Patent ID: 6622542
Filing Date: 2003-09-23
Classification: A61M,G01N

Abstract:
A bubble detector comprising:an ultrasonic transducer pair comprising a transmitting transducer and a receiving transducer, the ultrasonic transducer pair being positionable to sense bubbles in a fluid flow, wherein a pressure of the fluid is higher than a patient's blood pressure; a transducer driver operatively coupled to the transmitting transducer to cause the transmitting transducer to deliver a pulsed ultrasonic signal across the fluid flow to the receiving transducer; a signal conditioner operatively coupled to the receiving transducer to receive the pulsed ultrasonic signal from the receiving transducer, the signal conditioner conditioning the pulsed ultrasonic signal to produce a conditioned signal; and a signal processor operatively coupled to the signal conditioner to receive the conditioned signal, the signal processor determining a first volume of each bubble based on the conditioned signal and converting the first volume to a second volume based on the fluid pressure and an atmospheric pressure, wherein the first volume is a measured volume of the bubble in the fluid and the second volume is a predicted volume of the bubble when it enters the patient.