Patent ID: 7722537

Claim:
An apparatus for analyzing the composition of bodily fluid, the apparatus comprising: a fluid handling network including a patient end configured to maintain fluid communication with a bodily fluid in a patient; at least one pump in operative engagement with the fluid handling network, the at least one pump having a sample draw mode in which the pump is operable to draw a sample of the bodily fluid from the patient through the patient end; a controller configured to operate the at least one pump in the sample draw mode at intervals; a fluid analyzer positioned to analyze at least a portion of the sample; a processor in communication with or incorporated into the fluid analyzer; and stored program instructions executable by the processor to determine the concentrations of two or more analytes in the sample, wherein the program instructions are configured to cause the fluid analyzer to: subject the at least a portion of the sample to one or more tests; analyze results from the one or more tests to estimate the concentration of a first analyte; determine whether the results from the one or more tests are sensitive to a second analyte in the sample; and analyze the at least a portion of the sample to estimate the concentration of the second analyte, wherein analyzing the at least a portion of the sample comprises analyzing the same results from the one or more tests when it is determined that the results from spectral features of the second analyte overlap spectral features of the first analyte.