Abstract:
A centrifuge bucket, for holding a first article, further comprises a compartment for holding a second article, and an arrangement for securing the compartment to an outer surface of the centrifuge bucket.

Description:
[0001]    The present application is claiming priority of U.S. Provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/233,975, filed on Sep. 20, 2000. 
     
    
     
       FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    In the production of leukocyte reduced red blood cells, plasma and platelet components, a blood bag set that includes a filled donor bag, a component bag for each blood product, and one or more leukocyte removal filter(s) connected together by tubing, is spun in a centrifuge. The present invention provides a means for a user to consistently load this blood bag set into a centrifuge bucket, resulting in high quality blood component products.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0003]    After a donor blood bag is filled with whole blood drawn from a donor, the blood bag is spun in a centrifuge to separate the whole blood into components of red cells, plasma, and platelets. In addition to the donor blood bag, a red blood cell bag, a plasma bag and a platelet bag are attached to the donor blood bag with tubing to make a blood bag set. The red blood cell bag, a plasma bag and a platelet bag are also known as satellite bags.  
           [0004]    In a conventional centrifuge system, the blood bag set is either placed directly into a centrifuge bucket or into an adapter that is then placed into the bucket. A user literally stuffs the blood bag set into the bucket or adapter. The placement of the blood bag set into the centrifuge bucket or adapter may affect the separation consistency and the quality of the blood components.  
           [0005]    The bucket has pockets that are machined, molded, injection molded or formed so that the bucket is pivotable about pins disposed about a rotor body. At rest the bucket orientation is vertical but when the rotor is rotated about its axis the bucket swings outward to a horizontal position relative to the axis of the rotor. This horizontal orientation allows for a more distinct separation of blood components.  
           [0006]    Recently, blood bag manufacturers introduced leukocyte removal filters to the blood bag sets to improve quality of blood products. These blood bag sets with filters must be centrifuged. In addition to the added volume, the filters must be adequately supported to prevent damage to the filter(s) during centrifugation. The filters must also be loaded into the centrifuge bucket so as not to damage the donor bag or any of the satellite bags. Several prior art systems have attempted to minimize the potential damage to the filters.  
           [0007]    U.S. Pat. No. 5,092,996 to Spielberg, describes a blood filtering system that includes a filter having a support to hold the filter in place on top of a blood bag centrifuge bucket. This system suffers from several deficiencies. The size of the filter that can be accommodated is dictated by the diameter of the bucket, the system does not appear to be capable of accommodating multiple filters, and the internal volume of the bucket cavity that is available for the blood bag is reduced when the support is present.  
           [0008]    U.S. Pat. No. 5,100,564 to Pallet al. describes a blood collecting and processing system in which filter assemblies are retained by a bracket. The bracket is configured to fit into a centrifuge bucket to protect the filters. Disadvantageously, the bracket appears to be capable of retaining only a filter for which the bracket is particularly designed. Furthermore this arrangement also reduces the internal volume of the bucket cavity, thus reducing the volume available for a blood bag.  
           [0009]    U.S. Pat. No. 5,547,591 to Hagihara et al. describes a system in which a filter is placed outside of a centrifuge bucket and secured relative to the rotor. The deficiencies of this approach are that the filters are inconvenient to install because they must be secured to the rotor body, and the tubing between the filter and a blood bag may interfere with the swinging of the centrifuge bucket. This arrangement of the tubing may prevent the bucket from swinging to its fully horizontal position, or the tubing may get caught between the bucket and the rotor body to prevent the bucket from properly returning to its vertical position. The interference with the movement of the bucket also adversely impacts the quality of the blood components.  
           [0010]    The deficiencies of the systems described above are overcome by the present invention.  
         SUMMARY OF INVENTION  
         [0011]    A centrifuge bucket in accordance with the present invention is for holding a first article, and further comprises a compartment for holding a second article, and a means for securing the compartment to an outer surface of the centrifuge bucket. The securing means can be, for example, a groove for accommodating a lip situated along an edge of the compartment.  
