Examination of a Reverse-Osmosis Device for the Usage with Dialysis Devices

Abstract

The present invention concerns an electronic safety system for a RO-device (RO) which is designed to be used with at least one dialysis device (D). The system comprises the RO-device (RO), which is designed for the production of ultrapure water and which is developed with a sensor unit (S) for collecting sensor data and whereby the RO-device (RO) comprises an electronic data interface (RO-S) in order to send the sensor data collected by the sensor unit (5); and it also comprises an analysis unit (AE) which is designed to analyse a water sample with regards to safety requirements and especially with regard to contamination and to generate result data whereby the analysis unit (AE) is also developed with a analysis interface (AE-S) in order to send the generated result data in electronic form; and a network (NW) for the data exchange between the medical-technical entities, especially between the RO-device (RO) and the analysis unit (AE).

Claims

1. Electronic safety system for an RO-device (RO) which is adapted for the use with at least one other medical-technical device (D), especially dialysis device, with: The RO-device (RO) which is adapted for the production of ultrapure water and which is developed with a sensor unit (S) for collecting sensor data and whereby the RO-device (RO) comprises an electronic data interface (RO-S) in order to send the sensor data collected by the sensor unit (S); a laboratory system with at least one laboratory apparatus and with an analysis device (AE), wherein the at least one laboratory apparatus which is intended to analyse a water sample of the RO-device with regard to safety requirements and in particular to contamination, and wherein the analysis unit (AE) is intended to generate result data on the basis of the analysis of the at least one laboratory apparatus, wherein the analysis unit (AE) is also configured with an analysis interface (AE-S) in order to send the generated result data in electronic form; A network (NW) for the data exchange between medical-technical entities of the safety system, especially between the RO-device (RO) and the analysis unit (AE).

2. Safety system according to claim 1, wherein the system comprises a server (SV) which is designed to receive the sensor data of the RO-device (RO) and/or the result data of the analysis unit (AE) and which is further adapted to send the result data to the RO-device (RO) and/or the medical-technical device (D) for the purpose of open and/or closed loop control.

3. Safety system according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the system further comprises a water supply unit (VV) which is designed to supply the RO-device (RO) with water and whereby the water supply unit (VV) comprises a measuring unit (M) for collecting water consumption data and whereby the measuring unit (M) comprises a Bus interface (MBUS) in order to send the collected water consumption data.

4. Safety system according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the sensor data comprise parameters regarding the conductivity and/or parameters regarding the retention.

5. A safety system according to any of the preceding claims, wherein a preliminary result is calculated locally from the acquired sensor data and sent to the analysis unit (AE) to be validated or falsified in the analysis unit (AE) on the basis of the received water sample.

6. RO-device (RO) for the production of ultrapure water with a sensor unit (S) for collecting sensor data and with an electronic data interface (RO-S) which is adapted to be used in a safety system according to one of the preceding claims.

7. Analysis unit (AE) for a laboratory system with at least one laboratory apparatus for analysing a water sample with regard to safety requirements, wherein the analysis unit (AE) is intended to generate result data on the basis of the analysis of the water sample and to send the result data in electronic form via an analysis interface (AE-S) and wherein the analysis unit (AE) is intended for use in a safety system according to any of the preceding claims.

8. Server (SV) for the coordinated processing of safety data of a RO-device (RO) which is operated for at least one medical-technical device (D), especially dialysis device, wherein the server is adapted to be used in a safety system (1) according to the preceding system claims, with: An electronic data interface (SV-S1) for receiving the sensor data collected by the sensor unit (S); An analysis interface (SV-S2) for receiving the generated result data in electronic form.

9. Server (SV) according to the directly preceding claim, wherein the server (SV) further comprises a memory (MEM) for saving the received data and/or interacts with a database (DB) and/or comprises an evaluation unit (P) for further processing the received data.

10. Server (SV) according to one of the preceding claims aimed at the server, wherein the server (SV) further comprises a control interface in order to control the RO-device (RO) and/or the other medical-technical device(s) (D) on the basis of the result data.

