Systems and methods for incorporating patient pressure into medical fluid delivery

Abstract

Systems and methods are disclosed for incorporating patient pressure into medical fluid delivery. An example system includes a medical fluid delivery machine and a medical fluid handling device including a patient line for being placed in fluid communication with a patient. The medical fluid delivery machine includes a control unit, a pump actuator for actuating the medical fluid handling device to move medical fluid into or out of the device, and a pressure sensor configured to sense a pressure of the medical fluid. The control unit is programmed to perform a routine during pumping in which the control unit determines if at least a component of a signal reading from the pressure sensor is indicative of a pressure within the patient, and determines from the component of the signal reading indicative of the pressure in the patient whether to continue pumping or stop pumping.

The invention is claimed as follows: 
     
         1 . A medical fluid delivery system comprising:
 a medical fluid handling device including a patient line for being placed in fluid communication with a patient; and   a medical fluid delivery machine including
 a pump actuator for actuating the medical fluid handling device to move medical fluid into or out of the device, 
 a pressure sensor positioned and arranged within the medical fluid handling device and configured to sense pressure of the medical fluid, and 
 a control unit in signal communication with the pressure sensor and control communication with the pump actuator, the control unit programmed to perform a routine during pumping in which the control unit
 (i) determines if at least one signal reading or a component of the at least one signal reading from the pressure sensor is indicative of a pressure within the patient, and (ii) 
 determines from the at least one pressure signal reading or component reading indicative of the pressure in the patient whether to continue pumping or stop pumping. 
 
   
     
     
         2 . The medical fluid delivery system of  claim 1 , wherein the medical fluid handling device further includes a patient transfer set for connecting to a patient's indwelling catheter, and wherein the pressure sensor is placed within the patient transfer set. 
     
     
         3 . The medical fluid delivery system of  claim 1 , wherein the medical fluid handling device further includes a pumping cassette, and wherein the pressure sensor is placed within the pumping cassette. 
     
     
         4 . The medical fluid delivery system of  claim 1 , wherein the pressure sensor is placed within the patient line. 
     
     
         5 . The medical fluid delivery system of  claim 1 , wherein the pressure sensor is a micromechanical (“MEMS”) sensor. 
     
     
         6 . The medical fluid delivery system of  claim 1 , wherein the control unit is programmed to perform at least (i) or (ii) in a frequency domain. 
     
     
         7 . The medical fluid delivery system of  claim 1 , wherein determining from the at least one pressure signal reading or component of the at least one pressure signal reading whether to continue pumping or stop pumping includes evaluating a change in the at least one pressure signal reading or component of the at least one pressure signal reading. 
     
     
         8 . The medical fluid delivery system of  claim 1 , wherein the control unit includes at least one of at least one processor, at least one memory, or at least one delegate controller. 
     
     
         9 . The medical fluid delivery system of  claim 1 , wherein the pressure within the patient is an intraperitoneal pressure (“IPP”). 
     
     
         10 . The medical fluid delivery system of  claim 1 , wherein the pressure sensor and the control unit are configured to record a continuous or semi-continuous measurement of the pressure of the medical fluid. 
     
     
         11 . The medical fluid delivery system of  claim 10 , wherein the control unit is configured to determine the at least one signal reading or the component of the at least one signal reading is indicative of the pressure within the patient by:
 converting the sensed pressure of the medical fluid from a time dependent signal into a frequency domain; and   determine at least one of the frequencies of the sensed pressure of the medical fluid in the frequency domain corresponds to thepressure within the patient.   
     
     
         12 . The medical fluid delivery system of  claim 11 , wherein the control unit is further configured to use at least one of a low-pass filter, a high-pass filter, a Twin T Active Notch filter, or a bandpass filter on the sensed pressure of the medical fluid in the frequency domain before determining at least one of the frequencies corresponds to pressure within the patient. 
     
     
         13 . The medical fluid delivery system of  claim 11 , wherein the control unit is further configured to convert the sensed pressure of the medical fluid in the frequency domain to a value that represents the pressure within the patient. 
     
     
         14 . The medical fluid delivery system of  claim 1 , wherein the control unit is configured to determine to stop pumping when the at least one pressure signal reading or component reading indicative of the pressure in the patient is indicative that a peritoneal cavity of the patient is full or near to full with the medical fluid. 
     
     
         15 . A medical fluid delivery method comprising:
 causing a pump actuator, included within a medical fluid delivery machine, to actuate a medical fluid handling device to move medical fluid into or out of the device, the medical fluid handling device including a patient line for being placed in fluid communication with a patient;   recording, via a pressure sensor positioned and arranged within the medical fluid handling device, pressure of the medical fluid during actuation of the medical fluid handling device;   determining, via a control unit, when at least one signal reading or a component of the at least one signal reading from the pressure sensor is indicative of a pressure within the patient; and   determining, via the control unit, whether to continue pumping with the pump actuator or stop pumping using the at least one pressure signal reading or component reading indicative of the pressure in the patient.   
     
     
         16 . The medical fluid delivery method of  claim 15 , wherein the control unit is configured to determine to stop pumping when the at least one pressure signal reading or component reading indicative of the pressure in the patient is indicative that a peritoneal cavity of the patient is full or near to full with the medical fluid. 
     
     
         17 . The medical fluid delivery method of  claim 15 , further comprising:
 converting, via the control unit, the sensed pressure of the medical fluid from a time dependent signal into a frequency domain; and   determining, via the control unit, at least one of the frequencies of the sensed pressure of the medical fluid in the frequency domain corresponds to the pressure within the patient.   
     
     
         18 . The medical fluid delivery method of  claim 15 , wherein the medical fluid handling device further includes a patient transfer set for connecting to a patient's indwelling catheter, and wherein the pressure sensor is placed within the patient transfer set. 
     
     
         19 . The medical fluid delivery method of  claim 15 , wherein the medical fluid handling device further includes a pumping cassette, and wherein the pressure sensor is placed within the pumping cassette. 
     
     
         20 . The medical fluid delivery method of  claim 15 , wherein the pressure sensor is placed within the patient line.