Patent ID: 8105265

Claim:
An extracorporeal blood flow system comprising: an air removal container having an upper blood inlet, a lower blood outlet and an air vent near the top of the air removal container, the air vent sealingly connected to, a negative pressure source; a blood pump having a pump inlet and a pump outlet; a fluid path from the outlet of the air removal container to the inlet of the blood pump; a reservoir containing a liquid with a blood inlet and a blood outlet; a reservoir inlet fluid path branching from the pump outlet and fluidly connected to the inlet of the reservoir; a reservoir outlet fluid path branching from the pump inlet and fluidly connected to the outlet of the reservoir; a first valve means to control flow of blood from the reservoir to the pump inlet and a second valve means to control flow of blood from the pump outlet to the reservoir; a pressure sensor in fluid communication with the air vent, and configured to measure air pressure within the air removal container; and a controller configured to receive the pressure information from the pressure sensor, and configured to control the valve means, wherein the controller configured to monitor the air pressure within the air removal container, and control the first and second valve means to cause the liquid from the reservoir to flow into the blood pump upon detection of a change in the air pressure within the air removal container.