fig1 is a schematic depiction of a vacuum surge suppressor 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention . fluid and solid material from an irrigated surgical site may be aspirated through input tubing 110 , also referred to as the “ aspiration line .” during normal operation , the input tubing 110 would be coupled to a surgical instrument such as a hand piece designed to facilitate surgery in a body cavity ( e . g . a phacoemulsification hand piece ). coupling to the surgical instrument can be accomplished by attachment to the surgical instrument or to another fluid pathway that itself is coupled to the surgical instrument . filter 112 , which is depicted in fig1 as being an in - line filter that is disposed in filter housing 114 and coupled to input tubing 110 , retains larger particles of the aspirated material such that only small particles can pass through the filter 112 . in the embodiment of fig1 , a flow restrictor 116 is disposed downstream of the filter housing 114 . the term “ downstream ” as used herein , does not imply the necessity for any flow or fluid in the system as claimed . rather , “ downstream ” is used herein only to indicate a direction to facilitate discussion of the relative position of components within the system , by referring to flow that would occur during periods of normal operation without reflux , and serves the purpose of facilitating such discussion even for systems that are not presently in use and contain no fluid or flow . likewise , “ upstream ” means that a component would be normally upstream if installed in an operating system ; it does not require any flow or fluid in the vacuum surge suppressor component when it is not installed in an operable system or when an operable system is not operating . the filter housing 114 may have various shapes but is preferably tapered at the entrance into the flow restrictor 116 to reduce the formation of air bubbles . the flow restrictor 116 preferably comprises an orifice defining an orifice inner diameter in the range 0 . 005 to 0 . 025 inches and an orifice length in the range 1 to 2 inches . for example , the orifice may be designed to have an inner diameter of 0 . 010 inches and a length of 1 inch . the orifice preferably has fixed dimensions because it is difficult for an orifice that allows adjustment to achieve the desired precision . for example , a restriction of 0 . 02 inch diameter will allow 16 times more flow then a 0 . 01 inch diameter because flow is proportional with the 4th power of diameter . in the embodiment of fig1 , output tubing 118 is disposed downstream of the flow restrictor 116 . during normal operation , the output tubing 118 would be coupled to a vacuum pump designed to create a sub - ambient pressure in output tubing 118 . coupling to the vacuum pump can be accomplished by attachment to the vacuum pump or attachment to the output tubing 118 or another fluid pathway that itself is coupled to the output tubing 118 . the sub - ambient pressure pumps used in ophthalmic instrumentation are commonly called “ vacuum pumps ” even though they do not create an absolute vacuum but rather create a pressure that is below ambient pressure but still greater than zero absolute pressure . “ vacuum ” is used herein in the relative sense rather than in an absolute sense , so that “ vacuum ” refers to the magnitude of the pressure difference between ambient pressure and a sub - ambient pressure that corresponds to the vacuum . therefore , as used herein , vacuum is said to increase when the corresponding sub - ambient pressure falls to a lower absolute pressure value that is further from the ambient pressure , and vacuum is said to decrease when the corresponding sub - ambient pressure rises to a higher absolute value that is closer to ambient pressure . in the embodiment of fig1 , for example , a venturi pump may be coupled to output tubing 118 to create a relatively constant vacuum therein . alternatively , for example , a peristaltic pump may be coupled to output tubing 118 to create a vacuum will increase if / when the flow is occluded . a pressure sensor 120 coupled to the output tubing 118 may sense the vacuum in the output tubing 118 . for example , the pressure sensor 120 may be attached to the output tubing 118 as shown in fig1 . the pressure sensor 120 is preferably a transducer that is capable of sensing the path internal pressure in the output tubing 118 , and providing an electrical potential , signal , or other electrical characteristic ( e . g . electrical impedance ) that is responsive to such path internal pressure . the pressure sensor may be designed to sense relative pressure rather than absolute pressure , for example providing an electrical potential , signal , or other electrical characteristic that is indicative of the vacuum in the output tubing 118 . in the embodiment of fig1 , bypass tubing 124 is coupled to the filter housing 114 and to the output tubing 118 , in a way that bypasses the flow restrictor 116 . bypass tubing 124 may be coupled to the filter housing 114 by being connected to the filter housing 114 , as shown in fig1 , or alternatively by being connected to