SE540041C2 - Device and method for isolation of material present in human urine - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention concerns a device for isolation of material, such as medical substances, present in dissolved state in human or animal urine. Said device comprises a urine receiving unit (3), a vaporization chamber (6) being in fluid communication with said urine receiving unit, a vapor evacuation unit being in fluid/vapor communication with said vaporization chamber, means for regulating pressure in the vaporization chamber, means for heating the vaporization chamber, and a waste container (9) for receiving waste from the vaporization chamber. The waste container is in fluid communication with the vaporization chamber. The invention further regards a method for isolation of material, such as medical substances, present in dissolved state in human or animal urine.

Description

DEVICE AND |\/IETHOD FOR ISOLATION IVIATERIAL PRESENT IN HU|\/IAN OR AN|I\/IAL URINE TECHNICAL FIELDOn a general level, the disclosure relates to a device and a method for isolation of material, such as medical substances, present in dissolved state in human or animal urine.

BACKG ROUND l\/ledical substances such as antibiotics, cytostatics and non-steroid, anti-inflammatory drugs are widely used to treat sick persons, and are sometimes alsoused to treat animals. Furthermore, it is commonplace in many countries toadminister antibiotics to healthy animals, for the purpose of making them growfaster. Any administered substances are absorbed into the body of the individual.Here, they circulate for some time and are subsequently excreted in original ormetabolized form, mainly via the urine. The excreted urine eventually enters thesewage system. Because waste fluid treatment plants typically do not have thecapacity to remove medical substances from the incoming waste fluid, considerable amounts of medical substances end up in the environment. ln a recent scientific article, entitled “Selective Pressure of Antibiotic Pollution onBacteria of Importance to Public Health”, authored by A.Tello, B. Austin and T.Telfer and published in 2012 on pages 1100-1106 of Environmental HealthPerspectives (Volume 120), it has been shown that even very low concentrations ofantibiotics in the environment can lead to an increased prevalence of antibioticresistant bacteria. Furthermore, it is also quite possible that development ofantibiotic resistance occurs already in the waste water system. ln particular, thepipes of the waste water system contain enormous numbers of bacteria. Whenexposed to antibiotics for a long time, they can become increasingly resistant to the antibiotics. 170918 Amended Description - 2894700 v2.DOCX Many patients in hospitals are severely ill and are therefore often treated withbroad-spectrum antibiotics. lt would be extremely unfortunate if bacteria developed resistance to these especially valuable antibiotics so that they became useless. ln the related context, in a European Union Fact sheet(http://ec.europa.eu/research/fp7/pdf/antimicrobial_resistance_fact_sheet.pdf) it isdisclosed that more than 25 000 people in the EU die each year from infectionscaused by drug resistant bacteria, including multi-resistant bacteria, and thatantibiotic-resistant germs are regularly found in many hospitals throughout the EU, infecting 4 million patients every year.

US3506543 discloses a device and a method of providing potable water fromhuman urine under the conditions found in space travel. US20120055777 dealswith reuse of the fluid fraction of the urine as a flushing liquid for restroom fixtures.However, none of these disclosures address the specific challenges that theremoving of medical substances from urine presents. ln particular, the discloseddevices are structurally unfit to ensure a quality-controlled, effective removal ofmedical substances from the urine in conjunction with an economic handling of the WQSÉG.

WO2014/011111 proposes to employ activated carbon in order to solve theproblem of release of potentially harmful substances into the Wastewater system.However, the use of activated carbon for this purpose is ridden with considerabledrawbacks. ln particular and as is known in the art, activated carbon is a lipophilicmaterial with a poor ability to bind to hydrophilic medical substances dissolved inurine. Accordingly, large amounts of activated carbon are required if substantialamounts of urine are to be handled, which requires frequent changes of the activecharcoal filter. A further problem is created hereby as these large amounts ofactivated carbon need to be disposed in a safe and environmentally friendlymanner. l\/loreover, structural properties of the used device, inter alia the presenceof a process reactor comprising an activated carbon bed, create a considerable riskof multi resistant bacteria developing in the reactor due to the prolonged contactbetween bacteria originating from the urine and antibiotics. ln order to avoid this, 170918 Amended Description - 2894700 v2.DOCX very frequent replacement of the carbon bed is required. Obviously, thiscomplicates and prolongs the process and reduces the usefulness of the proposed solution. ln addition to the above discussed ways of dealing with the problem of antibioticsbeing released into the environment, and thus contributing to creation of multi--resistant bacteria, further methods are known in the art. By way of example, urinesamples containing antibiotics could be UV-treated in order to incapacitate anti-biotics. ln order to disable antibiotics, further methods of radiation- and/or ozonetreatment could be employed. The samples could also undergo a chemicaltreatment, such as hydrolysis or oxidation, having the same purpose. However,each of these methods is associated with considerable problems if used for the purpose discussed in this application.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION On the above background, it is an object of the present invention to provide adevice and a method that alleviate at least some of the drawbacks associated withthe current art. ln particular, main objectives of the present invention are to enablea quality controlled, effective and economic isolation of dissolved substances in the urine.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe above stated objective is achieved by means of the device and the methodaccording to the independent claims, and by the embodiments according to the dependent claims.

A general aspect of the invention is to isolate unwanted substances that aredissolved in urine by removal of substantial amounts of water from the urine. Thewater may be released to the public sewage system, whereas the remaining waste(unwanted substances plus urine solutes such as urea plus aslittle water as possible) may subsequently be incinerated in a high temperature oven or the like. 170918 Amended Description - 2894700 v2.DOCX An effective and economical process requires: - removal of as much water from the urine as possible, so that the water can besubsequently released to the public sewage system, - presence of as little pollution in the water that reaches the sewage system aspossible, and - production of as little waste as possible.

