System For Syringe Engagement To An Injector

Abstract

An injector system for injecting fluid includes a syringe and an injector. The syringe includes a body and a plunger movably disposed within the body. The plunger has at least one flexible leg extending toward the rearward end of the body. The injector has a housing with a front plate, a drive member at least partially disposed within the housing and operable to engage the plunger, and a syringe release assembly operable to release the syringe. The syringe assembly includes a syringe release gear that forms an enclosure for receiving the syringe when the syringe is fully seated within the housing and a plunger release tube surrounding at least a portion of the drive member. The plunger release tube has a first end rotationally engaged with the syringe release gear. Rotation of the syringe release assembly releases the at least one flexible leg from the drive member.

Claims

1. An injector system for injecting fluid, comprising: a syringe, comprising: a body comprising a rearward end and a forward end; a plunger movably disposed within the body; at least one syringe drive paw positioned toward the rearward end of the body; and a syringe engagement flange positioned toward the rearward end of the body and extending around a circumference of the body; and an injector, comprising: a housing having a front plate defining a syringe-receiving opening therein and a drive member at least partially disposed within the housing and operable to engage the plunger disposed within the syringe; and a syringe latch comprising a plurality of latch members extending toward a center of the syringe-receiving opening and configured to move from a closed position to an open position when a force is applied thereto and from the open position to the closed position when the force is removed therefrom, wherein the syringe engagement flange pushes against the plurality of latch members of the syringe latch to open the syringe latch as axial rearward motion is applied to the syringe relative to the syringe latch and the plurality of latch members return to the closed position to retain the syringe within the opening of the housing when the syringe is fully seated within the housing.

2. The injector system of claim 1, wherein the syringe latch comprises a substantially oval-shaped body member and the plurality of latch members extend toward a center of the body member.

3. The injector system of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of latch members of the syringe latch comprise a first portion and an arc-shaped second portion extending from the first portion.

4. The injector system of claim 3, wherein the arc-shaped second portion, when viewed in cross-section, comprises a sloping face.

5. The injector system of claim 4, wherein the sloping face of the arc-shaped second portion engages with the syringe engagement flange to force the syringe latch into the open position.

6. The injector system of claim 1, wherein the syringe latch is manufactured from a polymeric material.

7. The injector system of claim 1, wherein the syringe latch comprises three latch members.

8. The injector system of claim 7, wherein the three latch members are evenly spaced around the center of the syringe-receiving opening.

9. The injector system of claim 1, wherein the injector further comprises a syringe release gear that forms an enclosure for receiving the syringe when the syringe is fully seated within the housing.

10. The injector system of claim 9, wherein the syringe release gear comprises an opening formed therein that is aligned with the syringe-receiving opening of the front plate.

11. The injector system of claim 10, wherein the opening in the syringe release gear comprises a plurality of teeth formed around a circumference thereof and the at least one syringe drive paw is configured to engage the plurality of teeth of the opening of the syringe release gear.

12. The injector system of claim 11, wherein the syringe is disengaged from the injector after completion of an injection procedure by rotating the syringe, thereby causing rotation of the syringe release gear via the engagement between the at least one syringe drive paw and the plurality of teeth of the syringe release gear such that the plurality of latch members of the syringe latch are forced into the open position which allows a user to remove the syringe from the housing of the injector.

13. An injector system for injecting a fluid, comprising: a syringe, comprising: an elongated tubular body comprising a rearward end and a forward end; a plunger movably disposed within the tubular body, the plunger having at least one flexible leg extending toward the rearward end of the tubular body; a syringe engagement flange positioned toward the rearward end of the tubular body and extending around a circumference of the tubular body, the syringe engagement flange comprising: a sloping section; and an engagement section adjoined with the sloping section; a fluid injector, comprising: a housing having a front plate defining a syringe-receiving opening therein and a drive member at least partially disposed within the housing and operable to engage the plunger disposed within the syringe; and a syringe latch comprising a plurality of latch members extending toward a center of the syringe-receiving opening and configured to move from a closed position to an open position when a force is applied thereto and from the open position to the closed position when the force is removed therefrom, wherein the sloping section of the syringe engagement flange pushes against the plurality of latch members of the syringe latch to open the syringe latch as axial rearward motion is applied to the syringe relative to the syringe latch and the plurality of latch members return to the closed position to retain the syringe within the opening of the housing when the syringe is fully seated within the housing.

