Abstract: An apparatus for infusing liquid medication such as insulin into a living body has a memory for storing a basic pattern and meal patterns which decide the medication infusion dose in accordance with time. The basic pattern is designated under ordinary conditions, with a meal pattern being designated for a predetermined period of time when desired. With the passage of the predetermined period, the basic pattern is restored, the address of the basic pattern being designated according to the actual time. When a pattern is selected, the one actually addressed and read out of the memory is that appropriate for the time of day. The pattern information read out of the memory is applied to means for infusing the liquid medication into the living body, the dose of the medication conforming to the specific pattern.

Abstract: A breathing circuit which comprises a coaxial tube type main tube comprising an inner flexible tube constituting an inhalant circuit and a corrugated outer tube having a larger average wall thickness than said inner tube, encircling the periphery of said inner tube, and defining an exhalant circuit in conjunction with said inner tube; and an inner tube retaining member disposed at least at one end of said coaxial tube type main tube and serving to keep said inner tube and said outer tube at a prescribed distance from each other.

Abstract: A period measurement system adapted to sample a biosignal at a predetermined sampling period, find an autocorrelation function for a variable .tau. from the sampled biosignal, and then find an autocorrelation function corresponding to the value of a phase difference variable obtained by changing the variable .tau. along a time axis. An autocorrelation function found in this manner is stored in memory and then compared with a subsequent-found autocorrelation function. The comparison operation is repeated for successive autocorrelation functions, thereby to find a peak of autocorrelation functions to measure the period of the biosignal.

Abstract: A breathing circuit includes a double-wall coaxial main tube comprising a flexible inner tube forming an inhalation path and a corrugated outer tube disposed outside said inner tube and defining an exhalation path in conjunction with said inner tube; and a manifold including two sets of coaxially disposed inner and outer manifold tubes positioned along the length of the coaxial main tube and connected to corresponding tubes of the main tube. The manifold being provided with (a) a nebulizer which closes off confronting ends of connected sections of the outer tube in an axial direction and communicates with inner spaces of connected sections of the inner tube of the coaxial main tube, (b) a bypass interconnecting the exhalation path of the two outer tube sections which are closed and separated by the nebulizer, and (c) an exhalation valve provided in the bypass path and including a valve body capable of closing the bypass during inhalation.

Abstract: Medical bags composed of plastic sheets jointed at their edges and a fluid charging/discharging tube sealed between the edges of the sheets have suffered, due to the use of a mold having smooth and straight land conforming with the surface of the tube, various problems such as formation of burrs by the displaced molten plastic material on the inner side of the product bag, weakening or generation of pinholes around the free end of the tube attributable to excessive thinning of the sheets and so forth. According to the invention, these problems are overcome thanks to the use of a mold which has a central first land of an inside diameter slightly smaller than the sum of the tube diameter and thicknesses of sheets and at least one additional land provided at each side of the first land, the additional lands having inside diameters increasing successively and slightly greater than that of the first land.

Abstract: An autocorrelation function is computed for a value of a phase difference variable over a range determined by a set minimum period and a set maximum periods of one beat, corresponding to a maximum heart rate and a minimum heart rate, respectively. The maximum and minimum rates are estimated from a latest computed heart rate obtained from a preceding measurement of a heartbeat signal, by way of sampling the heartbeat signal at a predetermined sampling period and then using the data obtained from the sampling operation. The period of the heartbeat signal is computed from the computed autocorrelation function, and the sampling period is decided from the computed heartbeat signal period.

Abstract: A medical utensil having a portion to contact body fluid or liquid medicine is provided in which at least the contact portion is formed of a copolymer cross-linked by electron beam irradiation and/or .gamma.-ray irradiation.

Abstract: A low-molecular weight peptide composition mainly based on dipeptides and tripeptides is produced by dispersing protein raw material from any suitable source in water at a concentration of 5 to 20 w/v %, adjusting the pH of the dispersion to 1 to 4 with an acid, adding at least two acid proteases to the dispersion, and permitting enzymatic proteolysis to take place for a desired period of time at a suitable temperature while supressing the formation of free amino acids. Also provided is a nutrient agent comprising the thus produced low-molecular weight peptide composition mainly based on dipeptides and tripeptides wherein the contents of free amino acids and those peptides having a molecular weight of at least 700 are individually 20% by weight or less. The nutrient agent is useful in medical treatment.

Abstract: A liquid composition for the manufacture of a membrane, comprising a reaction product a cuprammonium cellulose with an ammonium or alkali metal salt of a polymer containing 10 to 70 equivalent percent of a carboxyl group and having a number-averaged molecular weight in the range of from 500 to 200,000, and a membrane is obtained by molding the composition in the form of a film, immersing the shaped article thus obtained in a dilute sulfuric acid solution thereby coagulating and regenerating it, subsequently immersing the shaped article in an strong alkali solution thereby expelling said ammonium or alkali metal salt of the polymer therefrom and forming therein fine pores substantially corresponding to the molecular weight of said salt.

Abstract: A measuring apparatus is equipped with an input/output unit for delivering data to externally located equipment and for receiving data from the externally located equipment, or with an input unit for receiving data from the externally located unit, and is adapted to generate correlation data between data delivered by a sensing system provided within the measuring apparatus proper, and data delivered by a standard measurement system which can be disconnected from the measuring apparatus. The correlation data is generated by a data processing device located outside or located within the measuring apparatus, through the intermediary of the input/output unit or the input unit. The generated correlation data is stored, in non-volatile fashion, in a storage section located in the measuring apparatus, in such a manner that the data can be read out of the storage section in response to the data from the sensing system contained within the measuring apparatus.

