Claims for Patent: 8,505,315

Summary for Patent: 8,505,315

Title:	Enhanced integrated operation blender based sterile medical ice slurry production device
Abstract:	A method and device are provided for the preparation of sterile medical ice slurry, for example having ice loadings of greater than approximately 50%. An integrated-operation ice slurry blender-based production and delivery system methods for monitoring cooling capacity of the produced and delivered slurry. All individual medical ice slurry production and delivery steps are integrated into one tightly coupled precisely sequenced and timed system. The novel procedure and equipment is simple to use and makes sterile slurry, which is ready to deliver to patients, for example, in less than 2 minutes after adding predetermined thermally preconditioned ingredient modules to a blender.
Inventor(s):	Kasza; Kenneth E. (Palos Park, IL), Shareef; Farah J. (Lombard, IL), Fisher; Brandon L. (Plainfield, IL)
Assignee:	UChicago Argonne, LLC (Chicago, IL)
Application Number:	12/367,362
Patent Claims:	1. An apparatus for the preparation and delivery of sterile medical ice slurry comprising: a blender for receiving a plurality of sterile slurry ingredient modules, said plurality of sterile slurry ingredient modules respectively containing a first predefined quantity of thermally conditioned sterile saline solution carrier liquid and a second predefined quantity of chunk ice; said blender including a thermally insulating blender container, a cutter blade contained within said thermally insulating blender container, and a blender cover; a blender outlet port disposed in a lower portion of said blender container; a slurry conditioning-agitator mechanical mechanism coupled to said blender cover; said slurry conditioning-agitator mechanical mechanism being positioned directly on a central vertical axis of said thermally insulating blender container and extending downwardly toward said cutter blade within said thermally insulating blender container, said slurry conditioning-agitator mechanical mechanism being moved up and down within the blender container to enhance mixing by substantially eliminating cavitations around the cutter blade, and controlling air entrainment in the sterile medical ice slurry by suppressing formation of an air entraining vortex in said thermally insulating blender container; said cutter blade being positioned at the bottom of the thermally insulating blender container; a slurry delivery tubing pump coupled to said blender outlet port by a slurry delivery pump tube; an associated injector tip connected to a discharge end of said slurry delivery pump tube, said associated injector tip being selected for a particular medical cooling application; a variable electric power transformer coupled to said blender controlling blender speed and precisely timed blender operation; and at least one thermocouple mounted inside said blender container for recording temperature. 2. The apparatus for the preparation and delivery of sterile medical ice slurry as recited in claim 1 wherein said variable electric power transformer controls blender cycle blender operation through precisely timed first and second stages of slurry production. 3. The apparatus for the preparation and delivery of sterile medical ice slurry as recited in claim 1 wherein said plurality of sterile slurry ingredient modules includes a approximately 1200 grams of sterile saline carrier liquid containing approximately 45 grams of NaCl (salt). 4. The apparatus for the preparation and delivery of sterile medical ice slurry as recited in claim 1 wherein said plurality of sterile slurry ingredient modules includes a approximately 1800 grams of sterile chunk ice. 5. The apparatus for the preparation and delivery of sterile medical ice slurry as recited in claim 1 includes a refrigeration unit for preconditioning said plurality of sterile slurry ingredient modules. 6. The apparatus for the preparation and delivery of sterile medical ice slurry as recited in claim 1 wherein said cutter blade of said blender includes motor driven blender blades and said variable electric power transformer controls said blender blades for a precisely timed first ice chopping stage and a second slurry conditioning and mixing stage; and wherein speed of said blender blades being substantially lower during said second slurry conditioning and mixing stage than during said precisely timed first ice chopping stage. 7. The apparatus for the preparation and delivery of sterile medical ice slurry as recited in claim 6 wherein said slurry conditioning-agitator mechanical mechanism is moved up and down during said first ice chopping stage and wherein a duration of said precisely timed first ice chopping stage is limited for optimal use of salt in a sterile carrier liquid for smoothing ice particles. 8. The apparatus for the preparation and delivery of sterile medical ice slurry as recited in claim 1 wherein slurry temperature data measured by said at least one thermocouple is used for quantifying % ice loading of the ice slurry during production and delivery. 9. The apparatus for the preparation and delivery of sterile medical ice slurry as recited in claim 1 includes a two zone preconditioning refrigerator for storing and thermally preconditioning said plurality of sterile slurry ingredient modules. 