11. Method for the safety-related monitoring of an RO-device (RO) which is adapted for the use with at least one other medical-technical device (D), especially dialysis device, with the following method steps: Collecting (100) sensor data during the operation of the RO-device (RO) which is adapted for the production of ultrapure water; Sending (200) the collected sensor data to an external communication partner in electronic form; Receiving result data representing an analysis of a water sample of the RO-device with regard to safety requirements;

12. Method according to the preceding claim, wherein the collecting (100) of the sensor data takes place continuously or in a time-controlled manner during the operation of the RO-device (RO) and/or after pre-definable events.

13. Method according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the sensor data and the result data are sent to a server (SV) for central processing and are saved thereon and are in particular supplied to a statistic evaluation across RO-devices.

14. Method according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the result data are sent directly to the medical-technical device (D) and/or the RO-device (RO) and are used for the respective controlling and if necessary can trigger an emergency stoppage locally.

15. Computer program product with a computer program with program sections for executing all method steps of the method according to one of the preceding method claims if the computer program is executed on a computer or on an electronic device.

Description

SHORT DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0057] FIG. 1 shows in a schematic representation a safety system according to the invention with an RO-device for the operation of dialysis devices and a server and their data exchange according to an advantageous embodiment of the invention.

[0058] FIG. 2 is a flow chart of a method according to a preferred embodiment of the invention.

[0059] FIG. 3 shows schematically the data exchange between dialysis device and server and RO-device according to an embodiment of the invention and

[0060] FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of the invention of the safety system without a server alternative to FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0061] In the following, the invention is described in greater detail by means of example embodiments with reference to the figures.

[0062] The invention concerns an electronic messaging service for RO-devices RO which are operated and used for dialysis stations with at least one dialysis device or another medical technical device D and which communicate a quality condition of the RO-device RO.

[0063] FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of the invention whereby the system 1 comprises a server SV. The server SV can at least partially be designed to evaluate water quality data. The evaluation of water quality is based on different input parameters which are provided by different devices (RO-device RO, analysis unit AE, database DB etc.).

[0064] For this purpose, a safety system 1 is provided which comprises several medical-technical mechanisms, among them medical-technical devices with electronic components each for data processing and communication.

[0065] The RO-device is designed for the production of ultrapure water which has to be fed to one orgenerallymore dialysis device(s) D of a dialysis station in order for them to be operated. In order to secure a sufficient quality of the input ultrapure water (adherence to threshold values of contaminations, e.g. of aluminum, chlorine, fluoride, sulphates and/or zincthe threshold values for a respective maximum concentration are defined as shown above in the norm ISO 13959:2014), the RO-device is RO is designed with a sensor unit S to collect sensor data (exemplary in FIG. 1 with sensors S1, S2, Sn). Furthermore, the RO-device RO comprises an electronic data interface RO-S to send the sensor data collected by the sensor unit S.

[0066] The RO-device RO is supplied by a water supply unit W which serves to supply water that can then be cleaned or treated in the RO-device RO. The water supply unit W comprises several electronic modules, among others the measuring unit M which serves to determine water consumption data 32. For this purpose, different measuring methods and sensors or signal transmitters can be used. Furthermore, the water supply unit W comprises interfaces for data communication which can be especially designed as an MBUS interface MBUS. Other medical-technical devices of system 1, e.g. the server SV and/or the analysis unit AE can communicate via this interface MBUS with the water supply unit W. This makes it possible for the AE analysis unit to acquire sensor data directly from the water supply unit W. This has the advantageous effect that the analysis unit AE can carry out a more comprehensive evaluation, which in particular takes into account the water consumption data 32 and, if necessary, further sensor data recorded on the water supply unit W for the calculation of the result data.

[0067] In a further advantageous embodiment, the sensor data recorded or collected on the water supply unit W can be transferred to the RO-device RO. This has the advantage that the sensor data of the water supply unit W can be calculated with the locally recorded sensor data of the RO-device to a preliminary result which is sent to the analysis unit for validation. The preliminary result can be displayed on an output unit (e.g. screen) of the water supply unit W and/or the RO-device RO for local control. This allows more comprehensive and meaningful calculations to be made for the preliminary result.