The device has several important features which were found to be necessary inorder to get a quality controlled, effective isolation of unwanted substances, and an economic handling of waste.

Basically, the present disclosure relates to a device for suitable for isolation of material, in particularmedical substances, present in dissolved state in human or animal urine. Thedevice comprises a urine receiving unit for receiving urine and a vaporizationchamber being in fluid communication with the urine receiving unit. The devicefurther comprises a vapor evacuation unit for receiving vapor from the vaporizationchamber and wherein the vapor evacuation unit comprises a protective structurearranged in fluid communication with the vaporization chamber. The protectivestructure features permeability to vapor while passage of mist-building droplets(aerosols) is prevented. ln fluid communication with the protective structure theremay be arranged a condensation unit suitable for receiving vapor from the vapor evacuation unit via the protective structure.

The device also comprises means for heating the urine in the vaporizationchamber, and possibly also a dosing unit for adding of a non-corrosive anti-foaming agent to said vaporization chamber. A replaceable waste container isarranged for receiving and isolating waste generated in the vaporization chamberthrough vaporization of urine. The waste container is in fluid communication with the vaporization chamber 170918 Amended Description - 2894700 v2.DOCX The device further comprises at least one heater adapted to heat the protectivestructure for preventing vapor from condensing at the protective structure.

The device may further comprises a pump, which reduces pressure in thevaporization chamber such that a below atmospheric pressure is achieved. Thisgives a better control of the vaporization process in relation to the boiling point ofthe human or animal urine. This also reduces bad smell emanating out of the vaporization chamber.

The device may further comprise means for heating the vaporization chamber atleast such that the content of the vaporization chamber may boil at the belowatmospheric pressure created by the means for reducing pressure. The boiling maybe done at a first temperature being sufficient to vaporize said urine and to destroyall living microorganisms present in said urine, The boiling may be done at a firsttemperature being sufficient to vaporize said urine and the urine may be exposedto a second temperature sufficient to destroy all living microorganisms present in said urine.

The device may further comprise a dosing unit for adding of a non-corrosive anti-foaming agent to the vaporization chamber in order to prevent foaming and/or corrosion during operation.

The device may further comprise a urease dosing unit. The urease dosing unit mayinject a dosage of urease at any step of the process. A dosage may be precalculated or it may be adjusted based on measurements carried out in theprocess. The urease dosing unit may inject a dosage of urease at any step of theprocess. A dosage may be pre-calculated or it may be adjusted based on measurements carried out in the process.ln one embodiment of the invention, the urease dosing unit is arranged externally of the device suitable for isolation of material. This reduces the amount andgeneration of waste considerably prolonging both the operation time of the device 170918 Amended Description - 2894700 v2.DOCX and use of the waste container before the waste container must be replaced by anew empty one. This also improves the economy of the device.

The device may further comprise an ana|ytica| unit arranged at any stage, eitherupstream or downstream of the protective structure. The ana|ytica| unit may beadapted to determine the amount of impurities in a condensate derived from thecondensation unit and/or it may be adapted to determine the amount of impurities in the received urine or in the vaporization chamber. ln one embodiment, the ana|ytica| unit may determine the amount of impurities bymeasuring conductivity. ln a further embodiment, the ana|ytica| unit may determinethe amount of impurities by measuring absorbance. ln yet a further embodiment,the ana|ytica| unit may determine the amount of impurities by measuring conductivity and absorbance. ln a yet further embodiment, the device may comprise a microorganism reductionunit arranged so as to be in f|uid communication with the urine receiving unit andwith the vaporization chamber. The microorganism reduction unit may be arrangedto heat up the received urine to a temperature exceeding 60 °C. ln one embodiment, the non-corrosive anti-foaming agent may comprise at least one of paraffins, fatty acids and tensids.

The waste container should be releasably attached, sealable and exchangeable. ln one embodiment, the protective structure may comprise a maze structure, a plurality of porous deformable filling bodies or at least one polymer sponge.

The protective structure operates as a demister. A first possible solution is havingmore than one protective structure comprising one or more demisters eachaccording to the invention. Another possible solution according to the invention is having more than one protective structure, wherein at least one protective structure 170918 Amended Description - 2894700 v2.DOCX comprises one demister and at least one protective structure comprises more than one demister according to the invention.

One possible solution according to the invention is having more than one protectivestructure, wherein at least one protective structure is coupled in series with at leastone other protective structure in the fluid communication with the vaporizationchamber according to the invention. Another possible solution according to theinvention is having more than one protective structure, wherein at least oneprotective structure is coupled in parallel with at least one other protective structurein the fluid communication with the vaporization chamber according to the invenfion. ln one embodiment, the device may be dimensioned and assembled as a unitsuitable for mobility within an indoor environment such as a hospital. This makesthe device according to the invention compact and easy to handle and transportindoor. The device according to the invention is also downscaled in weight, notonly in size/dimensions, so that any transportation and lifting of it is facilitated. Thisis especially advantageous when moving it between floors by elevator andbetween rooms on the same floor and over doorsteps, which portability is of greatimportance at hospitals to make the use of the inventive device much more flexible.This downsized device according to the invention also reduces costs as thenumber of devices to buy may be held to minimum as one device is easily movedto another location indoor, e.g. between nursing wards in a hospital or in nursinghomes or in eldercares or in welfare centers. This device has the same advantagesif utilized in animal breeding facilities and/or in dairy farming when processing animal urine.

The invention also relates to a method for isolation of material, in particular medical substances, present in dissolved state in human or animal urine. The method comprises the followingsteps:- receiving urine, - transferring the received urine into a vaporization chamber, 170918 Amended Description - 2894700 v2.DOCX 5 - exposing the urine present in the vaporization chamber to a temperaturesufficient to vaporize the urine, - evacuating the vapor generated in the vaporization chamber into anevacuation unit.

