Prof. Dr. habil Levente Kovács, Dr. József Klespitz
Main lines of research
- LMI-based feedback controller design with TP conversion
- Fuzzy control
- Identification of peristaltic pumps
- Classical control methods
- Adaptive neuro-fuzzy systems
Detailed description of the research
In haemodialysis machines, peristaltic pumps are responsible for fluid flow (e.g. flow of blood, dialysate or ultrafiltrate). However, the transfer volume can vary greatly due to the inaccuracy of the loaded pipe section. This research focuses on the control problem associated with peristaltic pumps to ensure accurate fluid transport.
Accurate transfer is important for several reasons: peristaltic pumps are responsible for drug delivery. For patient safety, the recommendations of medical staff (especially physicians) must be followed, otherwise the infusion of the drug will be unsupervised. On the other hand, the patient’s fluid balance is crucial, as those using haemodialysis machines have reduced urine secretion (if any). In order to maintain the patient’s total fluid intake at an optimal level, the amount of fluid added and removed needs to be known, again requiring accurate transfer.
Many control problems arise in haemodialysis machines. One of these problems is maintaining the patient’s fluid balance. This industry-sponsored research solves a complex problem that started with identification and led to the introduction of an advanced controller.
To find the most appropriate control method, different control methods were tested (even on real machines). The controllers were designed using classical approaches (PID), soft computation methods (fuzzy control, ANFIS) and LMI-based control.
