Surgery – Means for introducing or removing material from body for... – Treating material introduced into or removed from body...
Reexamination Certificate
1999-06-17
2001-04-03
Kennedy, Sharon (Department: 3763)
Surgery
Means for introducing or removing material from body for...
Treating material introduced into or removed from body...
C604S533000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06210372
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a storage and delivery system for a highly viscous material. More specifically, the invention relates to a delivery system which supplies a highly viscous material from a syringe to a catheter or a needle for injection purposes.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1
shows a prior art device for supplying a fluid to a catheter or needle. The barrel
12
of the syringe
10
has a conical hub
14
formed at an end thereof for dispensing a material
16
stored in the syringe to a catheter or needle
18
. The hub
14
is connected to the catheter or needle
18
through a cap
20
which is threadedly attached to the inside portion of an extended portion
21
of the barrel
12
. The cap
20
is also cone-shaped and a seal is formed between the two mating conical surfaces of the hub and cap. The seal is tightened by further rotation of the cap
20
. This type of device is sometimes referred to as a Luer lock fitting.
The problem with this device is as follows. Prior to the step of attaching the cap
20
to the hub
14
, the material
16
may inadvertently contaminate the outer conical shape of the hub
14
. In certain applications, the material
16
includes a viscous gel with coarse particles
24
suspended therein such as CoapTite™. The presence of the particles
24
on the conical surface of the hub prevents a tight seal from being formed by the mating conical surfaces of the cap
20
and hub
14
. As a result, when the plunger (not shown) of the syringe
10
is actuated to force the material
16
into the catheter or needle
18
, some of the gel leaks out through a narrow gap
22
between the conical surfaces of the hub
14
and the cap
20
. When this occurs, the relative concentration of coarse particles in the viscous material that travels into the catheter or needle increases, which increases the viscosity substantially. When certain materials are used, the viscosity increases to a level at which the material may not be able to travel through the catheter or needle. That is, even if the force exerted on the plunger of the syringe is increased dramatically, the material cannot be forced into the catheter or needle. Also, this excessive force may damage or break the syringe. If this happens, the catheter
eedle delivery system must be replaced, which is expensive, inconvenient and potentially dangerous if the catheter
eedle is being used for emergency treatment.
Also, in this prior art device, the end of the syringe where the material is dispensed to the catheter or needle has a reduced diameter A. When the viscous material travels through this reduced diameter portion, the pressure is increased, which further restricts the flow of the material to the catheter or needle.
Further, because the cap
20
is threadedly attached to the hub
14
, in order to remove the syringe, it is necessary to rotate the cap
20
, which is time consuming and cumbersome.
As an alternative to using screw threads, it is known in the art to utilize a locking slide to secure members in syringe devices. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,737,950 (Berthiot) discloses a cooperating lock
18
for securing a needle
10
. As shown in
FIG. 3
of Berthiot, the lock
18
has a large diameter portion and a narrow diameter portion formed by two web-shaped branches
19
. When the needle
10
is moved down towards its operational position, the lower end
14
of the needle passes through the large diameter portion of the lock
18
. When the needle reaches its operational position, the lock
18
is pushed so that the groove
20
of the needle is locked firmly into position by the two web-shaped branches
19
.
Also, U.S. Pat. No. 5,158,569 (Strickland), discloses a slide plate
84
for securing a catheter
9
. As shown in
FIG. 3
of Strickland, the slide plate
84
includes a circular opening
94
having a diameter which is greater than the diameter of the catheter
9
and a slot
96
having a width which is less than the diameter of the catheter
9
. When the slide plate is in a first, or retracted, position, the catheter
9
passes freely through the circular opening
94
(see
FIGS. 4 and 5
of Strickland). When the slide plate is in a second, or inserted, position, the slot
96
frictionally engages the catheter, thereby restraining the catheter
9
in the slide plate
84
(see
FIGS. 2 and 6
of Strickland).
When the slide locks disclosed by Berthiot and Strickland are moved to the locked position, these slide locks do not provide any positive indication to the user that the slide locks are properly engaged in the locked position. Therefore, there exists the possibility that the needle
10
and catheter
9
may be improperly secured by the slide lock.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has been made in view of these problems associated with the prior art. Accordingly, one of the objects of the present invention is to provide a delivery system which can reliably deliver a highly viscous material, even if the material contains coarse particles, to a needle or catheter which exhibits minimal or no leakage of the highly viscous material.
A second object of the present invention is to provide a delivery system in which it is easy to change the syringe.
A third object of the present invention is to provide a delivery system which can positively inform the user that the syringe is properly attached and locked thereto.
To achieve these objects, the delivery system of the present invention comprises a delivery cap for connecting a catheter or needle to a cartridge, an interconnect insert and a compression sleeve disposed within the delivery cap which create a leak proof seal between the cartridge and the delivery cap, and a slide lock to reliably lock the cartridge to the delivery cap.
With this configuration, the delivery system of the present invention can reliably supply a highly viscous material to a catheter or a needle with minimal leakage between the syringe and the delivery cap. Also, the syringe can be replaced easily without rotating the syringe. Further, when a syringe is attached to the delivery cap, the slide-lock assembly positively informs the use that the syringe is properly attached and locked to the delivery cap.
REFERENCES:
patent: 2147616 (1939-02-01), Chaput
patent: 2737950 (1956-03-01), Berthiot
patent: 2830596 (1958-04-01), Dann et al.
patent: 3424158 (1969-01-01), Silver
patent: 4084588 (1978-04-01), Koenig
patent: 4436125 (1984-03-01), Blenkush
patent: 4445896 (1984-05-01), Gianturco
patent: 4900307 (1990-02-01), Kulli
patent: 5013300 (1991-05-01), Williams
patent: 5052725 (1991-10-01), Meyer et al.
patent: 5117837 (1992-06-01), Wanamaker et al.
patent: 5158569 (1992-10-01), Strickland et al.
patent: 5456673 (1995-10-01), Ziegler et al.
patent: 5586977 (1996-12-01), Dorsey, III
patent: 5603696 (1997-02-01), Williams et al.
patent: 5885257 (1999-03-01), Badger
Patrick Charles J.
Tessmann Terri L.
Bioform Inc.
Foley & Lardner
Kennedy Sharon
Rechtin Michael D.
Sirmons Kevin C.
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