A controller for controlling an apparatus comprising a blood pump, oxygenator, and blood filtering system connected together by blood flow tubing and to a patient to circulate blood from the patient through the apparatus and back to the patient, to oxygenate and filter the blood, the controller comprising at least one communication interface operable to receive signals generated responsive to monitored parameters characterizing blood flow and/or quality of blood from the patient circulating through the apparatus and configured to: determine values for the monitored parameters based on the monitoring signals; determine whether or not a value determined for a given monitored parameter for blood circulating through the apparatus is within a normative range for the parameter; and generate an alarm to alert an operator of the system if the value is not within the normative range.

A device for establishing venous inflow to a blood reservoir of an extracorporeal blood circulation system includes a restricting unit for restricting a venous inflow line and a vacuum unit for supplying vacuum to the blood reservoir. The device includes a control unit that, upon setting the desired venous flow rate, automatically supplies a first actuating signal to the restricting unit for restricting venous inflow to the blood reservoir and supplies a second actuating signal to the vacuum unit for establishing a degree of vacuum within the blood reservoir, so as to achieve the set venous flow rate. The device includes a venous flow sensor.

Embodiments of the disclosure provide a method for evaluating dialyzers used in different medical applications (e.g., hemodialysis). Red blood cell volume lost in a dialyzer is monitored by obtaining blood flowrate measurements and hematocrit measurements at input ports and output ports of the dialyzer. The flowrate and hematocrit measurements are used to determine an accumulation of red cell blood volume in the dialyzer. The measurements may be obtained in a lab environment with an in-vitro blood source or may be obtained in a clinical setting with an in-vivo blood source from a patient.

A control system in a blood line (12) of a cardiopulmonary bypass perfusion system (1) comprises a flow sensor (26) to determine a flow value indicative of the flow rate, a controller configured to process the flow value, and an adjustable restriction (28) responsive to the controller, to reduce the flow rate in the venous blood line (12) to maintain a flow rate to the venous blood reservoir that does not exceed a restriction threshold. As the adjustable restriction (28) is responsive to the flow sensor (26), this provides a closed loop control mechanism that avoids restricting the blood line (12) of the perfusion system (1) more than intended.

The present disclosure relates to a medical device with respectively at least one hard part with fluid paths for guiding a medical fluid, for example blood through the hard part. The medical device 200 also includes a converter and a device for determining a characteristic of the device 200. The converter is arranged to measure the characteristic of the fluid, while the fluid is present in one of the fluid paths. The characteristic may be geometric characteristic, for example, a fluid path.

An extracorporeal circulation blood or treatment device (100) comprising an arterial pressure sensor (112) and a blood pump (111) is set up to determine amplitude variation and frequency of the pressure signals received from said arterial pressure sensor (112), calculate a parameter value based on said amplitude variation and said frequency, and issue an alarm if the parameter value exceeds a pre-set threshold value. Such detection aims at monitoring the occurrence of oscillating pressure signals. Such signals indicate an increased risk for hemolysis.

A portable arm support can be secured to an arm of a patient, for instance during a medical procedure (e.g., filtration of blood of the patient). The arm support can inhibit movement of the arm of the patient in one or more degrees of freedom (e.g., elevation, abduction, adduction, flexion, or the like). In some examples, the arm support includes a cuff and abase. In another example, the arm support includes an elongated member. In yet another example, the arm support includes a constricting band. The arm support can help maintain blood flow in the arm of the patient, and can help protect a catheter inserted into the arm of the patient (or protect other medical equipment proximate to the patient).

A control system controlling the blood flow rate in a blood supply system (1) in which a pump (18) transports blood from a reservoir (10) toward multiple outlets (30, 26, 26a) of which one or more outlets are openable to permit flow and closable to block flow, wherein the control system comprises a monitoring arrangement (22, 32, 32a) to determine the flow rate through a first outlet (30), and a controller responsive to the monitoring arrangement and controlling the pump (18) to maintain the flow rate through the first outlet (30) at a pre-determined level. This allows a flow rate through the first outlet to be maintained independently of any active blood diversions.

An extracorporeal circulation management device 10 displays an expected flow rate of blood flowing inside a circulation circuit 1R and an actual flow rate on a display unit 16, together with a standard pressure calculated based on the expected flow rate by referring to standard information representing a relation between the blood flow rate and a pressure loss occurring in each of devices 2, 5, and 6 provided in the circulation circuit 1R and stored in a storage unit, and an actual pressure related to each of the devices 2, 5, and 6, which is calculated based on an actual pressure measured by each of pressure measurement units 21, 22, and 23 as an actually measured value of a pressure of the blood flowing inside the circulation circuit 1R and the actual flow rate.

A device and method for monitoring an access to a patient, an extracorporeal blood circuit and/or a dialyzing fluid system includes a centrifugal pump for conveying blood or dialyzing fluid instead of an occluding pump. Centrifugal pumps bring about a large change in flow rate by even a small change in pressure difference across the pump. The device includes a measuring unit for measuring the flow rate of blood or dialyzing fluid conveyed by the centrifugal pump, and a control and computing unit configured to determine an incorrect vascular access or malfunction if a change in measured flow rate Q is more than a predetermined amount. For example, a small drop in pressure in the venous blood line leads to a marked increase in the flow rate of the centrifugal pump, which is used as a basis for the detection of an incorrect vascular access.