10. The apparatus for the preparation and delivery of sterile medical ice slurry as recited in claim 1 wherein said slurry delivery tubing pump coupled to said blender outlet port delivers sterile medical ice slurry having ice loadings of greater than approximately 50% and said sterile medical ice slurry being capable of delivery through a medical injector tip without plugging, including very long (>100cm) and small diameter (<5 Fr) catheters for inducing protective cooling for a wide variety of surgical applications. 11. A method for the preparation and delivery of sterile medical ice slurry using an integrated blender preparation and delivery device, said method comprising the steps of: preparing and cooling a plurality of sterile slurry ingredient modules, said plurality of sterile slurry ingredient modules respectively containing a first predefined quantity of thermally conditioned sterile saline solution carrier liquid and a second predefined quantity of chunk ice; providing a blender including a thermally insulating blender container, a cutter blade contained within said thermally insulating blender container, a blender cover, a blender outlet port disposed in a lower portion of said blender container; providing a slurry delivery tubing pump coupled to said blender outlet port by a slurry delivery pump tube, and providing an associated injector tip connected to a discharge end of said slurry delivery pump tube; said associated injector tip being selected for a particular medical cooling application; providing at least one thermocouple mounted inside said blender container for recording temperature; providing a slurry conditioning-agitator mechanical mechanism coupled to said blender cover; said slurry conditioning-agitator mechanical mechanism being positioned directly on a central vertical axis of said thermally insulating blender container and extending downwardly toward said cutter blade within said thermally insulating blender container; wherein said cutter blade is positioned at the bottom of the thermally insulating blender container; providing a variable electric power transformer coupled to said blender; operating said variable electric power transformer for controlling blender speed and controlling blender cycle blender operation through a precisely timed first ice chopping stage and a second slurry conditioning and mixing stage; speed of said blender cutter blade being substantially lower during said second slurry conditioning and mixing stage than during said precisely timed first ice chopping stage; and moving said slurry conditioning-agitator mechanical mechanism up and down within the blender container to enhance mixing by substantially eliminating cavitations around the cutter blade, and controlling air entrainment in the sterile medical ice slurry during the first ice chopping stage. 12. The method for the preparation and delivery of sterile medical ice slurry as recited in claim 11 includes cooling said blender cover and said slurry conditioning-agitator mechanical mechanism before use in slurry production. 13. The method for the preparation and delivery of sterile medical ice slurry as recited in claim 11 wherein preparing and cooling said plurality of sterile slurry ingredient modules includes providing a first sterile module including approximately 1200 grams of saline based ice particle carrier liquid with dissolved salt of approximately 45 grams of NaCl (salt) for ice particle chemical smoothing; and refrigerating said first sterile module. 14. The method for the preparation and delivery of sterile medical ice slurry as recited in claim 13 wherein preparing and cooling said plurality of sterile slurry ingredient modules includes providing a second sterile module including freezing sterile water in a sterile tray to form approximately 1800 grams of ice chunks; and storing said ice chunks in a freezer. 15. The method for the preparation and delivery of sterile medical ice slurry as recited in claim 11 includes using slurry temperature data measured by said at least one thermocouple for quantifying % ice loading of the ice slurry during production and delivery. 16. The method for the preparation and delivery of sterile medical ice slurry as recited in claim 11 includes pumping the sterile medical ice slurry using said slurry delivery tubing pump during the second slurry conditioning and mixing stage. 17. The method for the preparation and delivery of sterile medical ice slurry as recited in claim 11 wherein the first ice chopping stage and moving the slurry conditioning-agitator mechanical mechanism is performed for a set time period of approximately 45 seconds. 18. The method for the preparation and delivery of sterile medical ice slurry as recited in claim 11 wherein pumping the sterile medical ice slurry using said slurry delivery tubing pump delivers sterile medical ice slurry having ice loadings of greater than approximately 50%.

Details for Patent 8,505,315

Applicant	Tradename	Biologic Ingredient	Dosage Form	BLA	Approval Date	Patent No.	Expiredate
Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp.	ZOSTAVAX	zoster vaccine live	For Injection	125123	05/25/2006		2028-04-15