Patent ID: 8140140

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; a pump unit in operative engagement with said fluid handling network, said pump unit having an infusion mode in which said pump unit is operable to deliver infusion fluid to said patient through said patient end, and a sample draw mode in which said pump unit is operable to draw a sample of said bodily fluid from said patient through said patient end; a spectroscopic analyzer positioned to analyze at least a portion of the sample; and a processor in communication with or incorporated into said spectroscopic analyzer, said processor configured to execute stored program instructions to obtain measurements of two or more properties of said sample when a first analyte and a second analyte in said sample have overlapping spectral features, wherein the program instructions are configured to cause the fluid analyzer to: subject the at least a portion of the sample to a test that comprises obtaining a spectral characterization of the at least a portion of the sample; analyze results from the test to obtain a measurement of the first property of the two or more properties, the first property comprising the level of the first analyte in the at least a portion of the sample; and analyze the at least a portion of the sample to obtain a measurement of the second property of the two or more properties by analyzing the same results from the test, the second property comprising the level of the second analyte in the at least a portion of the sample; wherein subjecting the at least a portion of the sample to the test comprises obtaining a single spectral characterization including the spectral features of both the first analyte and the second analyte.