[0068] The analysis unit AE can be arranged in a laboratory system. The laboratory system with laboratory apparatuses is configured to analyse a water sample of the RO-device in regards to safety requirements and especially in regards to contamination. On the basis of the analysis result and, if necessary, taking into account additionally recorded sensor data (from the water supply unit W and/or from the RO-device RO), result data are calculated or generated in accordance with stored rules. The result data are also provided in a digital format, especially in a result format. Hereby it can be a matter of a configurable data structure, especially according to the XML-format. Furthermore, the analysis unit AE comprises an analysis interface AE-S in order to send the generated result data in electronic form to external communication partners (especially to the RO-device RO and/or to the connected dialysis devices D).

[0069] The units and devices of the safety system 1 are connected via a network NW.

[0070] As indicated in FIG. 1, there are typically several dialysis devices D and/or further units connected to the RO-device. This is represented in FIG. 1 by the two exemplarily shown devices D1, Dn.

[0071] The safety system 1 comprises a server SV in a in FIG. 1 represented (first) preferred embodiment of the invention. It is preferably centrally accessible via network interfaces via a technical communication network NW and can be designed as a cloud server. The server SV is in a data exchange with the connected devices, especially with the RO-device RO, the medical-technical devices D, the analysis unit AE and if necessary the database DB. In this first embodiment of the invention, an evaluation application or an evaluation functionality is implemented in a processor P on the server SV which is designed to evaluate the detected data. Especially the result data and the sensor data and if applicable historic data are processed from a database DB according to pre-definable rules in order to indicate a result message about the quality condition of the water provided by the RO-device. The result message can preferably be used to operate the RO-device and/or the connected dialysis devices D. Hereby, the relevant results can be provided directly locally at the point of use. The server SV and the evaluation application implemented in it can preferably be provided as a web-platform and browser-based. The server can access a local memory MEM for further calculations, e.g. statistic evaluation, and/or can save the determined or imported data there.

[0072] In the database, configurable rules can also be stored in a preferred embodiment, which specify when the result data is to be sent to the respective recipients. Furthermore, it can be definedfor example, specifically for certain geographical regions or countrieswhich additional functions and messages are to be sent to the recipients together with the results data in a data package. The functions can be, for example, control functions for the dialysis machine and/or the RO-device (switching the dialysis machine on and off, limiting the machine's functionalityespecially depending on the analysis result, etc.) and the messages can be the creation of warning messages (e.g. on the RO-device that the water quality does not meet the required safety requirements with information on limit violations). The rules can be specified in a configuration phase dedicated to the respective recipients of the result data (or data packages) or different recipient groups. This is advantageous for achieving important additional flexibility.

[0073] The server SV and the evaluation application implemented on it can preferably be provided as web platform and browser-based. The server SV can access a local memory MEM for further calculations, e.g. statistical evaluations, and/or store the calculated or read-in data there.

[0074] As already described briefly above, the analysis unit AE is designed to generate result data from the lab report or the laboratory results according to a predefined format in order to transfer them to an external communication partner.

[0075] In FIG. 1, the dotted arrows (from the water supply unit W to the RO-device RO and from the RO-device to the analysis unit AE) are meant to indicate that it is not a matter of a data transfer but a transfer of physical mediums, thus in the first case it is water being transferred to the RO-device RO and in the second case it is a water sample being transferred to the analysis unit AE. The other arrows indicate the electronic exchange of analogue and/or digital data.

[0076] Generally, the system can be operated in two embodiments.

[0077] As described above, a central server SV is connected to the system 1 in a first embodiment shown in FIG. 1. On the server SV, the evaluation application for evaluating the detected data is implemented. The server SV is preferably cloud-based and is accessible via IP-based interfaces (e.g. TCP/IP) SV-S1, SV-S2. In this embodiment of the invention, the exchanged data are first sent from the respective sender (e.g. RO-device RO, analysis unit AE) to the central server SV which then sends the received data either directly or in pre-processed form to the respective recipient (e.g. RO-device RO, analysis unit AE). Furthermore, the data from the water supply unit W and/or the data of the dialysis devices D can communicate via the interfaces SV-S1, SV-S2 (not explicitly shown in FIG. 1). Thus, the server SV operates in this embodiment as a proxy or intermediary node in the chain between data source and data sink. This embodiment of the invention has the advantage that all data can be aggregated on the server SV in order to allow for another evaluation and processing to be carried out. That way, especially historic datasets can be compared with current datasets in order to be able to provide further statements (e.g. In 80% of the cases in which the result data indicate an insufficient water quality, the sample has been taken from a group of RO-devices that are located in a certain geographic region or in 90% of the cases in which the result data indicate an insufficient water quality, the sample has been taken in a certain time phase). In particular, a statistic evaluation across RO-devices can be carried out. Furthermore, the hereby determined reference data can be provided on other RO-devices for the purpose of comparison/reference. Furthermore, manually entered data relating to the RO-device RO can be considered as well within the scope of the evaluation application. For accessing and saving the data, the memory MEM can be used.

