Patent ID: 11918719
Assignee: SORIN GROUP ITALIA S.R.L.
Field: Medical technology (Instruments)
Classification: CPC A | IPC A

Claim 14:
15. A method of directing blood and heat exchanger fluid through a blood processing apparatus comprising:
providing a blood processing apparatus having:
a housing having a first end and a second end, a blood inlet at the first end, a heat exchanger fluid inlet and a heat exchanger fluid outlet at the second end, a heat exchanger core situated in the housing, a cylindrical shell extending coaxially about the heat exchanger core, the cylindrical shell having an annular shell aperture disposed near the second end, a blood flow distributor in fluid communication with the blood inlet near the first end, a plurality of heat exchanger hollow fibers disposed about an exterior of the heat exchanger core, and disposed in a heat exchange chamber, the blood flow distributor defining a plurality of radially distributed blood distributing apertures spaced around a circumference of the blood flow distributor, and
a central chamber disposed in the heat exchanger core in fluid communication to a fluid flow distributor defining a plurality of radially distributed fluid distributing apertures equally spaced around a circumference of the fluid flow distributor;
directing blood from the blood inlet at the first end through the blood distributing apertures in the blood flow distributor to the exterior of the heat exchanger core in the heat exchange chamber, and through the annular shell aperture near the second end;
and directing heat exchanger fluid from the heat exchanger fluid inlet at the second end through the heat exchanger hollow fibers to the fluid flow distributor near the first end, the fluid flow distributor directing the heat exchanger fluid from an exterior of the heat exchanger core to the central chamber through the fluid distributing apertures and to the heat exchanger fluid outlet at the second end.