Fluid handling assembly and related tube set and method for use in surgical procedures

1. A fluid handling tubing set for use in surgical interventions, said tubing set utilizable with a console including:

a housing having a panel;

a peristaltic pump mounted to said housing and extending outwardly from said panel, said pump including a roller set and an anvil movably attached to said panel;

a pinch valve mounted to said housing, said pinch valve having a slot or gap between two jaws movable relative to one another, said peristaltic pump and said pinch valve being spaced along a line from one another; and

a first seat and a second seat on said panel on opposite sides of said line,

said tubing set including:

an irrigation tube;

an aspiration tube;

a first disk having a first coupling element for attaching a major outer side or face of said first disk to said panel of said console; and

a second disk having a second coupling element for attaching a major outer side or face of said second disk to said panel of said console, said irrigation tube and said aspiration tube each being coupled to both said first disk and said second disk so that said irrigation tube and said aspiration tube extend parallel to said panel and in spaced relation to one another between said first disk and said second disk and are respectively operatively engageable with said peristaltic pump and said pinch valve upon attachment of said first disk and said second disk to said panel at said first seat and said second seat respectively, said first disk being configured for attachment to said panel only in said first seat and said second disk being configured for attachment to said panel only in said second seat with said first disk and said second disk extending parallel to said panel.

2. The tubing set defined in claim 1 wherein said console includes coupling elements that cooperate with said first coupling elements and said second coupling element to releasably fasten said first disk and said second disk to said panel at said first seat and said second seat, respectively.

3. The tubing set defined in claim 2 wherein at least a plurality of said first coupling element, said second coupling element, and said coupling elements of said console include magnets.

4. The tubing set defined in claim 2 wherein said first disk and said second disk are disks of different sizes.

5. The tubing set defined in claim 1 wherein said first disk and said second disk have different geometries.

6. A method for use ancillary to a surgical procedure, comprising:

providing a tubing set for carrying fluids, said tubing set including a first tube, a second tube, a first attachment element, and a second attachment element, said first tube and said second tube each being coupled to both said first attachment element and said second attachment element, said first attachment element and said second attachment element having different geometries;

seating said first attachment element in a first seat on a panel of a console and said second attachment element in a second seat on said panel of said console so that said first tube and said second tube extend in spaced relation to one another between said first attachment element and said second attachment element;

thereafter manipulating said first tube so as to dispose a portion of said first tube in operative engagement with a roller set and an anvil of said console projecting from said panel; and

also thereafter manipulating said second tube so as to insert said second tube into a slot or gap of a pinch valve of said console projecting from said panel.

7. A surgical console comprising:

a housing having a panel;

a peristaltic pump mounted to said housing and extending outwardly from said panel, said pump including a roller set and an anvil movably attached to said panel;

a pinch valve mounted to said housing, said pinch valve being different from said peristaltic pump and said roller set and anvil, said pinch valve having a slot or gap between two jaws movable relative to one another, said peristaltic pump and said pinch valve being spaced along a line from one another; and

a first seat and a second seat on said panel on opposite sides of said line, said first seat and said second seat being differently configured to each receive only one of a pair of different attachment elements, a pair of tubes each being coupled to both said different attachment elements so that said tubes extend parallel to said panel and in spaced relation to one another between said different attachment elements and are operatively engageable with respective ones of said peristaltic pump and said pinch valve upon seating of said different attachment elements in predetermined ones of said first seat and said second seat.

8. The console defined in claim 7 wherein said seats have different geometries.

9. The console defined in claim 8 wherein said seats are recesses in said panel.

10. The console defined in claim 7 , further comprising quick-release coupling elements mounted to said housing at said first seat and said second seat.

11. The console defined in claim 10 wherein said quick-release coupling elements are magnetic elements.

12. The console defined in claim 7 , further comprising a plurality of indicators on said panel that signal successful placement of a first tube between said roller set and said anvil of said peristaltic pump and a second tube between said jaws.

13. The console defined in claim 12 wherein said indicators are lights.

14. The console defined in claim 7 , further comprising an air bubble detector at said second seat, said air bubble detector being located to be juxtaposed to said irrigation tube upon seating of said second attachment element in said second seat.

15. The console defined in claim 14 wherein said air bubble detector is an ultrasound sensor.

16. The console defined in claim 7 wherein said panel is a side panel of said housing, said peristaltic pump and said pinch valve being located vertically one above the other.