The method is characterized by - leading the vapor generated in the vaporization chamber through a vaporpermeable protective structure which operates as a demister so as toprevent mist-building liquid droplets, including those carrying said material, from passing through said evacuation unit, - additionally heating the vapor passing through the protective structure so asto prevent the vapor from condensing at the protective structure, and - discharging the waste generated in the vaporization chamber into areplaceable waste container where the waste is isolated and retained, including said material.

The method may further comprise exposing the urine present in the vaporizationchamber to a first below atmospheric pressure and simultaneously therewithexposing the urine to a temperatures sufficient to vaporize the urine by boiling anddestroy all living microorganisms present in said urine, e.g. a first temperaturesufficient to vaporize the urine by boiling and a second temperature sufficient to destroy all living microorganisms present in said urine.

The method may further comprise reducing the amount of urea in the urine held inthe vaporization chamber by exposing said urine to urease. ln one embodiment,the step of reducing the amount of urea in the urine held in the vaporizationchamber by exposing said urine to urease is performed by means of arranging an urease dosing unit externally of the device.

The method may further comprise condensing the vapor downstream of theprotective structure so that the amount of impurities in the evacuated vapor isdetermined using a condensate of the vapor that passed through the protectivestructure. 170918 Amended Description - 2894700 v2.DOCX The step of determining the amount of impurities in the evacuated vapor may comprise measuring conductivity or absorbance.

The method may further comprise heating up the received urine to a temperature exceeding 60 °C prior to transferring it further. lt is to be noted that, where applicable, the method steps do not have to take placein the above order. l\/loreover, the term vaporization is here to be construed as aphase transition from the liquid phase to gas phase either through evaporation or through boiling.

The beneficial effects of using below atmospheric pressure are the reduction of thesmelling of urine during evaporation and a reduced fouling on the walls of thevaporization chamber due to the reduction of the boiling point of urine.

Protective structure During conducted tests, a protective structure has proven to be a vital feature ineffective removal of dissolved substances from the urine. As is described inExample 1, it was found that when the present machine was operated with aprotective structure, the ability to isolate the antibiotic ciprofloxacine was 50 timesmore effective compared to when a protective structure was not utilized. Further-more, it was found that a simple splash protection in the form of a metal plate infront of the vapor outlet was not sufficient. lnstead, a protective structure with theability to stop small water droplets in the form of aerosol was necessary to achieve an effective isolation of the dissolved substance.

A suitable protective structure comprises at least one demister, i.e. a unit made ofthin threads of metal arranged at fixed distances and working as a grid/net/latticefor effectively preventing aerosol/droplets to pass through and enabling only forvapor to pass through the protective structure by enabling onlysingle/separate/individual/solitary molecules of vapor to pass through. 170918 Amended Description - 2894700 v2.DOCX The device and method according to the invention may utilize at least oneprotective structure to achieve an effective prevention of dissolved undesiredsubstances, in particular medical ones, passing through the device.

The device and method according to the invention may utilize at least twoprotective structures, either coupled in series and/or in parallel, to improve theprevention of dissolved undesired substances, in particular medical ones, passingthrough the device.

The inventors have performed tests with and without any protective structure, e.g.any demister. The tests showed unexpectedly that at least one protective structure,e.g. at least one demister, in the device according to one aspect of the invention, iseffective in preventing aerosols/droplets to pass through but reduces thevaporization rate in the device. A device for testing of this aspect of the inventionvaporized 1.3 litres of fluid/hour without a protective structure and only 0.5 litres offluid/hour with a protective structure. The reason for this is that vapor and aerosolcondense in the protective structure and flows back to the vaporization chamber of the device.

However, the inventors have surprisingly discovered the above condensing iseliminated or at least reduced in the protective structure, whereby the vaporization rate of the device then is about or at least 1.1 liters of fluid/hour.

The heating of at least one protective structure and/or at least one demister are/isachieved by arranging a heating element on the protective structure or thedemister to heat it by being thermally connected therewith. The heating could alsobe achieved by arranging a heating element or heater externally of the protectivestructure and/or the demister to heat either the protective structure or the demisteror both entities, e.g. electrically. The heating is possible to achieve by electrical means and/or heat exchanging.

Urease unit to reduce waste production 170918 Amended Description - 2894700 v2.DOCX 11 Urine contains 37.1 g solutes/liter and of that 13.4 g is urea (Puttman DF,Composition and concentrative properties of human urine, NASA July, 1971). lnorder to reduce the amount of waste, urease was used. A urease dosing unit maybe present either upstream of the vaporization chamber, in the vaporizationchamber or in the waste container. Urease converts urea to ammonium ions andcarbon dioxide that is in gaseous state. ln this way, the amount of solid-state waste material may be further reduced by up to about 30 °/-.~.

By use of urease, waste is reduced in any device according to the invention, also indevices not having a protective structure according to the invention. For somedevices according to the invention, there may be no need for any protectivestructure as the added urease by itself reduces generated waste amounts. How-ever, a protective structure is very advantageous in the smaller sized deviceaccording to the invention. Alternatively, as a further improvement of the deviceaccording to the invention, a protective structure combined with addition of ureasereduces the amount of generated waste even further. This also aids in making acleaner condensate. Less waste reduces the cost for incineration of waste and alsofor service/maintenance personnel due to need of fewer people handling this anddue to a decreased cost for each waste container being recyclable and reusable.

