Device for purging gas from a liquid

Claim 1

In a device for purgiNg gas bubbles from blood travelling through said device, said device comprising wall means defining a passageway, an inlet to and an outlet from said passageway, a flow path defined through said passageway between said inlet and said outlet, a hydrophobic porous membrane comprising at least 50 percent of said wall means and extending parallel to said flow path, pores in said membrane having an apparent diameter of 0.01 to 30 microns, an inner surface to said membrane having a surface tension less than 40 dynes/cm, the improvements of providing said passageway in unobstructed form such that said flow path is free from filtering devices, said passageway having a thickness perpendicular to said flow path and said membrane of between 0.5 and 10 mm, said membrane having an area of between 1 and 10cm2/ml/min of intended blood flow, and said device comprising two sheets of said hydrophobic porous membrane and a further sheet of liquid impermeable material interposed therebetween, said three sheets being superimposed upon one another in overlying relationship, a periphery to each of said sheets, all of said peripheries being secured together, means defining an inlet aperture for blood near edge of one of said membranes and means defining an outlet aperture for blood adjacent one edge of the other of said porous membranes and means defining a further aperture and the further sheet adjacent an opposite edge thereof whereby a ''''U'''' shaped passageway is provided in said device.