Safety syringe incorporating vacuum retraction of the needle

Surgery – Means for introducing or removing material from body for... – Treating material introduced into or removed from body...

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Details

604110, 604198, 604222, A61M 532

Patent

active

052155331

DESCRIPTION:

BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a syringe, and more particularly to a safety syringe for preventing contamination, fear of contamination and physical injury by "needle stick" by the syringe needle after use and/or for preventing reuse of the syringe.


BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In order to minimize the risk of contamination from a used syringe, it is common practice for used syringes to be deposited into heavy duty plastic bins which cannot be pierced by the needles. The bin and contents are then moved to a disposal facility at which they are incinerated. This means of disposal is of limited effect as it does not eliminate "needle stick" risk between needle use and disposal. Current disposal methods are also relatively expensive.
Numerous attempts have been made to design an acceptable syringe in which, after use, the needle is withdrawn into the body of the syringe and retained there in some manner. These designs are all directed to the same end of covering the needle after use to prevent inadvertent "needle stick" injuries with their attendant risk of cross-infection and to prevent reuse of the syringe. In many of these prior art arrangements the withdrawal of the needle into the body is entirely manual and requires the syringe user to remember to make some deliberate relative movement, normally between the plunger and the body, to effect withdrawal of the needle into the body of the syringe. Proposals have been made, as in Australian Patent Specifications 593,513, 594,634 and 35,676/89, to induce automatic withdrawal of the plunger into the body by the use of a helically coiled spring. This necessitates the use of additional and costly parts in the syringe and complicates its assembly.
In its first aspect the present invention is directed to an alternative arrangement for the automatic withdrawal of a syringe needle into the body of the syringe.
The above Prior art proposals for automatic withdrawal of the plunger have the disadvantage that immediately upon removal of the positive manual pressure holding the plunger in a depressed condition the spring will immediately stop movement of the plunger to its extended condition and simultaneously commence withdrawal of the needle into the body of the syringe. This could cause tissue tear and inadvertent and unwanted suction of blood into the syringe unless the operator consciously keeps the plunger depressed until the syringe is fully withdrawn from the patient's body. In a second aspect the present invention provides braking means to slow at least the initial rate of withdrawal of the needle into the body of the syringe.


BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a syringe comprising a body, a plunger mounted within the body, means for connecting the plunger to a needle holder at the end of an injection stroke of the plunger whereby subsequent retraction of the plunger withdraws the needle into a shielded position within the body, and energy storage means energizable by the insertion stroke to cause such withdrawal of the plunger and needle after the injection stroke. The energy storage means comprises a vacuum chamber defined between the plunger and the syringe body, vacuum being created within the chamber by movement of the plunger during the injection stroke, said vacuum serving to withdraw the plunger and needle after injection pressure is removed.
According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a syringe comprising a body, a plunger mounted within the body, means for connecting the plunger to a needle holder at the end of an injection stroke of the plunger whereby subsequent retraction of the plunger withdraws the needle into a shielded position within the body, and energy storage means energizable by the insertion stroke to cause such withdrawal of the plunger and needle after the injection stroke, resilient braking means being disposed within the space defined between the body and the plunger, and being disposed on one of them and bearing

REFERENCES:
patent: 3669111 (1972-06-01), Duboer
patent: 4246898 (1981-01-01), Travalent et al.
patent: 4766908 (1988-08-01), Clement
patent: 4772265 (1988-09-01), Walter
patent: 4826484 (1989-05-01), Haber et al.
patent: 4828548 (1989-05-01), Walter
patent: 4838869 (1989-06-01), Allard
patent: 4874382 (1989-10-01), Lindemann
patent: 4955869 (1990-09-01), Bin
patent: 4955870 (1990-09-01), Ridderheim et al.
patent: 5019044 (1991-05-01), Tsao

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