Flow meter for indirectly measuring the flow of blood from a blood pump

Abstract

Abstract A FLOW METER IS DISCLOSED WHICH INDIRECTLY MEASURES THE FLOW OF BLOOD FROM A BLOOD PUMP WITHOUT THE NECESSITY OF ENTERING THE BLOOD STREAM ITSELF TO SECURE A MEASUREMENT. THE FLOW METER IS CONTEMPLATED TO BE UTILIZED IN CONJUNCTION WITH A PULSATILE BLOOD PUMP OF THE TYPE COMPRISING A FIXED VOLUME CAVITY DIVIDED BY A FLEXIBLE MEMBER INTO A FIRST CHAMBER FILLED WITH BLOOD AND A SECOND CHAMBER, AND WHEREIN THE BLOOD IN THE FIRST CHAMBER IS EXPELLED BY THE PUMP UPON COMPRESSION OF THE FLEXIBLE MEMBER BY MEANS OF FLUID PULSES DELIVERED BY A FLUID AMPLIFIER AND APPLIED TO THE SECOND CHAMBER. THE INSTANTANEOUS PRESSURE OF FLUID IN THE SECOND CHAMBER IS SENSED AND A SIGNAL IS PRODUCED REPRESENTATIVE OF THE TIME VARYING VALUE THEREOF. THIS SIGNAL IS SUBSEQUENTLY INTEGRATED TO PRODUCE AN OUTPUT SIGNAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE VOLUME OF FLUID FLOW INTO THE SECOND CHAMBER OF THE PUMP AND THUS THE VOLUME OF BLOOD FLOW FROM THE FIRST CHAMBER OF THE PUMP SINCE, IN SUCH A SYSTEM, THE VOLUME OF AIR THAT ENTERS THE SECOND CHAMBER DURING EACH CYCLE OF PUMP OPERATION IS RELATED TO THE VOLUME OF BLOOD EXPELLED FROM THE FIRST CHAMBER. D R A W I N G

Inventors

• 👤 J Joyce
• 👤 F Villarroel

Bibliographic Details