[0078] In a second embodiment of the invention there is no central server provided. In this case, the RO-device and/or the water supply unit W and/or the dialysis device D interact directly with the analysis unit AE and vice versa. This second embodiment is meant to be represented in FIG. 1 by the fact that at least the RO-device RO communicates directly (without intermediation by the server SV) with the analysis unit AE which is marked by the arrow between the respective interfaces RO-S, AE-S, which runs without intermediation by the server SV. In this case, the evaluation application for evaluating the data and for determining the result message can be provided at least partially on the analysis unit AE. The application can also be partially implemented on other electronic devices. The result data or the result message then comprise a control dataset which is designed for operating the respective device. In case of an error (insufficient ultrapure water quality), the control dataset can comprise a section that e.g. triggers the issuing of a warning message and/or a deactivation of the RO-device RO. Furthermore, the control data set can comprise a notification field which triggers a notification of further entities or devices. This notification is meant to be put into effect especially when the control dataset has been transferred to the external communication partner (e.g. to the RO-device RO). That way, there can be triggered automatically e.g. warning messages directly and locally on the dialysis devices D which are connected to the RO-device RO. That has the advantage that in cases relevant to security, the relevant information can be provided directly and locally and thus necessary measures can be initiated directly without having to inform interconnected entities. In an advantageous version it is intended that the result data or the result message has to be cleared by a user (e.g. a laboratory consultant) before they are transferred to further devices and entities. This can be carried out via a provided field and a user input determined on said field. The clearing can be tied to different roles of the user (with specific qualifications).

[0079] This embodiment is described in greater detail by means of FIG. 4 further below.

[0080] FIG. 2 shows the procedure of the method according to a preferred embodiment of the invention. After the start of the method for the safety-related quality check of the RO-device RO and thus the operation of connected dialysis devices D according to the law, sensor data are collected in step 100 during the operation of the RO-device RO. This takes place preferably in pre-definable time intervals, after pre-configurable events (e.g. upon connecting another dialysis device D and/or after carrying out a certain number of dialyses) and/or continuously during the operation of the RO-device. In step 200, the sensor data collected on the RO-device RO and/or on the water supply unit W are sent to an external communication partner (outside of the RO-device) in electronic form. According to one of each of the both above described embodiments, the sensor data are transferred to the server SV or to the analysis unit AE. The analysis unit AE additionally receives the water sample and analyses it in order to be able to provide result data. This takes place in step 300. In the following step 400, the generated result data are transferred in electronic form for the operation of the RO-device and/or the medical technical device D either directly to the respective devices RO, D, and/or to the server SV. They are then processed transferred from the server SV and can be saved centrally there as well. That way, a first RO-device RO can also access reference data from other second RO-devices in comparable form. Thereafter, the method can be carried out iteratively or can be ended.

[0081] FIG. 3 shows a sequence diagram with both of the different versions for data exchange between the electronic units of the system 1 as described above: [0082] 1. With a central server SV and an evaluation application implemented on it (dot-and-dashed line); [0083] 2. Without a server (continuous lines). Here, the RO-device and the dialysis device D and the measuring unit M interact directly with the evaluation application that is in this case implemented on the evaluation unit AE.

