Patent ID: 8376978

Claim:
An access disconnection system comprising: a material capable of absorbing blood from a patient upon an arterial or venous line disconnection; a plurality of light emitters positioned to emit light onto the material; a plurality of light receivers positioned to receive light reflected off of the material, the light receivers being positioned in a first ring having a first diameter and a second ring having a second diameter, the first and second rings being concentric, and the first diameter being smaller than the second diameter; and electronic circuitry operably coupled to the plurality of light emitters and receivers, the circuitry configured to provide: (i) a first output when the light receivers of the first ring detect that the received light reaches or passes a particular level and light receivers of the second ring detect that the received light does not reach the particular level, and (ii) a second output when the light receivers of the first and second rings both detect that the received light reaches or passes the particular level, and wherein the light recevivers included within the first ring are positioned a d istance less than three inches (7.6 cm) from a portion of the material intended to cover the arterial line and venous line connections, such that the location that light is reflected off of the material provides for an allowable amount of blood seepage from the patient due to a needle stick.