The inventors have performed tests to clarify that if addition of external urease isused, this usage is able to reduce the production of waste material from themachine/device to a great extent. ln tests, 10 liters of urine were collected and fedto the evaporator. After all the water had been vaporized, this resulted in anamount of 3 dl waste. After cleaning of the device, another 10 liters of urine wasadded. However, before this urine was added to the device, this urine had beentreated with 100KU Urease (100 000 units/gram solids) from Canavalia ensiformisfor 30 minutes. Then, after evaporation of all the water in the urine, 2 dl wasteremained. Thus, treatment with external urease reduced the waste production byabout 30 °/> compared to for example spontaneously generated urease producingbacteria that can simply not reduce the amount of waste to the extent and with therepeatability as achieved by the inventive device and method, especially not in humans. 170918 Amended Description - 2894700 v2.DOCX 12 Analytical unit to evaluate the purity of the vapor and provide quality controlof the process ln order to make sure that the vapor from the vaporization Chamber is sufficientlyclean, an analytical unit to evaluate the purity was used. This was done eitherthrough measuring conductivity of condensed vapor or by determining itsabsorbance. The calculated data may be registered, stored and/or presented to thedevice operator via the control panel. The device may have online monitoring ofthe quality of the isolation process. This continuous quality control ensures that thecondensed vapor from the device is sufficiently pure to be released in the public sewage system.

Microorganism sterilization unit/auxiliary heating unit Urine may contain harmful microorganisms such as bacteria and viruses. This mayresult in a health hazard to humans that for instance are changing waste container.lt is possible that the heating in the vaporization chamber is not sufficient to killhardy microorganisms such as tuberculosis in spore form. ln order to kill allmicroorganisms, a separate auxiliary heating unit may be employed. ln thisapplication, the terms auxiliary heating unit and microorganism sterilization unit areinterchangeably used. Said unit heats the urine to at least 60° C for a sufficienttime period in order to kill the microorganisms. lt may also add antibacterial chemicals such as hydrogen peroxide for this purpose.

Non-corrosive antifoaming agent unit When urine boils it results in the generation of significant amounts of foam, whichmay negatively affect the normal function of this device. US3506543 disclose theuse of 3 °/> sulphuric acid to reduce foaming. However, this acid may corrode thestainless steel of the device and reduce its useful life. Therefore, a non-corrosive,antifoaming agent based on paraffins, fatty acids and tensids was used (hebro®d-foam 2060).

Further advantages and features of embodiments will become apparent in the following detailed description in conjunction with the drawings. 170918 Amended Description - 2894700 v2.DOCX 13 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a device for use in a care institution and according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2a is a schematic, cross-sectional view showing the protective structure beingpart of a device according to one embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2b is a schematic, cross-sectional view showing the protective structure beingpart of a device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 3 is a schematical visualisation of a process performed by a device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Figs. 4A and 4B show flow charts of methods for iso|ation of material, in particularmedical substances, present in dissolved state in human or animal urine according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED El\/|BODl|\/IENTS Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a device 1 for use in a care institution, such as anintensive care unit or a unit for treatment of infectious diseases, and according toan embodiment of the present invention. l\/lore specifically, different parts of thedevice 1 are shown. ln this context, it is to be noted that pipes that in thisembodiment would ensure fluid communication between different parts of thedevice have been left out from Fig. 1. Said parts are mounted on a base structure 2comprising a first section 2a extending in a substantially horizontal plane and asecond section 2b extending in a substantially vertical plane. The first section 2ahas a first face that faces parts of the device, and a thereto opposite second face.Analogously, the second section 2b has a first face that faces parts of the device and a thereto opposite, second face. 170918 Amended Description - 2894700 v2.DOCX 14 Four peripherally positioned casters 4 are attached to the first section. The castersmake the device 1 easily movable. A control cabinet 16 and a thereto associatedcontrol panel 17 are affixed to the second section 2b, more particularly to itssecond face. These components will be discussed in detail further below.

A funnel-shaped urine receiving unit 3, typically made in stainless steel, is via anarm attached to the second section 2b. ln this context, the urine receiving unit 3may be embodied in different ways e.g. as a cylinder, a parallelepiped or a pipe.The unit may further comprise a hinged lid 11 that prevents inadvertent ejection ofthe urine e.g. due to sudden movements of the device. Urine is typically manuallyfed into the unit from a potty, a catheter bag or similar device. Urine from thereceiving unit is transferred to the vaporization chamber 6. The vaporizationchamber is typically made in stainless steel but may also be made from othermaterial such as plastic or carbon fiber. ln the same context, its top surface 14 isprovided with a plurality of pipe connections. lts bottom surface is also providedwith a pipe connection. For use in hospital environment the capacity of thechamber 6 is usually approximately 10 liters, but other values are conceivable. The chamber 6 is provided with at least one sensor for measuring process properties. ln a variant, the vaporization chamber 6 is also provided with stirring means (notshown) that in an exemplary embodiment are embodied as a centrally journalledarm rotating in a horizontal plane. ln some embodiments the stirring is achieved by means of magnetic forces.

The vaporization chamber 6 may be heated in different ways. ln one embodiment,its walls are heated and the heat is subsequently conductively transferred to theurine in the chamber. ln an alternative embodiment, a dedicated heating elementmay be at least partially immersed in the urine contained in the chamber. lt is alsoenvisaged to supply heat to the chamber via a medium such as water or steam.The vaporization chamber is, during operation, kept at below atmosphericpressure. This is achieved by use of a pump 15. The pump also assists thetransferring of urine between different receptacles of the device by creatingpressure differences. ln one embodiment, the pump 15 is a liquid ring pump. The 170918 Amended Description - 2894700 v2.DOCX choice of this type of pump entails that the vapor from the vaporization chamber 6may condense in the pump itself. As an alternative, a diaphragm pump or any othertype of pump may be used. The pump is typically powered by a motor. A wastecontainer 9 for receiving isolated material from the vaporization chamber 6 isreleasably attached to the first section 2a of the base structure 2. lt may beimmobilized relative the base structure 2 by means of straps or similar Iocking means. The container is advantageously made in a suitable polymer material.

