Device Lab 56

Infusion Pump

A number on a screen is a command, not a measurement of what reached the patient. Every other lesson in this device depends on you accepting that sentence, because this pump has no instrument anywhere in it that measures delivered volume.

Also called: Syringe Pump, Volumetric Pump. Arabic: مضخة التسريب. Device Lab 56 of 69 in BMEssentia Medical City, 4 configurations.

How it works: the main parts

What each part does, from the Infusion Pump lessons in the 3D Device Lab.

Door: The door is not a cover. It is a working part of the pumping mechanism, and a learner who files it under enclosure will never understand why this pump stops.
Latch: Three different things are happening at this door and they are routinely collapsed into one. The door can look closed.
Fingers: Watch one finger move and you learn almost nothing. This mechanism works by the order in which the fingers move, not by the fact that they move.
Motor: Three questions hide inside one report that the pump is not delivering. Was motion requested at all.
Upstream: Upstream means toward the bag, before the pumping segment. This sensing role exists because the pump can starve: the mechanism is perfectly capable of trying to draw fluid from a source that cannot supply it, and the fingers will keep working while it does.
Downstream: Do not let the word occlusion turn into a location. This sensing role reports that resistance on the outlet side has risen past a threshold.
Air: This detector watches a few centimetres of tubing and nothing else. Everything upstream of that window and everything downstream of it is invisible to it, which means air can enter the line in places this device will never see and can pass through places it cannot report.
Clamp: Here is the failure that kills people with this device, and it has nothing to do with the motor. Fluid can flow through an open set under gravity alone, with the pump stopped, the screen dark and everything apparently safe.

Common faults and what to check

Most reported device problems (FDA MAUDE)

Device problem	Reports
Crack	742,922
Corroded	215,996
Device Displays Incorrect Message	170,882
Break	162,856
Display Difficult to Read	92,974
Device Sensing Problem	71,947

Raw counts of adverse event reports for this device type (FDA product code FRN, MEA), all years. Not adjusted for the number of units in use, so they show what gets reported, not failure rates. Report text is never copied.

Recent FDA recalls

Recall	Product and reason
Z-3162-2026 2026-09-11	ICU Medical, Inc.: IV Sets with drip chambers Intravascular administration tubing set drip chambers may have black specks potentially due to the plastic molding process leaving discolored polyvinyl chloride (PVC) material within the drip chamber wall. Root cause: Process control.
Z-3065-2026 2026-08-31	Baxter Healthcare Corporation: Baxter Novum IQ Syringe Pump, Model Number 40800BAXUS A software issue that may occur during a Volume/Time (VOT) multi-syringe infusion when a syringe reaches empty and is replaced while a Volume To Be Infused (VTBI) remains. Root cause: Software design.
Z-3066-2026 2026-08-31	Baxter Healthcare Corporation: Baxter Novum IQ Syringe Pump, Loaner, Model Number 40800BAXUSL A software issue that may occur during a Volume/Time (VOT) multi-syringe infusion when a syringe reaches empty and is replaced while a Volume To Be Infused (VTBI) remains. Root cause: Software design.
Z-2723-2026 2026-07-10	ICU Medical, Inc.: ICU Medical Plum Duo Infusion Pump, v1.2.3: 1) Item Number 400020401 and 2) Item Number 400020403 In a specific scenario, the pump will not decrement the Volume to be Infused (VTBI) displayed on the Delivery screen and may deliver up to twice the VTBI at the programmed rate. Root cause: Under Investigation by firm.
Z-2724-2026 2026-07-10	ICU Medical, Inc.: ICU Medical Plum Solo Precision IV Pump, v1.0.3, Item Number 400010401 In a specific scenario, the pump will not decrement the Volume to be Infused (VTBI) displayed on the Delivery screen and may deliver up to twice the VTBI at the programmed rate. Root cause: Under Investigation by firm.

From the FDA recall database (openFDA), newest first, imported 2026-10-22. 767 recalls on record for this device type. Recall text is the FDA's public text; each recall links to the official record.

Learn it, see it in 3D, ask about it

Ask Essentia about the Infusion Pump: answers from named sources, with the device open in its 3D Device Lab beside the answer.
The Infusion Pump on the BMEssentia Platform: the Device Library course, 13 sections from physics to maintenance.
BMEssentia Medical City: Device Lab 56, the Infusion Pump fully assembled in 3D, with lab tasks and the simulations.

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