Device to Dispense Fluids

摘要

An apparatus to dispense fluids may include a reusable portion and a disposable portion. The disposable portion may include components that come into contact with the fluid, while the reusable portion may include only components that do not come into contact with the fluid. The apparatus includes an acoustic volume sensor that acoustically excites a fixed-volume chamber and a measurement chamber with a loudspeaker and measures the acoustic response with microphones acoustically coupled to the fixed volume chamber and the measurement chamber. The loudspeaker and sensing microphones are connected to the measurement chamber by separate ports. A detachable dispensing chamber is coupled to the acoustic volume sensor. The volume of the fluid dispensed is determined by a processor based on the acoustic response of the microphones to acoustic excitement by the loudspeaker.

主权项

1. An apparatus to dispense fluid comprising:
a disposable portion containing a substrate having flexible membrane material thereon and incorporating therein:
a fluid channel, the fluid channel being part of a fluid path in the disposable portion from a reservoir port to a cannula portat least one valve region;at least one pump region; anda dispensing chamber, the dispensing chamber containing a variable fluid volume and covered by a resilient diaphragm; a reusable portion comprising:
a mechanical assembly that interacts mechanically with the pump and valve regions through the membrane material in such a manner as to achieve pumping of fluid along the fluid path; andan acoustic volume sensor to measure the change in fluid volume of the dispensing volume, the acoustic volume sensor comprising:
a structure containing a fixed-volume chamber, a first port, and a measurement chamber, the structure is located within the apparatus so that the dispensing chamber and measurement chamber share a boundary defined by the resilient diaphragm, the first port acoustically couples the fixed-volume chamber to the measurement chamber;a printed circuit board disposed within the structure, the printed circuit board defining the fixed-volume chamber within the structure and the printed circuit board including:
a loudspeaker acoustically coupled to the fixed-volume chamber;a reference microphone acoustically coupled to the fixed-volume chamber; anda sensing microphone acoustically coupled to the measurement chamber via a second port; anda processor configured to calculate a change in volume of the measurement chamber wherein the processor determines the volume of fluid displaced from the dispensing chamber.