A control cabinet 16, shown in Fig. 1, comprises a control unit. The control unittypically has a memory unit (not shown) and a processing unit (not shown) that isconnected to the memory unit. The memory unit could be of the non-volatile kind,such as a flash memory or a RAIVI (Random Access l\/lemory). A dedicated,executable computer program with computer instructions may be located in thememory unit. The processing unit is configured to carry out the instructions of thecomputer program. The computer program could be recorded on a carrier, typicallya computer readable medium, prior to being loaded onto the memory unit.Alternatively, it could be preinstalled in said memory unit. The disclosedembodiments of the method are performed when the computer programs areexecuted such that above-mentioned instructions are carried out by the suitablyconfigured processing unit. A control panel 17 is associated to the control cabinet16. The control panel 17 is the interface between the operator of the device and the device 1.

Optional unit 12 is a buffer unit which renders the vaporization process at handmore stable by compensating for eventual disturbances in the feed of urine.

Fig. 4B is a flow chart of the method for isolation of material, in particular medicalsubstances, present in dissolved state in human or animal urine according to oneembodiment of the invention. The method is used in a device 1 that has beendescribed in connection with Figs. 1-3. The device 1 according to the invention maycomprise an urease dosing unit for adding of urease to said vaporization chamber6. This adding of urease may be done before any waste from the vaporizationchamber is received by the waste container 9, the waste being generated in thevaporization chamber through vaporization of urine. The waste container 9 being in 170918 Amended Description - 2894700 v2.DOCX 16 fluid communication with said vaporization Chamber 6. The urease dosing unit maybe arranged internally of the device 1 or externally of the device or at least oneurease dosing unit may be arranged internally of the device and at least oneurease dosing unit may be arranged externally of the device.

The method flow chart in Fig. 4B according to the invention comprises followingsteps: receiving S10 urine, transferring S20 the received urine into the vaporizationchamber 6; exposing S40 the urine to temperatures sufficient to vaporize said urineand to destroy all living microorganisms present in said urine; evacuating S60 thevapor generated in the vaporization chamber; reducing S65 the amount of urea inthe urine held in the vaporization chamber by exposing said urine to urease; andconveying S90 waste generated in the vaporization chamber through vaporizationof urine to the waste container 9, once said waste meets a predetermined criteria or after a predetermined time period.

The step S65 of reducing the amount of urea in the urine held in the vaporizationchamber 6 by exposing said urine to urease is performed by means of arranging anurease dosing unit internally or externally of the device 1. The technical effect ofadding urease to the urine, preferably, by addition of external urease, this usage ofurease is able to reduce the production of waste from the device 1 to a great eXtent.

The device 1 further comprises a protective structure 21 (shown in Figs. 2a and 2b)which hinders liquid (such as aerosol drops) but allows vapor to pass through.

Figs 2a and 2b show cross-sectional views of two embodiments of the protectivestructure 21 according to the present invention. The structure 21 creates a physicalobstacle that hinders liquid (such as aerosol drops), but allows vapor to passthrough. There is an optional condensation unit 24 to cool vapor from thevaporization chamber 6. The protective structure 21 is arranged in connection witha vapor evacuation unit 7 and is in fluid communication with the vaporizationchamber 6. The protective structure 21 is vapor permeable. The protectivestructure 21 is vapor permeable and prevents passage of mist-building droplets(aerosols). The protective structure 21 is liquid-hindering but vapor-pervious. 170918 Amended Description - 2894700 v2.DOCX 17 Non-limiting examples of the protective structure 21 may in some embodimentscomprise a plurality of porous, deformable filling bodies shown in Fig. 2a. By way ofexample, such bodies may be made of steel wool or polymer sponge or acorresponding porous material that hinders liquid but is permeable to gas. ln furtherembodiments, the protective structure may comprise a metal net with a specifieddistance between the threads, such as a demister. ln this context and as is knownto the person skilled in the particular technical field, these bodies could beembodied and arranged in many different ways. Hence, typical filling bodies mayalso include shapes such as saddles or rings, which may comprise packing, e.g.structured or knitted packing. Simple baffles are also envisaged. An alternativeembodiment of the protective structure 21 is shown in Fig. 2b. According to thisembodiment, the protective structure 21 may comprise a number of substantially two-dimensional, rigid objects for instance extending radially.

According to the invention, the device 1 may be provided with more than oneprotective structure 21. ln other embodiments, the device 1 may be provided withat least one protective structure 21 comprising a demister or may be provided withat least one protective structure 21 being a demister in itself. ln yet anotherembodiment, the device 1 may be provided with at least one protective structure 21comprising a demister and at least one protective structure 21 being a demister initself. ln still other embodiments, the device 1 may be provided with at least oneprotective structure 21 comprising more than one demister or may be provided withmore than one protective structure 21 being a demister in itself.

The technical effect to be achieved by introducing a protective structure 21according to the present invention is the prevention of small, mist-building droplets(aerosol) that are created in the vaporization process, and possibly containchemicals that are intended to be isolated in the vaporization chamber 6, fromleaving the latter. Vapor that passed through the protective structure 21 mayoptionally condense in a condensation unit 24 for subsequent release into thewaste water system. 170918 Amended Description - 2894700 v2.DOCX 18 Hence, the technical effect to be achieved by introducing at least one protectivestructure 21 according to the present invention is the prevention of small, mist-building droplets (aerosol) that are created in the vaporization process anddragged along with the generated vapor, e.g. by adhering to droplets and/or bybeing part of the water forming the droplet at vaporization. The droplets/aerosolcarried by the vapor comprise non-fluidic, i.e. solid, fractions in the form ofchemicals comprising medical substances, such as antibiotics, cytostatics and non-steroid, anti-inflammatory drugs intended to be isolated in the vaporizationchamber 6, which substances then are prevented from leaving the latter and ending up in the drain and let out according to the invention.

