1. An ultrafiltration filter for an extracorporeal blood circuit having an input for blood withdrawn from a human patient and a blood output for filtered blood to be infused into the patient, said ultrafiltration filter comprising:
a filter body having a length of at least 20 centimeters (cm) and an interior diameter of no greater than 1.5 cm;
an input at a first end of the body to receive the withdrawn blood;
an output at a second end of the body to discharge the filtered blood;
a filter membrane in the body defining a blood passage through the body, wherein the membrane has an active filter membrane surface area of no greater than 0.2 meters squared (m2) and the filter membrane blocks passage of blood molecules having a molecular weight cut of greater than 60,000 Daltons and a volume of the blood passage in the filter being less than two percent of a cardiac output of the patient, and
an ultrafiltrate output to the body and open to a side of the filter surface area opposite to the blood passage.
2. The filter as in claim 1 wherein the active filter membrane surface area is no greater than 0.1 m2.
3. The filter as in claim 1 wherein the filter membrane surface is an interior surface of a bundle of filter fibers.
4. The filter as in claim 1 wherein the filter fibers have a length of at least 20 centimeters.
5. The filter as in claim 1 wherein the bundle of filter fibers has at least 620 fibers.
6. The filter as in claim 1 wherein the filter body is substantially straight.
7. The filter as in claim 1 wherein the filter membrane comprises hollow fibers and said fibers are arranged in a substantially straight bundle no greater than 1.5 centimeters in diameter.
8. An ultrafiltration filter for an extracorporeal blood circuit having an input for blood withdrawn from a human patient and a blood output for filtered blood to be infused into the patient, said ultrafiltration filter comprising:
a filter body having a length of at least 20 centimeters (cm) and an interior cross-sectional area of no greater than 1.77 cm2;
an input at a first end of the body to receive the withdrawn blood;
an output at a second end of the body to discharge the filtered blood;
a filter membrane in the body defining a blood passage through the body, wherein the membrane has an active filter membrane surface area of no greater than 0.2 meters squared (m2) and the filter membrane blocks passage of blood molecules having a molecular weight cut of greater than 60,000 Daltons and a volume of the blood passage in the filter being less than two percent of a cardiac output of the patient, and
an ultrafiltrate output to the body and open to a side of the filter surface area opposite to the blood passage.
9. The filter as in claim 8 wherein the active filter membrane surface area is no greater than 0.1 m2.
10. The filter as in claim 8 wherein the filter membrane surface is an interior surface of a bundle of filter fibers.
11. The filter as in claim 8 wherein the filter fibers have a length of at least 20 centimeters.
12. The filter as in claim 8 wherein the bundle of filter fibers has at least 620 fibers.
13. The filter as in claim 8 wherein the filter body is substantially straight.
14. The filter as in claim 8 wherein the filter membrane comprises hollow fibers and said fibers are arranged in a substantially straight bundle no greater than 1.5 centimeters in diameter.
15. The filter as in claim 8 wherein the cross-sectional area of the filter body is circular an has a diameter no greater than 1.5 cm.
16. A method for filtering blood comprising:
withdrawing blood from an adult patient;
performing ultrafiltration by filtering the withdrawn blood in a filter having an active filter membrane surface of no greater than 0.2 meters squared (m2) to remove ultrafiltrate from the blood, wherein the filter membrane blocks the passage of blood molecules having a molecular weight of at least 60,000 Daltons, wherein an amount of the removed ultrafiltrate is an effective therapeutic amount for treating a fluid overload condition of the patient;
infusing the ultrafiltrated blood into the adult patient, and
removing the ultrafiltrate with the filtrate pump at a rate no greater than one liter per hour.
17. The method as in claim 16 wherein the ultrafiltrate is removed at a rate determined by a mechanical filtrate pump and said method further comprising concentrating the blood by removal of the ultrafiltrate.
18. A method as in claim 16 wherein the filter membrane blocks passage of blood molecules having a molecular weight of at least 50,000 Daltons.
19. The method as in claim 16 wherein the filter membrane blocks passage of blood molecules having a molecular weight of at least 30,000 Daltons.