14. The injector system of claim 13, wherein the syringe latch comprises a substantially oval-shaped body member and the plurality of latch members extend toward a center of the body member.

15. The injector system of claim 13, wherein each of the plurality of latch members of the syringe latch comprise a first portion and an arc-shaped second portion extending from the first portion.

16. The injector system of claim 15, wherein the arc-shaped second portion, when viewed in cross-section, comprises a sloping face.

17. The injector system of claim 16, wherein the sloping face of the arc-shaped second portion engages with the sloping section of the syringe engagement flange to force the syringe latch into the open position.

18. The injector system of claim 13, wherein the syringe latch comprises three latch members.

19. The injector system of claim 18, wherein the three latch members are evenly spaced around the center of the syringe-receiving opening.

20. The injector system of claim 13, wherein the injector further comprises a syringe release gear that forms an enclosure for receiving the syringe when the syringe is fully seated within the housing.

21. The injector system of claim 20, wherein the syringe release gear comprises an opening formed therein that is aligned with the syringe-receiving opening of the front plate.

22. The injector system of claim 21, wherein the opening in the syringe release gear comprises a plurality of teeth formed around a circumference thereof and the engagement section of the syringe engagement flange is configured to engage the plurality of teeth of the opening of the syringe release gear.

23. The injector system of claim 22, wherein the syringe is disengaged from the injector after completion of an injection procedure by rotating the syringe, thereby causing rotation of the syringe release gear via the engagement between the engagement section and the plurality of teeth of the syringe release gear such that the plurality of latch members of the syringe latch are forced into the open position which allows a user to remove the syringe from the housing of the injector.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional injector system showing an injector housing and a syringe in a disassembled relationship;

[0022] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of an injector system in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure showing the syringe and the injector housing in a partially disassembled relationship;

[0023] FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the syringe latch in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure for connecting the syringe to the injector housing;

[0024] FIGS. 4A-4E are cross-sectional views of a portion of the injector system of FIG. 2 illustrating the steps required for loading a syringe into the injector housing;

[0025] FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the injector system of FIG. 2 showing the syringe and the injector housing in the assembled state;

[0026] FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the injector system of FIG. 2 taken along line B-B;

[0027] FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the injector system of FIG. 2 taken along line A-A;

[0028] FIGS. 8A-8D are cross-sectional views of a portion of the injector system of FIG. 5 illustrating the steps required for unloading a syringe from the injector housing;

[0029] FIG. 9 is a perspective view of an injector in accordance with an alternative embodiment of the disclosure;

[0030] FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the injector of FIG. 9 having the faceplate removed such that an alternative embodiment of the syringe latch is visible;

[0031] FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the injector of FIG. 10 with syringes attached thereto;

[0032] FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the injector of FIG. 9 with syringes attached thereto;

[0033] FIG. 13 is a side view of a syringe configured to be used with the injector of FIG. 9; and

[0034] FIG. 14 are front views of the syringe latch of the injector of FIG. 9.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0035] For purposes of the description hereinafter, the terms “upper”, “lower”, “right”, “left”, “vertical”, “horizontal”, “top”, “bottom”, “lateral”, “longitudinal”, and derivatives thereof, shall relate to the device of the present disclosure as it is oriented in the drawing figures. However, it is to be understood that the device of the present disclosure may assume various alternative variations, except where expressly specified to the contrary. It is also to be understood that the specific devices illustrated in the attached drawings, and described in the following specification, are simply exemplary embodiments of the device of the present disclosure. Hence, specific dimensions and other physical characteristics related to the embodiments disclosed herein are not to be considered as limiting.