Surprisingly, test results presented in Example 1 below show a 50-fold increase inisolation efficiency of aerosol/droplet carried substances in the vaporizationchamber 6 when at least one protective structure 21 was utilized, compared towhen no protective structure 21 was used.

Fig. 3 highly schematically shows one embodiment of the device with a urinereceiving unit 3, vaporization chamber 6, means 15 for control of the pressure inthe vaporization chamber, e.g. by achieving a below atmospheric pressure, means31 for heating of the vaporization chamber 6, evacuating the vapor generated inthe vaporization chamber through the vapor evacuation unit 7, prohibiting liquid, inparticular aerosol/droplets comprising unwanted medical substances as definedabove, to leave the vaporization chamber by the protective structure 21, once thematerial still present in the vaporization chamber 6 meets a predetermined criteriaor after a predetermined time period, evacuating this material from the vaporization chamber to the waste container 9.

Furthermore, the device comprises a condensation unit 24, an analytical unit 27 toevaluate the cleanness of the vapor, a pump 15 to generate below atmosphericpressure and effluent to the sewer system. ln addition, there are several valves V1to V7 that, together with the pump, are used to create differences in internalpressure at least between the urine receiving unit, the vaporization chamber 6, thewaste container 9 and the effluent to the sewage system such that the created 170918 Amended Description - 2894700 v2.DOCX 19 pressure differences at least assist in transferring content at least between theurine receiving unit 3, the vaporization chamber, the waste container 9 and the sewage effluent.

The ana|ytica| unit 27 is configured to determine the amount of impurities present inthe condensed vapor either through measuring conductivity of the condensedvapor and/or by determining its absorbance. The ana|ytica| unit 27 is arrangedeither in connection with or downstream of the condensation unit 24. Further, thedevice may feature a pressure gauge 25, a temperature sensor 26, a furthermeans for measuring conductivity and/or absorbance, e.g. via the ana|ytica| unit27, a first drain 28, cooling water 29, a sample 32, a second drain 33 and levelsensors N1-N2. The valves V1 to V7 that are adapted to aid and enable control avfluid; waste and vapor flow in the device 1 are not explained in detail as use of such valves is common knowledge for the skilled person.

Once the waste container 9 is filled, it is removed and its content incinerateddestroying all isolated harmful substances, in particular medical substances that otherwise would have been let out into the sewage together with the condensate.

Fig. 4A is a flow chart of the method for isolation of material, in particular medicalsubstances, present in dissolved state in human or animal urine according to oneembodiment of the invention. The method is used in a device that has beendescribed in connection with Figs. 1-3. The method comprises receiving urine S10,transferring the received urine into a vaporization chamber 6 (S20), exposing theurine present in the vaporization chamber to a controlled pressure (e.g. belowatmospheric pressure) S30, produced by the pump 15, and simultaneouslytherewith, exposing the urine to a temperature sufficient to vaporize said urine S40and to destroy living microorganisms present in the urine; adding S50 a non-corrosive antifoaming agent to the vaporization chamber in order to reducefoaming; evacuating the vapor generated in the vaporization chamber S60; leadingthe evacuated vapor through the protective structure 21 hindering liquid, inparticular aerosol droplets, but allowing vapor to pass through S70; condensingS80 vapor downstream of the protective structure; and once the material still 170918 Amended Description - 2894700 v2.DOCX present in the vaporization chamber meets a predetermined criteria or after apredetermined time period; evacuating this material/waste from the vaporizationchamber S90.

The device 1 according to the invention comprises at least one heater 40 forheating at least one protective structure 21 and/or at least one demister 21 to atemperature sufficient to prevent vapor from condensing at the protective structure.The method according to the invention comprises a step S100 of heating at leastone protective structure 21 to a temperature sufficient to prevent vapor fromcondensing at each protective structure, e.g. by means of at least one heater 40 foreach protective structure and/or demister 21. The heater 40 may heat theprotective structure and/or demister 21 indirectly and/or directly to a temperaturesufficient to prevent vapor from condensing on and/or in and/or at the protective structure and/or on and/or in and/or at the demister 21 _ According to one embodiment of the invention, at least one heater 40 is arrangedexternally of the device 1 suitable for isolation of material. ln another embodiment,at least one heater 40 is arranged externally of at least one protectivestructure/demister 21 of the device 1. ln yet another embodiment, at least oneheater 40 is integrated in at least one protective structure/demister 21 of the device1. The same number of and operational and physical/technical couplingcombinations of heater/-s 40 and/or protective structure/-s and/or demister/-s 21 are applicable for usage in the method according to the invention. ln one embodiment of the invention, the heating to prevent aerosol and/or dropletscomprising substances, in particular medical ones, from passing through theprotective structure 21 and increase the vaporization rate of the device 1 at thesame time may be done by directly heating the protective structure. ln anembodiment of the invention, the heating to prevent the above aerosol/dropletsfrom passing through the protective structure and increase the vaporization rate ofthe device at the same time may be done by indirectly heating the protectivestructure. ln another embodiment of the invention, the heating to prevent the above described aerosol/droplets from passing through the protective structure and 170918 Amended Description - 2894700 v2.DOCX 21 increase the vaporization rate of the device 1 at the same time may be done byindirectly heating the demister 21, if the protective structure comprises a demister,by increasing the temperature of the protective structure so that the protectivestructure by means of radiant heat and/or thermal conductivity and/or convectionand/or induction heating. Another embodiment of the invention achieves theheating to prevent the above defined aerosol/droplets from passing through theprotective structure and increase the vaporization rate of the device 1 at the sametime by directly heating the demister 21, if the protective structure comprises ademister or is in itself a demister, by increasing the temperature of the demister by means of thermal conductivity and/or induction heating.