20. The method as in claim 16 wherein the filter membrane blocks passage of blood molecules having a molecular weight of 20,000 Daltons.
21. The method for filtering blood comprising:
withdrawing blood from an adult mammalian patient;
performing ultrafiltration by filtering the withdrawn blood in a filter having an active filter membrane surface of no greater than 0.2 meters squared (m2) to remove ultrafiltrate from the blood, wherein the filter membrane inhibits the passage of plasma proteins and an amount of the removed ultrafiltrate is an effective therapeutic amount for treating a fluid overload condition of the patient;
infusing the ultrafiltrated blood into the adult mammalian patient, and
removing the ultrafiltrate with the filtrate pump at a rate no greater than one liter per hour.
22. The method as in claim 21 wherein the ultrafiltrate is removed at a rate determined by a mechanical filtrate pump and said method further comprising concentrating the blood by removal of the ultrafiltrate.
23. The method as in claim 21 wherein the filter membrane blocks passage of blood molecules having a molecular weight of at least 60,000 Daltons.
24. The method as in claim 21 wherein the filter membrane blocks passage of blood molecules having a molecular weight of at least 30,000 Daltons.
25. The method as in claim 21 wherein the filter membrane blocks passage of blood molecules having a molecular weight of 20,000 Daltons.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A network facsimile machine, comprising:
means for accepting designation information for designating information to be embedded in image data of a transmission original document;
means for presenting the accepted designation information to a remote device and acquiring information as a response; and
means for generating image data in which the acquired information is embedded in the transmission original document.
2. The network facsimile machine according to claim 1, further comprising means for embedding the acquired information as a part of a Transmit Terminal Identifier (TTI) of the transmission original document.
3. The network facsimile machine according to claim 1, further comprising means for embedding the acquired information as a part of a cover page of the transmission original document.
4. The network facsimile machine according to claim 1, further comprising means for selecting at least one piece of information from the acquired information which includes a plurality of information.
5. The network facsimile machine according to claim 4, further comprising means for embedding the selected information as a part of the Transmit Terminal Identifier (TTI) of the transmission original document.
6. The network facsimile machine according to claim 4, further comprising means for embedding the selected information as a part of a cover page of the transmission original document.
7. The network facsimile machine according to claim 1, wherein the remote device is a directory server.
8. The network facsimile machine according to claim 7, further comprising means for retrieving information in accordance with the accepted designation information.
9. A network facsimile machine, comprising:
means for accepting designation information for designating information to be transmitted with image data of an original document;
means for presenting the accepted designation information to a remote device and acquiring information as a response; and
means for transmitting the acquired information with the image data of the original document.
10. The network facsimile machine according to claim 9, further comprising means for transmitting a Transmitting Subscriber Identification (TSI) signal for transmitting the designation information.
11. The network facsimile machine according to claim 10, wherein the remote device is a directory server.
12. The network facsimile machine according to claim 11, further comprising means for retrieving information in accordance with the accepted designation information.
13. A network facsimile communication method, comprising the steps of:
accepting designation information for designating information to be embedded in image data of a transmission original document;
presenting the accepted designation information to a remote device and acquiring information as a response; and
generating image data in which the acquired information is embedded in the transmission original document.
14. The network facsimile communication method according to claim 13, further comprising a step of embedding the acquired information as a part of a Transmit Terminal Identifier (TTI) of the transmission original document.
15. The network facsimile communication method according to claim 13, further comprising a step of embedding the acquired information as a part of a cover page of the transmission original document.
16. The network facsimile communication method according to claim 13, further comprising a step of transmitting the generated image data.
17. The network facsimile communication method according to claim 13, further comprising a step of retrieving information by the remote device in accordance with the accepted designation information.
18. The network facsimile communication method according to claim 17, further comprising a step of selecting at least one piece of information from a plurality of the retrieved information.
19. The network facsimile communication method according to claim 13, further comprising a step of displaying the acquired information.
20. The network facsimile communication method according to claim 19, further comprising a step of stopping the generation of the image data in accordance with a command.