a fluid path that is itself connected to the filter housing 114 . likewise , bypass tubing 124 may be coupled to the output tubing 118 by being connected to the output tubing 118 as shown in fig1 , or alternatively by being connected to a fluid path that is itself connected to the output tubing 118 . in either case , under normal operation the bypass tubing 124 carries a flow that bypasses the flow restrictor 116 . in the embodiment of fig1 , bypass tubing 124 need not be “ rigid ” tubing but is preferably flexible tubing that does not collapse in response to sub - ambient pressure at sea level . the bypass tubing 124 may , for example , comprise so - called hard silicon tubing . moreover , bypass tubing 124 may be and / or may include a valve 122 that can substantially interrupt the flow in bypass tubing 124 in response to the path internal pressure of the output tubing 118 . for example , the valve 122 may be a discrete automated valve ( e . g . a solenoid - driven valve ) that is responsive to an output 126 of the pressure sensor 120 . the output 126 of the pressure sensor 120 may be conditioned and / or amplified by other conventional circuitry . for example , if the pressure sensor 120 provides a time - varying voltage that is responsive to path internal pressure , such time - varying voltage may be amplified by an amplifier and / or conditioned by a logic circuit to create the output 126 . optionally , the amplifier may be an inverting amplifier , for example if it is desired that decreasing relative pressure ( i . e . increasing vacuum ) would correspond to increasing voltages . also for example , if the pressure sensor 120 provides a time - varying electrical impedance that is responsive to path internal pressure , such time - varying impedance may be detected by an analog circuit and perhaps by digital sampling , and then be further conditioned by a logic circuit to create the output 126 . such a logic circuit might , for example , provide a constant voltage to valve 122 ( e . g . to keep it open if it is a normally closed solenoid valve ) and discontinue such ( allowing the valve 122 to close ) only when the time - varying voltage or impedance exceeds or falls below a certain threshold . alternatively , the amplification and / or logic circuitry may be included with the valve 122 so that the output 126 that is shown in fig1 corresponds to the raw , unconditioned output of the pressure sensor . in either case , the action of the valve 122 is responsive to the pressure sensed by the pressure sensor 120 , by a conventional means . fig2 is an example graph 200 of vacuum 250 and total flow 230 through output tubing 118 , versus time ( increasing to the right along time axis 260 ), to illustrate the manner of operation of an embodiment of the present invention . at the far left side 210 of the graph 200 , the vacuum 250 is sensed by sensor 120 to be less than a preset safety threshold 240 ( e . g . a vacuum level less than 250 mmhg , such as 200 mmhg ), so the valve 122 is kept open and flow passes through bypass tubing 124 . the availability of the bypass tubing 124 for flow allows the total flow 230 to be at a high value . such a high flow condition may be desirable in surgery ; for example in phacoemulsification surgery it may be useful to quickly attract lens material into the surgeon &# 39 ; s hand piece . moreover , the availability of open bypass tubing 124 may advantageously facilitate the creation of reflux flow by the surgeon at the surgeon &# 39 ; s discretion , without such reflux flow being constrained by the flow restrictor 116 . however , at a later time 212 the flow 230 is occluded ( for example by solid material being aspirated into the surgical instrument that is coupled to the input tubing 110 ), so that the flow 230 becomes zero and the vacuum 250 rapidly increases ( assuming that the pump that is coupled to output tubing 118 is a peristaltic pump rather than a venturi pump ). at a time between time 212 and time 214 , the vacuum 250 is sensed by sensor 120 to have increased above the preset safety threshold 240 , so that the valve 122 is closed , blocking flow through the bypass tubing 124 so that subsequent flow must pass through the flow restriction 116 . at time 214 the vacuum 250 reaches a maximum that the pump is configured to produce ( e . g . 500 mmhg or more ). the flow 230 remains nearly zero at this time , however , because the occlusion has not yet passed . at time 216 , the occlusion finally passes so that the vacuum 250 can once again cause flow 230 to rise . since the vacuum 250 is at a high level , the flow 230 would rise rapidly to a dangerously high level ( that could have adverse surgical effects ) if not for the valve 122 being closed so that all of the flow 230 must pass through the flow restrictor 116 . instead , the flow 230 only rises to a safe level that is permitted by the flow restrictor 116 , though the damping introduced by the flow restrictor 116 may not completely suppress the flow overshoot . between times 216 and 218 , the moderate flow 230 causes the vacuum 250 to diminish until it is sensed by sensor 120 to have fallen below the present safety