of FIGS.
That is, the electromagnet 51 and the leaf spring 52 are attached to the housing 37 so that the tube of the blood circuit can be held between the holding piece 39 and the housing 37.

Second Embodiment In the above-mentioned embodiment, the blood circuit in the extracorporeal circulation circuit is vibrated by the vibrating means 34 to remove air bubbles, but the dialyzer in the extracorporeal circulation circuit is vibrated by the vibrating means. The present invention can also be applied to the case of removing air bubbles in a dialyzer. An example thereof is shown in FIG. The dialyzer 3 is held by the holder 61 so that the blood inside the dialyzer 3 flows from top to bottom.
The upper and lower intermediate parts of the dialyzer 3 are held, and the holder 61 holds the dialyzer 3
Is rotatably mounted on a stand 62. That is, the mounting portion 63 is mounted on the vertically extending stand 62 so that the vertical position can be adjusted, the stepping motor 64 is fixed in the mounting portion 63, and the rotation shaft 65 of the stepping motor 64 is horizontal. The holder 61 is fixed to the rotation shaft 65. The bubble detecting means 22 is the dialyzer 3
Is provided in the blood circuit on the inlet side of the. As the bubble detecting means 22, the same one as shown in FIG. 1 can be used, and its output is supplied to the signal processing circuit 70. That is, the signal processing circuit 70 includes the amplification / detection circuit 25 and the smoothing circuit 2 shown in FIG.
6, a comparator 28, and a comparison level signal generation circuit 27. Although not shown in the figure, the vibrating means 34 is provided in the holder 61.
Is provided so that the vibrating means 34 can apply vibration to the dialyzer 3. As the vibrating means 34, for example, the electromagnet type shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 is used.

When air bubbles are present in the blood circuit at the inlet of the dialyzer 3, this is detected as the output of the signal processing circuit 70, as described with reference to FIG. 1, and the detected output is the control means 40. Control logic circuit 7 in
1, the control logic circuit 71 drives the stepping motor 64 through the stepping motor drive circuit 72 to rotate the dialyzer 3 by 180 °, that is, upside down. In this state, the control logic circuit 71 is an electromagnet. Drive circuit 7
The electromagnet of the vibrating means 34 in the holder 61 is intermittently excited through 3 to vibrate the leaf spring 52 and vibrate the dialyzer 3. The vibration is applied for an appropriate time, the bubbles adhering to the inside of the dialyzer 3 are released, the bubbles float upward, and the bubbles are removed from the blood in the venous drip chamber 18.
The presence of bubbles is no longer detected by the bubble detection means 22,
When it is determined that the bubbles have sufficiently escaped from the dialyzer 3 from the progress of the change state of the output of the signal processing circuit 70, the excitation of the electromagnet is stopped and the stepping motor 64 is rotated 180 ° to return to the normal position. .

In the above embodiments, the case of hemodialysis has been described, but the invention can be applied to other extracorporeal circulation treatments such as artificial lung and plasma exchange. As for the method of generating vibration, although the vibration generation by the electric source has been described in the embodiment, the vibration may be generated by other means such as compressed air.

[0021]

According to the present invention , the bubble detecting means is provided in the portion of the extracorporeal circulation circuit of the extracorporeal circulation treatment device where bubbles are likely to stay.
And, the vibrating means can be detachably attached to the clothespin type.
Since the bubbles can be automatically detected and the bubbles can be automatically removed by adding vibration, the busy staff can be freed from the complicated and inhuman bubble removal work. The reduction of this psychological burden is very large, and the staff can concentrate on monitoring the original condition of the patient. Further, unlike the case of manual operation, there is no variation in bubble detection, so that extracorporeal circulation treatment can be safely performed. As described above, the bubble removing device of the extracorporeal circulation treatment device according to the present invention can significantly improve the quality of extracorporeal circulation treatment.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing a bubble removing device of an extracorporeal circulation treatment device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a front explanatory view showing a bubble detecting means used in the bubble removing apparatus of FIG. 1. FIG.

FIG. 3 is a front explanatory view showing a vibrating means used in the bubble removing apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a front view showing another example of the vibrating means.

5 is a sectional view taken along line VV in FIG.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a schematic explanatory view showing an extracorporeal circulation treatment device.

Claims (4)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. Bubble detecting means for detecting bubbles in the extracorporeal circuit, vibrating means provided downstream of the bubble detecting means for applying vibration to the extracorporeal circuit, and the vibrating hand.
Extracorporeal circulation treatment device including control means for controlling vibration of a step
In the bubble removing device of location, the bubble the control means when the detection means detects bubbles bubble removing device of extracorporeal circulation treatment device according to claim Rukoto to have a means to enhance the excitation of the previous KiKafu means . 2. A blood pump pumps blood in the extracorporeal circulation circuit.
For removing air bubbles in extracorporeal circulation treatment device
hand, The blood circuit provided on the input side of the blood pump
A bubble detecting means for detecting bubbles in the inside, Of the blood pump
Excitation provided on the output side to add vibration to the blood circuit
Means and When the bubble detecting means detects a bubble,
Control for activating the vibrating means or enhancing the vibrating of the vibrating means
Of an extracorporeal circulation treatment device characterized by comprising:
Bubble removal device. 3. A dialyzer is inserted into the extracorporeal circulation circuit,
The blood supplied through the blood circuit in the dialyzer is used as dialysate.
Means for vibrating the dialyzer by contacting it through a dialysis membrane
For removing air bubbles from extracorporeal circulation treatment device
In the The blood is provided on the input side of the dialyzer.
Air bubble detection means for detecting air bubbles in the circuit, Figure of the dialyzer
Rotating means for rotating the force in the reverse direction, The bubble detection means
When air bubbles are detected, the dialyzer is rotated by the rotating means.
Upside down and activate the vibrating means, or
And a control means for enhancing the vibration of the vibration means.
A device for removing bubbles in an extracorporeal circulation treatment device. 4. The bubble detecting means and the vibrating means,
It can be detachably attached to the blood circuit in a clothespin type.
External body according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that
Air bubble removal device for circulation therapy device.