At least one or more protective structures 21 and/or at least one or more demisters21 is utilized in the device 1 and method according to the invention to maintain oreven improve the prevention of aerosols/droplets comprising substances, inparticular medical ones, from passing through the protective structure/demister 21and increase the vaporization rate of the device 1 at the same time.

As discussed above in conjunction with Fig. 1, the received urine may also becollected in the auxiliary heating unit/ microorganism sterilization unit prior totransferring it to the vaporization chamber 6. This auxiliary heating unit is arrangedto heat up the received urine to a temperature exceeding 60 °C for a time that issufficient to kill microorganisms in step S40. ln this way, bacteria and viruses thatmay be present in the urine can be destroyed. As discussed above in conjunctionwith Figs. 2a and 2b, the generated vapor is led through the vapor-pervious,protective structure 21 in step S70, and condensed downstream of said protectivestructure in step S80. The condensed vapor has no or at least reduced or even avery low concentration of unwanted substances, in particular medical substances,such as the medical ones described in this disclosure.

The amount of impurities, i.e. non-water molecules, in the condensed vapor maysubsequently be determined. By way of example, this may be achieved throughmeasuring conductivity of the condensed vapor or by determining its absorbance.Hereby, a suitable way of continuously controlling the quality of the isolation 170918 Amended Description - 2894700 v2.DOCX 22 process is obtained. The calculated data may be registered, and presented to thedevice operator via the control panel so as to enable online monitoring of theprecision, i.e. the quality, of the isolation process. ln order to facilitate propercontrol of the process, measurements may additionally be carried out upstream inthe process, for example prior the vaporization chamber 6. Such measurementsmay be used to assist the control of dosing units such as urease dosing unit. Theabove mentioned measurements is preferably carried out by the analytical unit 27. ln a further embodiment (not shown), a non-corrosive antifoaming agent is added in order to reduce foaming. Normally said agent is added to the boiling urine. ln an alternative embodiment (not shown), the transfer of the urine between theurine receiving unit 3, the vaporization chamber 6 and the waste receivingcontainer 9, and optionally at least the auxiliary heating unit 31, is gravity-assisted.Accordingly, in this embodiment all the receptacles are positioned along a verticalline such that an outlet of an upper receptacle, e.g. the vaporization chamber, isarranged in connection with an inlet of a lower receptacle, in the exemplary casethe receiving container. The opening and closing of the valves arranged betweenthe receptacles could then be actuated by the weight of the fluid content of eachreceptacle. An extremely simple solution, not depending on the functioning ofneither the control unit nor the pump for transferring of the content of the respective receptacle is hereby obtained. lt is to be understood that the device and/or the method according to any one ofthe above discussed embodiments of the present invention may without departingfrom the original inventive concept be used outside of the hospital environment, byway of example on a cattle or pig farm or in connection with a waste treatmentplant. Obviously, each such application would be a scaled-up version of the deviceintended for hospital use.

Example 1Frozen l\/IIS seq-opt E Coli are placed on an agar plate and incubated over night at 37 degrees C. The next day, one bacterial colony is placed in liquid growth 170918 Amended Description - 2894700 v2.DOCX 23 medium. One day later 100 microliters are placed on several agar plates,respectively. On each of these plates, a mast disc impregnated with 20 microlitersCiprofloxacine solution was placed. LB agar plates (Sigma Aldrich) 35 g/liter, LB Broth 20 g/l.

Five control discs with 100, 10, 1, 0.1, and 0.01 mg/l were prepared. ln addition,urine containing Ciprofloxacine (100 mg/l) was processed in the device. Four samples were tested in the above bacterial model.

Sample 1 : Antibacterial effect by control Ciprofloxacine solution (100 mg/I).Sample 2: Antibacterial effect by condensed vapor from the device g aprotective structure.

Sample 3: Antibacterial effect by condensed vapor from the device ß aprotective structure.

Sample 4: Antibacterial effect by the remaining solution in the vaporization chamber.

The next day, the size of the bacteria-free ring around the Ciprofloxacine- impregnated mast disc was evaluated. 170918 Amended Description - 2894700 v2.DOCX 24 Results:Ciproflaxine (mg/I) Bacterial inhibition zone (mm) SD100 36.7 1.510 30.3 1.21 21.7 1.20.1 9 10.01 0 0Sample 1 37 0Sample 2 27 1.1Sample 3 11 0.6Sample 4 41 1.5 Liquid that passed through the device that lacked protective structure (Sample 2)had a bacterial inhibition zone of 26 mm, which approximately corresponds to 5 mg/I Ciproflaxine.

Liquid that passed through the device that employed a protective structure (Sample3) had a bacterial inhibition zone of 11 mm, which approximately corresponds to0.1 mg/I Ciproflaxine. Conclusively, the presence of a protective structure reducedthe antibiotic concentration in the condensed vapor by about 50 times,demonstrating the importance of the protective structure to obtain an effectiveisolation of substances by the device. Consequently, the invention provides a greatvariety of possible designs and adaptation of a device for isolation of material present in urine.

