Patent ID: 7547391

Claim:
A blood irradiation system comprising: an ultraviolet UV source providing a predetermined wavelength of radiation to provide a detrimental effect to virus and/or bacteria; an exposure chamber for exposing a volume of blood to radiation; a conduit between the UV source and the exposure chamber for passing UV radiation from the UV source to the exposure chamber; a pump for pumping blood at a predetermined flow rate through the exposure chamber and between a first location and a second location; and a shutter assembly provided between the UV source and the exposure chamber and having a rotating disc having one or more spaced apart openings, each of the openings capable of being rotated to correspond to at least a portion of a first aperture in the fixed open position such that upon the first aperture being in an open position, UV radiation may pass through the conduit upon one of the openings of the one or more openings of the disc aligning with the open position of the first aperture; wherein the shutter assembly is configured to provide a synchronous time-metered irradiation of the blood in the exposure chamber, the synchronous time-metered irradiation is configured to be based on the predetermined flow rate of the blood through the exposure chamber.