Fluent material handling – with receiver or receiver coacting mea – With conveying means to supply successive receivers – Sampler type
Patent
1994-07-07
1996-01-02
Recla, Henry J.
Fluent material handling, with receiver or receiver coacting mea
With conveying means to supply successive receivers
Sampler type
141 98, 141103, 422 99, 422100, B65B 4342
Patent
active
054799694
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to dispensing apparatus, particularly apparatus for dispensing substances which are biologically hazardous, i.e. substances which are hazardous to humans or other living species and can cause biological damage to such living species if they come into contact with such substances in an uncontrolled manner.
There are a range of different substances which fall into the category of biologically hazardous materials and these include radioisotopes, chemotherapeutic agents, cytotoxins and substances containing one or more bacteriological or viral ingredients. Such materials are employed in a variety of useful applications and their storage and handling therefore has to be managed with extreme care.
For example, radioisotopes are today employed in an increasing range of processes in the fields of food preparation, agriculture, water supply and biological and industrial research. One of the most important uses of these elements is in the field of medicine, where radioisotopes of elements such as iodine and technetium have become important tools in the diagnosis and also increasingly in the treatment of various conditions.
The uses of radioisotopes in clinical medicine can be grouped into two main categories, both of which can be referred to under the broad heading of "radio pharmaceuticals". These categories are:
Diagnostic radioisotopes are used as markers within the body. They may be used in the free form allowing the body's handling of the elements to be traced, but more often they are attached to selected molecules as a "label" or "tracer" allowing the passage and distribution of these molecules to be traced in the body.
The range of tracers available to medicine has now expanded to allow specific examination of, for example, the kidney, liver, heart, brain, lung and thyroid gland.
Therapeutic radioisotopes can be implanted surgically into malignant tumours to deliver radiation directly to cancerous cells, as in radium therapy for breast cancer or they can be attached to biologically active molecules to seek out tumour cells in particular body tissues.
Whilst some of these agents can be manufactured under controlled conditions by the pharmaceutical companies, a large number are made up in hospital pharmacies or commercial dispensaries when needed. The radioisotopes most desired for diagnostic purposes usually have a short half life and emit a significant amount of radiation during the period of use.
The dangers of ionising radiation are well known and apply to all persons coming into contact with radiation. However, the staff involved in preparation of radio pharmaceuticals are exposed to an additional risk posed by the selectivity of the radio labels.
In hospital pharmacies or dispensing establishments radioisotope-containing compositions are normally prepared as liquids manually in what is an exacting but tedious responsibility for highly skilled staff. The substances concerned may be highly radioactive as well as highly toxic and even for skilled staff the preparations represent extremely hazardous operations.
It is, therefore, an object of the invention to provide an automated dispenser to simplify and to carry out without operator involvement the operations normally carried out manually for preparing doses or controlled quantities containing potentially biologically hazardous substances whilst maintaining the exacting standards set by regulatory bodies.
According to the present invention there is provided a dispensing apparatus comprising a robot device having gripping means presentable to a plurality of stations, each station being adapted to provide an operation in a sequence of operations such as to produce a measured quantity or dose from a supply of a hazardous substance, and one of the stations comprising a multi-syringe receiving and filling station comprising syringe receiving means capable of receiving and holding syringes of different sizes each adapted to contain a said substance, the said station having means for operating each syringe when located at that station.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4131426 (1978-12-01), Range
patent: 4854355 (1989-08-01), Chazot et al.
patent: 4862932 (1989-09-01), Feinstein et al.
patent: 4869299 (1989-09-01), Handke
patent: 4922782 (1990-05-01), Kawai
patent: 5067532 (1991-11-01), Lang et al.
patent: 5102623 (1992-04-01), Yamamoto et al.
patent: 5132088 (1992-07-01), Wakatake
Hardie Robert
Shaw Kevin
British Nuclear Fuels PLC
Hinds William R.
Maust Timothy L.
Recla Henry J.
LandOfFree
Apparatus for dispensing substances which are biologically hazar does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Apparatus for dispensing substances which are biologically hazar, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Apparatus for dispensing substances which are biologically hazar will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-229758