The teaching of this invention has numerous advantages. Different embodimentsor implementations may yield one or more of the following advantages. lt should benoted that this is not an exhaustive list and there may be other advantages notdescribed herein. One advantage of the teaching of this application is that itprovides a great flexibility in designing and operating the disclosed system. l\/loreover, due to its flexibility and limited space requirement the invention may beutilized in existing industries, which do not already have such an inventive system. 170918 Amended Description - 2894700 v2.DOCX

Claims (20)

1. Processanordning (1) för isolering av material, sàsom oönskade medicinska substanser, närvarande i upplöst tillstànd i urin frän människa eller djur, vilken processanordning innefattar: - en urinmottagningsenhet (3), - en vaporiseringskammare (6) som är i fluidkommunikation medurinmottagningskammaren (3), - organ, sàsom en pump (15), för reducering av trycket i vaporiseringskammaren(6) till under atmosfärstryck, - en uppvärmningsenhet (31) för uppvärmning av vaporiseringskammaren (6), - en doseringsenhet för tillsättning av ett icke-korrosivt skumförhindrande medel ivaporiseringskammaren (6), - en àngevakueringsenhet (7) som är i fluidförbindelse medvaporiseringskammaren (6) för att motta ànga därifràn, och - en avfallsutsläppsanordning (9) för att släppa ut avfall fràn vaporiseringskammaren (6), kännetecknad av: att processanordningen (1) vidare innefattar ätminstone en skyddsstruktur (21) som är i förbindelse med ängevakueringsenheten (7), vilken skyddsstruktur (21) är: - ängpermeabel, - inrättade att arbeta som en imborttagare för att hindra imbildandevätskedroppar, innefattande sädana som bär nämnda material, att passeragenom, och - uppvärmd för att förhindra att ànga kondenserar vid skyddsstrukturen (21),och att avfallsutsläppsanordningen innefattar en utbytbar avfallsbehällare (9) inrättadatt motta och isolera avfall som bildas i vaporiseringskammaren (6) genom vaporisering av urin, Claim translation - 3127243 v2.DOCX - vilken utbytbara avfallsbehàllare (9) stär i vätskeförbindelse medvaporiseringskammaren (6) för att kvarhàlla det isolerade avfallet däri, innefattande nämnda material.

2. Processanordning enligt krav 1, varvid ätminstone tvà skyddsstrukturer (21) är kopplade i serie och/eller parallellt med varandra.

3. Processanordning enligt krav 1, varvid skyddsstrukturen (21) innefattar ett flertal porösa och deformerbara fyllkroppar.

4. Processanordning enligt krav 3, varvid de porösa och deformerbara fyllkropparna är tillverkade av stàlull eller av ett polymersvampmaterial.

5. Processanordning enligt krav 1, varvid skyddsstrukturen innefattar ett metalnät med fasta avstànd mellan metalltràdarna.

6. Processanordning enligt krav 1, varvid skyddsstrukturen innefattar baffelenheter eller väsentligen tvädimensionella styva objekt.

7. Processanordning enligt krav 1, vidare innefattande en ureas-doseringsenhet.

8. Processanordning enligt krav 1, vidare innefattande en kondenseringsenhet (24) för mottagning av änga frän ängevakueringsenheten (7).

9. Processanordning enligt krav 8, vidare innefattande en förbindelse för att släppaut av kondenseringsenheten (24) kondenserad vätska i ett avloppssystem via ett dräneringsavlopp (28).10. Processanordning enligt krav 8, vidare innefattande en analysenhet (27) som är anordnad nedströms skyddsstrukturen (21) och som är inrättad att bestämmagraden av orenheter i ett kondensat som utvinns fràn kondenseringsenheten (7).

10. Claim translation - 3127243 v2.DOCX

11. Processanordning enligt krav 1, vidare innefattande en mikroorganism-reduceringsenhet (12) som är inrättad att värma upp den mottagna urinen till entemperatur överskridande 60 °C.

12. Processanordning enligt krav 1, vidare innefattande en pump (15) för reducering av trycket i vaporiseringskammaren (6) till under atmosfärstryck.

13. Processanordning enligt krav 1, vidare innefattande en doseringsenhet för tillsättning av ett icke-korrosivt skumförhindrande ämne i vaporiseringskammaren (e).

14. Processanordning enligt krav 1, dimensionerad och hopsatt som en enhet lämpad för mobil användning inomhus, säsom i ett sjukhus.

15. l\/letod för isolering av material, säsom oönskade medicinska substanser, närvarande i upplöst tillstànd i urin frän människa eller djur, vilken metod innefattar: - att motta (S 10) urin, - att överföra (S20) den mottagna urinen till en vaporiseringskammare (6), - att utsätta urinen för temperaturer som är tillräckliga för att vaporisera urinen,- att evakuera (S60) änga som bildats i vaporiseringskammaren (6) in i enevakueringsenhet (7), kännetecknad av: - att leda den i vaporiseringskammaren (6) bildade ängan genom enàngpermeabel skyddsstruktur som är inrättad att arbeta som enimborttagare för att hindra imbildande vätskedroppar, innefattande de sombär nämnda material, frän att passera genom evakueringsenheten (7), - att ytterligare värma upp ängan som passerar genom skyddsstrukturen föratt hindra ängan frän att kondensera vid skyddsstrukturen (21), och - att överföra avfallet som bildas i vaporiseringskammaren (6) till en utbytbaravfallsbehällare (9) där avfallet isoleras och kvarhälls, inklusive nämnda material.

16. l\/letod enligt krav 15, vidare innefattande: Claim translation - 3127243 v2.DOCX - att utsätta urinen för ett tryck under atmosfärstryck i vaporiseringskammaren (e).

17. Metod enligt krav 15, vidare innefattande:- att reducera mängden urea i den urin som finns i vaporiseringskammaren (6) genom att behandla urinen med ureas.

18. l\/letod enligt krav 15, vidare innefattande:- att bestämma mängden av orenheter i den evakuerade ängan, genom attanvända ett kondensat av änga som har passerat genom skyddsstrukturen(21).

19. l\/letod enligt krav 15, varvid den i vaporiseringskammaren (6) mottagna urinen värms upp till en temperatur överskridande 60 °C innan den överförs vidare.

20. l\/letod enligt krav 15, vidare innefattande: - att tillsätta ett icke-korrosivt skumförhindrande medel till vaporiseringskammaren (6) för att förhindra skumbildning. Claim translation - 3127243 v2.DOCX