threshold 240 . then ( i . e . at time 218 ) the valve 122 is re - opened , allowing flow through the bypass tubing 124 so that the total flow 230 rises back to its pre - occlusion high level . the higher flow 230 causes the vacuum 250 to diminish further until , at time 220 , it reaches its pre - occlusion low level . thus , in the manner shown in fig2 , the embodiment of fig1 enables safe transitions from a non - occluded , high - flow , low - vacuum condition , to an occluded , low - flow , high - vacuum condition , and back again . through the actions of valve 122 and flow restrictor 116 , surges in flow due to post - occlusion periods of high vacuum are moderated to prevent adverse surgical effects . in phacoemulsification procedures , for example , such adverse surgical effects may include collapse of the anterior chamber of the eye , undesired aspiration of endothelium cells , and / or damage to the posterior aspect of the lens capsule . the embodiment of fig1 may employ a venturi pump rather than a peristaltic pump , in which case it preferably also includes vacuum control switches controllable by the surgeon using a foot pedal . one switch may increase the vacuum and the other decrease the vacuum within preset limits . whereas the range of adjustment typically could not safely exceed 10 % in prior art devices , this range may be increased significantly ( e . g . 100 %) using the embodiment of fig1 . for example , if the threshold is set to 250 mmhg , then the surgeon can operate below 250 mmhg with unrestricted flow . however , if / when the surgeon feels that more vacuum is necessary at a certain time he / she can safely raise the vacuum above the threshold up to the highest limit of the pump ( e . g . 600 mmhg ) in which case the flow will be restricted by flow restrictor 116 of fig1 . fig3 is a schematic depiction of a vacuum surge suppressor 300 according to another embodiment of the present invention . in the embodiment of fig3 , input tubing 310 is coupled to filter housing 314 , which contains filter 312 , and output tubing 318 is coupled to flow restrictor 316 . for example , the input tubing 310 may be coupled to filter housing 314 by being attached to filter housing 314 , and the output tubing 318 may be coupled to flow restrictor 316 by being attached to flow restrictor 316 . the flow restrictor 316 is coupled to filter housing 314 , for example by being attached to filter housing 314 or being part of filter housing 314 . bypass tubing 324 is coupled to the filter housing 314 and to the output tubing 318 , in a way that bypasses the flow restrictor 316 . in the embodiment of fig3 , the bypass tubing 324 comprises collapsible tubing ( e . g . thin , collapsible silicone tubing ). the collapsible bypass tubing 324 is designed ( e . g . by specifying tubing wall thickness ) such that the tubing collapses when the vacuum exceeds a preset threshold ( e . g . 200 mmhg ). in this manner , the collapsible bypass tubing 324 of the embodiment of fig3 serves the combined functions of the pressure sensor 120 , the valve 122 , and the bypass tubing 124 in the embodiment of fig1 . that is , when the collapsible bypass tubing 324 of the embodiment of fig3 collapses , the majority of flow must then pass through the flow restrictor 316 and the system operates in a manner that is similar to that described with reference to fig2 . although the embodiment of fig3 has reduced complexity and cost relative to the embodiment of fig1 , the embodiment of fig1 may allow the vacuum threshold 240 to be dynamically changed under software control . the vacuum threshold 240 in the embodiment of fig3 is determined by material properties and so is not easily controlled and may be undesirably affected by environmental conditions such as temperature . while the invention has been described with reference to the specific exemplary embodiments thereof , it should be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims . it is contemplated that various features and aspects of the invention may be used individually or jointly and possibly in a different environment or application . the specification and drawings are , accordingly , to be regarded as illustrative and exemplary rather than restrictive . “ comprising ,” “ including ,” and “ having ,” are intended to be open - ended terms .
an apparatus and method to suppress vacuum surges in a surgical aspiration system is disclosed and claimed . a vacuum surge suppressor includes a first fluid path for coupling to a surgical instrument , and a filter attached to the first fluid path . a flow restrictor is coupled to the filter with the filter disposed upstream of the flow restrictor . the vacuum surge suppressor also includes a second fluid path for coupling to a vacuum pump . the second fluid path is connected to the flow restrictor and disposed downstream of the flow restrictor . the second fluid path defines a path internal pressure . a third fluid path is coupled to the filter and is connected to the second fluid path , bypassing the flow restrictor . a valve in the third fluid path obstructs flow in the third fluid path in response to the path internal pressure .