           [0012]    A compartment attached to a centrifuge swinging bucket holds one or blood component filters of a blood bag set. The compartment securely houses the filter(s) and segregates the filter(s) from other parts of the blood bag set. This eliminates potential damage to the filter and potential damage caused by the filter to any of the bags in the blood bag set. Moreover, the compartment is outside the bucket cavity envelope, thus increasing the usable volume of the bucket cavity. A centrifuge manufacturer, rather than making a centrifuge bucket dedicated for use with a particular filter, can adapt a less costly filter compartment to the centrifuge bucket to accommodate filters of various shapes. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0013]    [0013]FIG. 1 is an exploded pictorial isometric of a centrifuge bucket system that includes a centrifuge bucket and a blood bag adapter in accordance with the present invention;  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 2 is a top plan view of a centrifuge bucket in accordance with the present invention, mounted on a rotor body of a rotor and vertically oriented, parallel to an axis of rotation of the rotor;  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the centrifuge bucket of FIG. 2 horizontally oriented relative to the axis of the rotor; and  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 4 is a front elevation view of the centrifuge bucket of FIG. 2, in vertical section and shown in the vertical position, at rest. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0017]    The present invention can best be described by reference to the figures, where FIG. 1 is an exploded pictorial isometric of a centrifuge bucket system  5  that includes a centrifuge bucket  10  and a blood bag adapter  20 . Centrifuge bucket system  5  also includes a filter compartment, of which three variations are shown in FIG. 1, namely, a first variation filter compartment  30 , a second variation filter compartment  40 , and a third variation filter compartment  50 . The various filter compartments  30 ,  40  and  50  are provided to hold filters of different sizes or shapes, as would typically be found from different filter manufacturers.  
         [0018]    During operation, system  5  holds one of the filter compartments  30 ,  40  or  50 . Each of filter compartments  30 ,  40  and  50  has a lip  32 ,  42 , and  52 , respectively, situated along a peripheral edge. Centrifuge bucket  10  has a groove  11  into  30  which any of lips  32 ,  42  or  52  can slide. Groove  11  thus engages any of lips  32 ,  42  or  52  and secures the respective compartment to an outer surface, for example, a wall, of centrifuge bucket  10 . Groove  11  interchangeably accommodates lips  32 ,  42  and  52 , and thus permits removal and reattachment of any of compartments  30 ,  40 , or  50 .  
         [0019]    Centrifuge bucket  10  also has a pocket  12  on each side that allows it to be disposed about a pair of pins  81  (FIG. 2) of a rotor body  80  (FIG. 2). The open pockets  12  also allow centrifuge bucket  10  to be readily removed from rotor body  80 .  
         [0020]    A donor blood bag  60 , one or more satellite bags  61 , and connecting tubing  63  are placed inside a blood bag adapter  20 . The blood bag adapter  20  with its contents is then placed inside a cavity in centrifuge bucket  10 . One or more filter(s)  70  are placed into the filter compartment  30 ,  40 , or  50 . In operation, when rotor body  80  is rotated about an axis of rotation  85 , centrifuge bucket  10  pivots about rotor body pins  81  allowing centrifuge bucket  10  to swing out to a horizontal position relative to the axis of rotation  85 .  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 2 is a top plan view of a centrifuge bucket in accordance with the present invention. FIG. 2 shows two rotor arms  82 ,  83  of a rotor body  80 , a pair of rotor body pins  81 , centrifuge bucket  10 , filter compartment  30 , and filter  70 . Centrifuge bucket  10 , and filter compartment  30 , which contains filter  70 , are shown in their vertical positions, substantially parallel to an axis of rotation  85  of rotor body  80 .  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 3 is a top plan view showing bucket  10 , filter compartment  30 , and filter  70  in a horizontal position, substantially perpendicular to axis  85 , during centrifugation. Pockets  12  of centrifuge bucket  10  are rotatably disposed between the pair of rotor body pins  81  such that centrifuge bucket  10  may swing between the vertical position shown in FIG. 2, to the horizontal position shown in FIG. 3.  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 4 is a front elevation view with bucket  10  and filter compartment  30  in vertical section with filters  70  in place. Bucket  10 , filter compartment  30 , and two filters  70  are shown in the vertical position, at rest, with respect to rotor body  80 .  
         [0024]    Those skilled in the art, having the benefit of the teachings of the present invention may impart numerous modifications thereto. Such modifications are to be construed as lying within the scope of the present invention, as defined by the appended claims.