Tutorial on the fluidic system of the STA Compact. Details how internal and external needles are cleaned, waste evacuation, and how the cleaning reservoir is filled.

Transcription of Fluidic System for Washing of the Needles

Welcome to Biomed Buddy's training session: Fluidic system of the STA Compact. This section will show you how the internal and external needles are cleaned, how the waste is evacuated from the system, and the cleaning reservoir is filled. It is important that you are aware that all of the system is controlled from inputs and outputs of the input/output board. Also, be aware that by taking your mouse and going over these components, you will see a picture in the lower right-hand side to help you determine where they are located. I believe most of these components are covered, although they may not be covered under the specific pointer that the mouse goes over. If you look at those pictures, you will see the general location of all of these components.

Onto the cleaning reservoir bottle: As you can see, the cleaning reservoir bottle is empty. EV6 is going to energize, thus creating a vacuum to the cleaning reservoir, allowing it to fill from the large cleaning agent bottle on the right side of the instrument. As the cleaning reservoir bottle fills, the float rises up, and eventually it reaches the high state and tells the instrument that 'I have cleaning solution in my cleaning reservoir bottle. At that point, EV6 will de-energize, take the vacuum off the cleaning reservoir, and it'll start its next cycle.

A general overview of the instrument: The fluidic system consists of wash well, Needles 1, 2, and 3, block of 3 EV valves, a syringe, 2-way EV valve, valcor pump, pressure switch. 8 millibar is normal vacuum throughout this system; the switch is a 4 millibar switch, distributor, cleaning reservoir. Again, note the float on the bottle. Filling is determined by pulses from the valcor pump, and a 2.5-liter cleaning solution bottle, 2.5-liter waste bottle, which is used for waste, 3-way EV valves, vacuum reservoir, air filter, and vacuum pump. 8 millibar output is normal coming from the pump and throughout the unit. Red lines represent vacuum, blue lines represent pressure, purple lines represent just the tubing itself.

At this point, the red lines will show you where the vacuum is during the normal operating conditions. Assuming that the high-level detector in the reservoir is not on, the vacuum pump pumps air out to the waste bottle, going through EV 7, represented by the blue lines. At this time, vacuum has reached the distributor by going through EV 8. Both these EV valves are at their normally off state which allows the vacuum to put vacuum in the system. EV 11, 10, and 2 normally are on, so a partial vacuum will be at the washing positions.

Washing of the needles: Washing of the needles is done by the valcor pump. For 20 pulses it will deliver between 3 and 4cc to the needles for every 20 pulses. We will get to that at a later time. However, EV 1 will open up and allow solution to go through the cleaning reservoir bottle, through the valcor pump. The syringe is inactive at this point, so it is blocked there. Goes up which every needle is needed for cleaning, that EV valve will open up and pulse the needle. When that pulse is completed, EVs 2, 10, or 11, depending on which well we're talking about, will open up and create a vacuum, evacuating the waste from the wash well, through that particular EV valve, through the distributor, to the waste reservoir.

For evacuating the waste: When the waste bottle gets filled, and you can see that there is a float in that also which is a high/low; it tells the instrument both when there is no waste in the waste reservoir bottle and when it is high. When we need to evacuate that bottle, pressure will come through EV 7. At this time, EV 8 and EV 9 will also be energized, so they switch states. Pressure will go through EV 7, go through Port 3 of the waste reservoir, and push the waste that's in that bottle out through Port 1, through EV 9, to the waste container. Again, when the waste container gets high, you will have that switch that tells unit that your waste is high. White lines are cleaning agent lines, no air bubbles.

Additional comments: The tubing between the cleaning solution bottle, the 2.5-liter cleaning solution bottle, and the cleaning solution reservoir, EV 1, valcor pump, the syringe, all the tubing going to the block of 3 and out through the needles should never have any bubbles in it.

Thank you very much for attending this session of the Biomed Body training on the STA Compact.