[0084] During the operation of the RO-device, sensor data 31 are collected locally and are sent from there directly to the analysis unit AE (continuous arrow). Alternatively, the sensor data are sent first to the server SV and are then sent from there to the analysis unit AE (depicted in FIG. 3 as dot-and-dash). Parallel or simultaneously, water consumption data 32 are collected on the measuring unit M of the water supply unit W which are sent to the server SV for the purpose of evaluation in the first version (depicted in FIG. 3 as dot-and-dash). Alternatively or cumulatively, the water consumption data 32 can also be sent to the analysis unit AE (continuous line). In this case, an evaluation application for the evaluation of the data is implemented on the analysis unit AE, so that the respective functionality of the server SV is transferred in this case to the analysis unit AE (represented schematically in FIG. 4). The analysis unit AE generates a result dataset 33 on the basis of the executed laboratory examination or the analysis which is then transferred directly to the medical-technical devices RO, D, W (continuous lines)or in the other embodiment via intermediation and/or saving of the server SV which then sends the data in processed or unprocessed form to the recipients RO, D, W (represented in FIG. 3 dot-and-dash). The processing and evaluation on the server SV can comprise further method steps as described above, e.g. a statistic evaluation or a comparison with historic data. The further result of these method steps is indicated in FIG. 3 with the reference sign 33 and can be sent to the respective local entities RO, W, D.

[0085] FIG. 4 schematically shows an embodiment whereby the system is operated without a server. The dashed lines (W.fwdarw.RO, RO.fwdarw.AE) do not representlike in FIG. 1a data exchange, but the transfer of physical products (water, ultrapure water). Regarding the data exchange, the RO-device RO and the analysis unit AE and if applicable the water supply unit W interact with each other directly via a network which can e.g. be TCP/IP-based. In this embodiment of the invention, the functionality that has been implemented on the server SV in the first embodiment is implemented on the analysis unit AE. The data of the water supply unit W or its measuring unit M, the sensor data of the RO-device RO and if applicable the data of the dialysis devices D are sent directly to the analysis unit AE and are processed there. It is also possible that the water supply unit W is connected with the RO-device RO via a data interface. The data collected on the water supply unit W can then be sent indirectly via the intermediation of the RO-device RO to the analysis unit AE. For processing the imported data on the analysis unit AE, reference data can be imported from the database DB and vice versa, the data collected by the analysis unit AE and the processed data can be saved on the database DB. The result of the analysis is either transferred to the RO-device (dot-and-dash line) or the data can be sent from the analysis unit AE directly to the water supply unit W for the purpose of operating (this embodiment is indicated in FIG. 4 with the continuous arrow).

[0086] Concludingly, it may be pointed out that the description of the invention and the embodiments are generally not to be seen as restrictive in regards to certain physical realizations of the invention. All features described and shown in connection with individual embodiments of the invention can be intended in different combination with the object according to the invention in order to realize their advantageous effect. It is thus also within the scope of the invention to provide alternatively or cumulatively to the server SV other central units, e.g. a database DB. Equally, there can be further medical-technical devices and/or computer-based devices (such as mobile devices) connected to the RO-device RO apart from the dialysis devices D, on which the result data are issued. It is in particular obvious for the person skilled in the art that the invention can not only be used for dialysis devices, but also for other medical-technical devices D which require ultrapure water from an RO-device RO for their operation. Thus, e.g. the monitoring of the quality of the ultrapure water can also be used for sterilisation and cleaning processes for the sterilisation of the clinical set of instruments.

[0087] Furthermore, the components or modules of the safety system for the monitoring of the quality of the ultrapure water can be realised distributed across several physical products. It is thus e.g. within the scope of the invention that an application for the evaluation of the result data is completely or partially arranged on the analysis unit AE or that the application is implemented completely or partially on the server SV. Additionally, sections of the computer program for executing the method can also be implemented directly on the medical-technical devices D, RO.

[0088] The scope of protection of the present invention is disclosed by the claims and is not restricted by the features described in the description or shown in the figures.

REFERENCE SIGNS

[0089] D Medical-technical device, especially dialysis device

[0090] SV Server

[0091] P Evaluation unit

[0092] MEM Memory

[0093] RO Reverse osmosis device, shortened: RO-device

[0094] AE Analysis unit

[0095] AE-S Analysis interface of the analysis unit

[0096] RO-S Data interface of the RO-device

[0097] W Water supply unit

[0098] M Measuring unit of the water supply unit

[0099] MBUS Bus interface of the water supply unit

[0100] 100 Collecting sensor data

[0101] 200 Sending sensor data collected on the RO-device

[0102] 300 Generating result data

[0103] 400 Sending result data

[0104] DB Database

[0105] NW Network