Systems and methods for performing apheresis procedures, including photopheresis, are disclosed. The systems and methods utilize a disposable fluid circuit that can be converted from a double needle configuration to a single needle configuration and from a single needle configuration to a double needle configuration. A controller directs the action of system pumps to clear potentially stagnant blood residing in the fluid circuit, tracks system parameters and status before and after conversion, and verifies that the procedure may proceed in its new configuration.

The present invention relates to an insert piece for a blood tubing set that includes a first connection site for connecting a first tubing portion of the blood tubing set to the insert piece; a second connection site for connecting a second tubing portion of the blood tubing set to the insert piece; a third connection site for connecting a third tubing portion of the blood tubing set to the insert piece; a first main line for conducting a first liquid through the insert piece; a second main line for conducting the first liquid through the insert piece; a secondary line for conducting a second liquid into at least one of the first main line, and the second main line; and a connection portion which connects both main lines to each other or to the second connection site.

The invention relates to a blood treatment device for carrying out an extracorporeal blood treatment in which blood is guided in a blood guidance device having a main blood line and at least one secondary line, the latter being fluidically connected to the main blood line and the main blood line having a dialyzer and, downstream from the dialyzer, a blood treatment element, wherein the blood treatment device has a control device; and a pump configuration, which is equipped for generating blood flows in the main blood line and also in the at least one secondary line, wherein the control device is designed to operate the pump configuration in such a way that a first blood flow rate in the dialyzer is decoupled from a second blood flow rate in the blood treatment element. Furthermore, the invention relates to a blood guidance device for cooperation with the blood treatment device as well as for a blood treatment system.

The present disclosure describes a novel therapeutic apheresis system and, more specifically, methods and an apparatus for performing therapeutic apheresis. The present disclosure provides highly efficient methods for therapeutic apheresis that modulate the immune system, thereby resulting in treatment of one or more underlying immunological disease processes. In some embodiments, the disclosed methods return at least a portion of blood from an extracorporeal circuit to a patient in pulsatile flow, where the portion of blood that is returned is augmented. In other embodiments, the disclosed methods and apparatus use the central arterial system to exchange volumes of plasma to immunomodulate disease processes. The disclosed methods combine concepts of intermittent flow and continuous flow therapeutic apheresis with established cardiovascular concepts. In addition, the disclosed methods reduce the amount of time spent by patients in therapeutic apheresis sessions and decrease patients' dependence on immunological drugs that may have detrimental adverse effects.

A blood filtration system may include blood circuit configured to transmit a fluid within one or more lumens. The system may include an optical sensor configured to couple with the blood circuit. The optical sensor may measure one or more optical characteristics of the fluid in the blood circuit. The one or more optical characteristics may include a first optical characteristic corresponding to a concentration of an imaging substance in the fluid within the blood circuit. The system may include a controller in communication with the optical sensor. The controller may include a sampling module configured to record the one or more optical characteristics. The controller may include a physiological characteristic identification module configured to determine a plasma volume of the patient with the recorded optical characteristics of the imaging substance.

The invention provides apheresis devices and their use for removal of substantially all types of cell free DNA (cfDNA) in patients’ blood, including nucleosome-bound cfDNA, exosome-bound cfDNA and unbound cfDNA (including double stranded DNA (dsDNA), single stranded DNA (ssDNA) and oligonucleotides), to limit the negative effects of the circulating cfDNA and to treat various diseases.

A medical fluid delivery system and apparatus for remote machine updating and control are disclosed. An example medical fluid delivery apparatus includes a processor and a dialysis fluid circuit including at least one dialysis fluid pump. The processor is configured to receive a disinfection input to begin a disinfection procedure and cause the at least one dialysis fluid pump to perform a disinfection procedure on the dialysis fluid circuit using a disinfection fluid. The processor is also configured to, after the disinfection procedure is complete, start a disinfection timer. When a dialysis input is received before the disinfection timer reaches zero, the processor enables a dialysis treatment to be performed. When the disinfection timer reaches zero before the dialysis input is received, the processor prevents the dialysis treatment from being performed until the disinfection procedure is performed again.

Described are embodiments that include methods and devices for separating composite liquids into components. Embodiments involve the use of a flexible membrane for separating a composite liquid into components. The composite liquid may include, in embodiments, a cellular containing liquid, such as whole blood or components of whole blood. In one specific embodiment, the composite liquid is a buffy coat.

An optical sensor device configured for use in combination with a fluid flowing through a tubing, the optical sensor device includes a light source configured to emit a light, with at least a portion of the light being exposed to a fluid in the tubing and reflected, an optical sensor configured to receive at least a portion of the reflected light and analyze at least a portion of the received reflected light to determine a reflectance measurement, and a controller configured to correlate the reflectance measurement to an input particulate level and generate an output indicative of the fluid flow rate corresponding to the reflectance measurement. Also disclosed is a method of optically measuring fluid flow rate in a fluid processing system including optically monitoring fluid flow through a transparent portion of a tubing by measuring light reflectance of particles in the fluid.

A column is disclosed for removal of sTNF-R2 from a body fluid. The column has a compartment, an inlet coupled to the compartment and configured to receive the body fluid, and a substrate disposed within the compartment. A capture ligand is coupled to the substrate and has a modified sequence with an amino acid substitution in a reference sequence that includes a portion of a natural TNF sequence. The modified sequence has an affinity for the sTNF-R2 that is greater than an affinity of the reference sequence for the sTNF-R2.