Granted Patent B2

US 12,721,939 · App. 18/117,029 · Granted Sep 1, 2026

Inventors: John Pittinger (Evergreen, CO); Stephanie Lynne St. George (Centennial, CO); Taylor Polodna (Golden, CO); Bruce Ellingboe (Littleton, CO); Charles L. Hake (Arvada, CO); Evan Christopher Provan (Littleton, CO)

Assignee: Terumo BCT, Inc.

A61M1/3656A61M1/36224A61M1/3623A61M1/3693

Abstract

Claims (33)

1 . A method comprising:

detecting a condition including one or more of a change in flow of a fluid and a change in a composition of the fluid;

issuing an alarm in response to the condition detected;

lowering a flow rate in response to detecting the change in the flow of the fluid, wherein lowering the flow rate includes lowering a speed of a centrifuge to keep a temperature of the fluid at a particular level;

attempting to restart a donation process and increase the flow rate after lowering the flow rate;

ceasing operation of a donation process in response to detecting a pressure above a threshold pressure as the change in the flow of the fluid, the pressure above the threshold pressure indicating that the centrifuge is full; and

reversing the flow of the fluid in response to ceasing operation of the donation process, reversing the flow of the fluid including returning the fluid to a donor.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the change in flow includes a change in pressure.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the change in flow is associated with a collapsed vein.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the change in flow of the fluid comprises detecting that the flow rate has fallen below a threshold.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the change in the composition is associated with a color.

6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the change in the composition comprises using a color sensor to detect one or more of a red, a green, and a blue reflection or transmission to detect red blood cells.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the detecting the change in the composition of the fluid includes detecting a change in pressure in one or more tubes.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the issuing the alarm comprising using one or more of a sound, lights, and a graphical user interface (GUI).

9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the GUI provides one or more of information and instructions regarding the condition detected.

10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein:

the change in flow is associated with a collapsed vein; and

the GUI provides instructions to check a needle inserted in the donor.

11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the temperature of blood is about 42° Celsius or less.

12 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising clearing the condition detected.

13 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the attempting to restart the donation process and increase the flow rate further comprises increasing the speed of a centrifuge.

14 . A method comprising:

detecting a condition including one or more of a change in flow of a fluid and a change in a composition of the fluid;

issuing an alarm in response to the condition detected;

lowering a flow rate in response to detecting the change in the flow of the fluid, wherein lowering the flow rate includes lowering a speed of a centrifuge to keep a temperature of the fluid at a particular level;

attempting to restart a donation process and increase the flow rate after lowering the flow rate;

ceasing operation of a donation process in response to detecting a pressure above a threshold pressure as the change in the flow of the fluid, the pressure above the threshold pressure indicating that the centrifuge is full; and

reversing the flow of the fluid in response to ceasing operation of the donation process, reversing the flow of the fluid including returning the fluid to a donor, wherein

the issuing the alarm comprises using one or more of a sound, lights, and a graphical user interface (GUI),

the GUI provides one or more of information and instructions regarding the condition detected,

the change in flow is associated with a collapsed vein,

the GUI provides instructions to check a needle inserted in the donor, and

the speed of the centrifuge is lowered from about 5,000 rpm to about 1,950 rpm.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (2)

References Cited (400)