A syringe (1) comprises a barrel (2), a stopper (3) and a plunger (4). The barrel (2) has a hollow interior, an orifice (21) and an opening (22) opposite to the orifice (21). The stopper (3) is arranged in the hollow interior of the barrel (2) thereby defining a sealed chamber (5) in the interior of the barrel (2). The stopper (3) is displaceable in the interior of the barrel (2) thereby varying a volume of the chamber (5). The plunger (4) extends through the opening (22) of the barrel (2) into the hollow interior of the barrel (2). The plunger (4) has a distal end (41) outside of the barrel (2) and a proximal end (42) inside the hollow interior of the barrel (2). The stopper (3) has a distal face (31) directed towards the plunger (4), a proximal face (32) directed towards the chamber (5) and an internal cavity (33) opening at the distal face (31). The syringe (1) is equipped with a sealing structure sealing the cavity (33) of the stopper (3) such that the cavity (33) of the stopper (3) is microbiologically sealed.

A dialysis machine (e.g., a peritoneal dialysis (PD) machine) can include a pressure sensor mounted at a proximal end of a patient line made of a distensible material that provides PD solution to a patient through a catheter. During treatment, an occlusion can occur at different locations in the patient line and/or the catheter. When an incremental volume of additional solution is provided to the patient line while the occlusion is present, a change in pressure results. The change in pressure depends on the dimensions and the distensibility of the non-occluded portion of the patient line. If the change in pressure, the incremental volume, the properties related to the distensibility of the patient line, and some of the dimensions of the patient line are known, the location of the occlusion can be inferred. The occlusion type can be inferred based on the determined location.

A method for removing bodily fluid includes drawing bodily fluid that has accumulated in excess, converting the drawn fluid from bulk liquid form to aerosol form, and disposing of the aerosol via evaporation of liquid droplets and absorption and/or diffusion of vapor. Conversion from bulk liquid to aerosol may include collecting the bulk liquid fluid in a reservoir, conveying the bulk liquid bodily fluid to an atomizer, converting the bulk liquid fluid into an aerosol having ultrafine droplets, and ejecting the aerosol into a subcutaneous space for disposal via evaporation of liquid droplets and absorption and/or diffusion of vapors. The method may be performed with a subcutaneous atomizer that may be controlled locally or by an external transmitter for effecting a conversion and mist rate to keep pace with the accumulation of excess bodily fluid.

A method and apparatus are disclosed for determining status of a canister of a topical negative pressure (TNP) system. The method includes the steps of monitoring pressure provided by a pump element of the TNP system, determining at least one characteristic associated with the monitored pressure and determining status of at least one parameter associated with a canister of the TNP system responsive to the determined characteristics.

A method and apparatus are disclosed for determining status of a canister of a topical negative pressure (TNP) system. The method includes the steps of monitoring pressure provided by a pump element of the TNP system, determining at least one characteristic associated with the monitored pressure and determining status of at least one parameter associated with a canister of the TNP system responsive to the determined characteristics.

A method is presented for checking the integrity of a hollow-fibre fluid filter, in particular a hollow-fibre dialyzer (1), which is constructed from a plurality of hollow fibres (15) enclosed by a membrane, with the steps of: perfusing the inside or outside of the hollow fibres (15) with a fluid, supplying the outside or inside of the hollow fibres (15) with a gas, wherein the gas has a higher pressure than the fluid, and determining a quantity of the gas which penetrates into the fluid through holes in the membrane. The method is characterized in that, after flowing through the hollow-fibre fluid filter (1), the fluid is channelled through a bubble trap (30), and in that a volume of gas (41) collecting in the bubble trap (30) during a predefined or predefinable reference period is determined. Furthermore, equipment for checking the integrity of a hollow-fibre fluid filter (1) is presented.

The present disclosure relates to a test device to be inserted into the syringe receptacle of a pump, for example for a blood treatment apparatus, for testing at least one function of the pump and/or of the blood treatment apparatus. The test device includes a holding device for releasably holding the test device on the housing of the blood treatment apparatus. In addition, the test device includes at least one movable actuator and at least one electric motor arranged to directly or indirectly move said movable actuator or a section thereof.

An approach for determining material compatibility for components of a drug delivery system is provided that includes using surface zeta-potential analytical method to evaluate surface interactions between a desired molecule and at least one material present within a given IV-bag system.

An electronic smoking article includes an outer tube extending in a longitudinal direction, an inner tube within the outer tube and including a pair of opposing slots, a liquid supply comprising a liquid material, a coil heater, a wick and a mouth end insert. The coil heater is located in the inner tube. The coil heater is formed of an iron-free, nickel-chromium alloy and has substantially uniformly spaced windings. The wick is surrounded by the coil heater such that the wick delivers liquid material to the coil heater and the coil heater heats the liquid material to a temperature sufficient to vaporize the liquid material and form an aerosol in the inner tube.

An apparatus for applying positive pressure nebulized liquid to a patient includes a funneled T-connector having a funnel with a first opening of a first diameter, a second opening of a second diameter smaller than the first diameter, and a funnel wall extending between the first and second openings. The funneled T-connector further has a cylindrical nebulizer port that extends outwardly from the funnel wall. A nebulizer cup assembly includes a nebulizer cup to contain liquid and a nebulizer cap to removably attach to a top region of the nebulizer cup. The nebulizer cap has a cylindrical nebulizer outlet sized to removably attach to the cylindrical nebulizer port. The cylindrical nebulizer outlet extends upwardly through the nebulizer passage, beyond the cylindrical nebulizer port, and into the internal funnel space such that a top edge of the cylindrical nebulizer outlet is located within the internal funnel space.