Surgery – Means for introducing or removing material from body for... – Treating material introduced into or removed from body...
Reexamination Certificate
2001-02-09
2004-01-13
Derakshani, Philippe (Department: 3754)
Surgery
Means for introducing or removing material from body for...
Treating material introduced into or removed from body...
C222S327000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06676635
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a syringe barrel suitable for injection at high injection pressure using a driving mechanism such as an automatic injector and the like; a cylinder holder used for a syringe driving mechanism such as an automatic injecting apparatus and the like; syringe piston; and piston holder.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Syringes are used for injection of liquid in various fields typically including a medical field. Injection of a chemical solution having high viscosity such as a contrast agent for X ray CT imaging and a contrast agent for MRI (magnetic resonance imaging apparatus) requires high pressure, causes difficulty in manual handling, and makes intense jobs. Therefore, it is general to effect injection using a mechanical syringe driving mechanism such as an automatic injection apparatus and the like.
FIG. 11
shows a syringe
20
to be mounted on such an automatic injecting apparatus
10
. The automatic injecting apparatus
10
comprises a cylinder holder
11
, a piston holder
12
, and a motor inside (now shown), and the cylinder holder
11
fixes a syringe barrel
21
by holding a flange
22
and the piston holder
12
holds a piston flange
24
. A piston
23
can be moved relative to the syringe barrel
21
by progressing or regressing the piston holder
12
by a motor, to effect injection (discharge of liquid from the syringe) or suction of liquid.
FIG. 12
shows the syringe
20
mounted on the automatic injecting apparatus
10
.
Further, as shown in
FIG. 13
, when a syringe of smaller size is mounted on this automatic injecting apparatus, the syringe barrel
21
is mounted on a dismountable adaptor
13
(functions as a cylinder holder for the syringe) which is further mounted on the automatic injecting apparatus
10
.
FIG. 14
shows the syringe
20
mounted on the automatic injecting apparatus
10
.
FIG. 16
provides detailed drawings of the adaptor
13
((a) is a plan view, and (b) is a rear side view)). The syringe barrel
21
can be held by fitting the flange
22
of the syringe barrel
21
into a flange insertion groove
14
of the adaptor
13
. For the mounting, as shown in FIG.
15
(
a
), the flange
22
is fitted into the flange groove
14
while directing a flange cut portion
25
vertically. Then, the flange is rotated by 90° to be fixed so that it is not disconnected. FIG.
15
(
b
) is a view showing the rotating process, and Fig. (c) is a view showing the use position.
In this constitution, the flange thickness and the flange insertion groove width are so designed to give slight clearance between the flange and flange groove for enabling smooth mounting of the syringe barrel. The reason for this design is also that if the clearance is designed to zero completely, mounting may be sometimes impossible due to certain extent production error to be taken into consideration because the syringe barrel and the cylinder holder (including the adaptor) are usually formed of different materials. Consequently, slight backlash and play in mounted condition is inevitable. However, if there is an error in the mounting procedure, the syringe may sometimes be raised from the right position. If injection of a contrast agent and chemical solution is conducted when fitting in such slight clearance is displaced, the piston shall be pushed under condition in which the flange
22
is inclined relative to the flange insertion groove
14
, as shown schematically in
FIG. 17
, and the total pressure is concentrated only on a part of the flange, and resultantly, in the worst case, the flange may be occasionally broken particularly from the base part.
The cut part of the flange is necessary also for prevention of syringe from rolling down when it is left on a plat surface such as on a table, in addition for such position determination.
Further, the syringe mentioned herein is the enlarged version (100 mL, 200 mL) of a syringe having a generally prevailing form composed of a syringe barrel and a piston. While a generally-used 50 to 60 mL syringe has a pressure resistance of about 3 kg/cm
2
, the syringe herein shown has an increased pressure resistance of about 20 kg/cm
2
to be used for injecting a contrast agent.
On the other hand, there is also a syringe for a contrast agent of no piston type. In this type of syringe, a female screw provided on a member fixing a packing and a male screw on the tip of an axis on the injection apparatus side are connected and the axis is driven back and forth, to suck and inject a contrast agent. However, since such a syringe of no piston type is dedicated to an injector, an automatic injecting apparatus should necessarily used also in sucking a chemical solution. Therefore, during diagnosis, since the automatic injecting apparatus is occupied, sucking of a chemical solution is impossible.
However, a syringe of generally spread type as shown in FIG.
11
and the like has a merit that a chemical solution is filled in the syringe and is prepared previously as a chemical solution for the next inspection, even in diagnosis, since suction of a chemical solution is possible even manually and consequently an automatic injecting apparatus is not necessarily occupied. Further, as shown in
FIGS. 11 and 13
, there are also a merit that even syringes of different sizes can adopt the same injecting apparatus by using an adaptor, a merit that mounting to an apparatus is easy, and the like.
As described above, there have been made various improvements in syringes for injecting a chemical solution such as a contrast agent and the like, however, when a chemical solution having high viscosity such as a contrast agent is injected, strong force is applied to a flange, consequently, the syringe may occasionally be broken if there are a small number of flange surfaces receiving pressure. If the flange is not rotated to given position and if injection is conducted, for example, in halfway condition as shown in FIG.
15
(
b
), crisis of breakage increases due to small area receiving pressure.
Further, in an apparatus for injection using a relatively large syringe having a size of about 200 mL, there has been recently contrived a mechanism for clamping in which a cylinder holder portion is mobilized and mounting of a flange can be effected simply and securely.
FIG. 18
is an enlarged view of a cylinder holder portion of such an automatic injecting apparatus
110
. This cylinder holder has two clamps
116
, and before mounting of a syringe, the upper part of two clamps are open as shown in FIG.
18
. Then, in FIG.
19
(
a
) (upper left view in FIG.
19
), the syringe is fitted in two clamps
116
in open state while directing the flange cut surface vertically. With progress of fitting, two clamps
116
are pushed by the flange
122
and rotated around the fulcrum
117
, leading to closed condition. By rotating the flange by 90°, the syringe is fixed while the flange cut surfaces
125
being situated at upper and lower positions as shown in FIG.
19
(
b
) (upper right view in FIG.
19
). FIG.
19
(
c
) is a plan view of the fixed condition watched from the upper side (clamp part is drawn in sectional view).
However, even if such a clamp mechanism is used, when a syringe is fixed at a halfway position in a process from Fig. (a) to Fig. (b), the pressure-receiving area of the flange decreases in injection and crisis of syringe breakage increases like the above-mentioned case.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A purpose of the present invention is to prevent breakage of a syringe barrel in injecting liquid of high viscosity at high pressure. For this purpose, an objective of one aspect of the present invention is to provide an improved syringe barrel which is not easily broken. Further, an objective of another aspect of the present invention is to provide a cylinder holder which causes no breakage of a syringe even if the syringe used is of usual type. Still further, an objective of another aspect of the present invention is to provide a cylinder holder which is used together with an improved syringe ba
Derakshani Philippe
Knobbe Martens Olson & Bear LLP
Nemoto Kyorindo Co., Ltd.
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