Patent ID: 8182461

Claim:
A method of automatically detecting an occlusion in a fluid line of a syringe pump, the syringe pump including a housing adapted to support a syringe containing a plunger moveable inside the syringe by pushing an end of a plunger with a pusher to expel fluid from an outlet of the syringe into a fluid line connected to the outlet and configured to carry the fluid under pressure to a patient, the method comprising: mounting the syringe onto the housing with the plunger end extended; coupling the pusher to the end of the plunger; initiating a pumping sequence to cause the fluid to flow into the fluid line; during the pumping sequence, using a sensor to determine a first instantaneous force value F 1 indicative of force in the fluid line at instantaneous time T 1 ; during the pumping sequence, determining a second instantaneous force value F 2 indicative of force in the fluid line at instantaneous time T 2 ; and providing an indication of the occlusion if a slope calculated by dividing a difference between the second instantaneous force value F 2 and the first instantaneous force value F 1 by a difference between instantaneous time T 1 and instantaneous time T 2 departs from an expected slope relationship.