Abstract: An apparatus for separating blood is provided with a closed end and a thixotropic gel-like sealant with a specific gravity intermediate between the gravities of serum and clot phases. A cavity is formed on the upper surface of said sealant. The sealant consists essentially of an .alpha.-olefin-dimaleate copolymer having a viscosity from 10,000 to 120,000 c.p. (25.degree. C.), to which a viscosity-specific gravity adjusting agent is added to adjust the specific gravity to 1.035-1.055. The cavity is formed in such a size that diameter of the upper surface is from 0.15 to 0.7 times the inner diameter of the apparatus and its depth is from 0.13 to 0.65 times the thickness of said sealant.

Abstract: Medical bags composed of plastic sheets jointed at their edges and a fluid charging/discharging tube sealed between the edges of the sheets have sufferred, due to the use of a mold having smooth and straight land conforming with the surface of the tube, various problems such as formation of burrs by the displaced molten plastic material on the inner side of the product bag, weakening or generation of pinholes around the free end of the tube attributable to excessive thinning of the sheets and so forth. According to the invention, these problems are overcome thanks to the use of a mold which has a central first land of an inside diameter slightly smaller than the sum of the tube diameter and thicknesses of sheets and at least one additional land provided at each side of the first land, the additional lands having inside diameters increasing successively and slightly greater than that of the first land.

Abstract: An artificial organ assembly having an artificial organ with a built-in body fluid treatment mechanism as well as a body fluid inlet port and a body fluid outlet port, filled with a liquid harmless to the human body and sealed. It also includes an extracorporeal body fluid circulation mechanism comprising a body fluid inlet line connected to the body fluid inlet port and a body fluid outlet line connected to the body fluid outlet port, filled with a liquid harmless to the human body and sealed. The whole assembly is hermetically vacuum-packaged and steam sterilized in the packaged state.

Abstract: A body fluid-filtering device includes a housing provided with a body fluid inlet, a filtrate outlet and a filtration residue outlet, and a filtering means disposed in the housing and including first and second filtering elements alternately superposed on each other with a space therebetween. The first and second filtering elements are each formed of a meshed core material and filtering membranes which cover both sides of the core. The core material of the first filtering element has openings of 700 to 1300 microns, and the core material of the second filtering element has openings of 300 microns or less.

Abstract: In a test piece for the detection of occult blood, obtained by impregnating a substrate with an organic peroxide, a chromogen, a buffer, and a stabilizer, at least one compound selected from the group of compounds represented by the general formula I: ##STR1## wherein, m denotes an integer of the value of 1 to 5, R.sup.1 denotes one member selected from the group consisting of methyl group, lower alkoxy group, halogen atoms, and hydrogen atom, and X denotes one group selected from the group consisting of ##STR2## where, R.sup.2 and R.sup.3 each denote an alkyl group having 1 or 2 carbon atoms, ##STR3## where, m, R.sup.1, R.sup.2, and R.sup.3 are as defined above, R.sup.4 denotes an alkylene group having 1 to 6 carbon atoms, and n is 0 or 1, ##STR4## where, m, R.sup.1, R.sup.4 are as defined above, and ##STR5## where, R.sup.2 and R.sup.3 are as defined above.

Abstract: A hollow fiber-type artificial lung having an enclosed heat exchanger comprises a first housing and a second housing connected together coaxially. A gas exchange chamber is defined in the first housing by a pair of spaced walls and a bundle of hollow fibers designed for gas exchange arranged in the first housing and between the pair of walls. The hollow fiber bundle is preferably constricted at the central portion to increase the packing ratio of the hollow fibers. The second housing is connected to the first housing by way of a blood chamber and has a pair of spaced apart walls, and multiple tubes which extend lengthwise between the pair of walls to effect heat exchange between a circulating heat exchange medium and the blood flowing through the multiple tubes.

Abstract: An artificial organ embodying this invention is adapted for heat sterilization and allows for simple aftertreatment following said heat sterilization. The artificial organ is previously filled with a solution (8) harmless to the human body. A liquid pressure-buffering tube holding such an amount of gas as is capable of quantitatively absorbing the expansion of said solution (8) occurring during the heat sterilization of the artificial organ is connected to at least one of liquid ports (3), (4), (5), (6) communicating with the interior of the artificial organ. A process embodying the invention for heat sterilizing an artificial organ simplifies aftertreatment of said artificial organ following said heat sterilization, and comprises the steps of vacuum packaging the whole artificial organ device and heat sterilizing the artificial organ device while a gas held in the liquid pressure-buffering tube (2) is kept in the upper part of said artificial organ device.

Abstract: A hollow fiber type oxygenator comprising a housing having an inlet port and an outlet port for oxygen and an inlet port and an outlet port for blood, and a plurality of hollow fibers for gas exchange disposed inside the housing along the longitudinal direction thereof. In the housing is formed an inward projection midway in the longitudinal length thereof for engaging and fastening the bundle of hollow fibers to the housing, and there is formed a liquid passage at the inward projection for discharging the water. The oxygenator is so constructed that no water accumulates at the inward projection and the gas exchange efficiency is maintained at a high level even after a protracted use.

Abstract: A change in the internal pressure of the fluid-infusion tube of a peristaltic fluid-infusion pump due to occlusion in the fluid-infusion tube is detected through a change in the diameter of the fluid-infusion tube. The occlusion is detected by detection of the change in the distance between the opposite wall portions of the tube.

Abstract: An apparatus for detoxifying body fluid has a columnar hollow container with an inlet and an outlet for body fluid. This container is filled with non-coated petroleum pitch activated carbon particles which have been washed by ultrasonic waves to a degree that the number of carbon dust fine particles released in a physiologically acceptable solution is less than 100 particles/ml for particles of more than 2.mu. diameter and less than 10 particles/ml for particles of more than 5.mu. diameter.