Patent ID: 8589090

Claim:
A pump tester comprising: a light-transmissive fluid conduit comprising an outflow path and an inflow path relative to a manifold configured for bubble insertion; a carriage translatably disposed along at least one of: the outflow path of the conduit and the inflow path of the conduit, the carriage comprising: a first light emitting unit and a first photo-receptor; a motor having linkage configured to translate the carriage; and a signal processing unit comprising at least one of: (a) a circuit and (b) a microprocessor comprising a central processor and addressable memory; the signal processing unit configured to: output motor command signals based on input signals from the first photo-receptor; detect, via inserted bubble tracking, one or more pushes of a pump based on a time-interval of carriage motion; detect one or more pauses of a pump based on time-interval of carriage motion less than a threshold; collect flow data through each push-pause cycle of the pump; and add, by the signal processing unit, the collected flow data to an average value when a pause is detected following a push detection.