[0036] With reference to FIG. 2, an injector system 100 for injecting a liquid contrast media into a vascular system of an animal is provided. The injector system 100 has a front-loading construction. The system of FIG. 2 utilizes a syringe 102 capable of being front-loaded into a mounting assembly 104 associated with a front plate 106 of a housing (not shown) of an injector 108 by a first releasable mechanism 22. The syringe 102 is capable of functioning in an injection operation without the use of a pressure jacket (although the syringe may be used in an injector with a pressure jacket).

[0037] The syringe 102 includes an elongated main tubular body or barrel 110 and a coaxial discharge injection section 112 interconnected by an intermediate conical portion 114. A plunger 116 is slidably positioned within the tubular body 110 and includes at least one plunger connect flex leg 118 that is connectable to a piston/plunger interface 120 on a piston 122 of the injector 108. The plunger 116 also includes a plunger sense interrupter 123 extending from a central portion thereof in the direction of the at least one flex leg 118. The plunger sense interrupter 123 is configured to interrupt a light path produced by an IR transmitter 140 and IR receiver 142 through a fiber optic cable 144 extending along the length of the piston 122, thereby providing a signal to an injector controller (not shown) that the syringe 102 is fully seated within the injector 108. An alternative embodiment of the plunger sense interrupter 123 determines the presence/absence of the syringe 102 without the use of a fiber optic cable.

[0038] The syringe 102 further includes a syringe engagement flange 124 positioned toward the rearward end of the body 110 and extending around a circumference of the body 110. When viewed in cross-section, the syringe engagement flange 124 includes a sloping section 126, a shoulder section 128 extending from the sloping section 126 that is essentially perpendicular to an exterior surface of the body 110 of the syringe 102, and an engagement section 130 extending from the shoulder section 128. The engagement section 130 is configured to engage a plurality of teeth 132 of an opening 134 of a syringe release gear 136 of the injector 108 as discussed in greater detail hereinafter in relation to FIG. 6.

[0039] Since the syringe 102 is being used in this embodiment without a pressure jacket, for strength and visibility of the contents of the syringe 102, the syringe 102 may be formed of a clear PET polyester material. In the alternative, the wall of the syringe 102 may be formed of polypropylene reinforced by providing a series of annular ribs on the tubular body 110 of the syringe 102 in a longitudinally spaced relationship. In addition, the syringe 102 desirably includes an encoding device for providing information regarding the syringe 102 to the injector 108 an indicating mechanism for readily detecting the presence or absence of a liquid contrast media in the syringe 102 similar to the encoding device and indicating mechanism of syringe 12 discussed hereinabove.

[0040] With continued reference to FIG. 1, the injector includes a housing (not shown) having the front plate 106 defining a syringe-receiving opening 138 therein. The piston 122 is positioned within the housing and is configured to extending into and out of the syringe-receiving opening 138 under the power of a drive mechanism 146. The piston 122 includes the piston/plunger interface 120 at an end thereof that is operable to interact with the at least one flex leg 118 of the plunger 116 to engage the plunger 116 disposed within the syringe 102.

[0041] With reference to FIG. 3 and with continuing reference to FIG. 2, the injector 108 also includes a syringe latch 148 mounted to a front side of the front plate 106 by any suitable fastening device 150 for maintaining the syringe in the seated position within the injector 108. The syringe latch 148 comprises a substantially oval shaped body member 152 and a plurality of latch members 154 extending toward a center C of the body member 152. In the embodiment of the syringe latch 148 illustrated in FIG. 3, two latch members 154 are included. The syringe latch 148 is desirably manufactured from a resilient, polymeric material such that the latch members 154 are configured to move from a closed position to an open position when a force is applied thereto and from the open position to the closed position when the force is removed therefrom.

[0042] Each of the plurality of latch members 154 of the syringe latch 148 includes a first portion 156 extending from the body member 152 and an arc-shaped second portion 158 extending from the first portion 156 and configured to engage the syringe engagement flange 124 of the syringe 102. The arc-shaped second portion 158, when viewed in cross-section, may include a sloping face 160 (see FIGS. 4A-4E) that engages with the sloping section 126 of the syringe engagement flange 124 to force the syringe latch 148 into the open position.

[0043] With continued reference to FIG. 2, the injector 108 also includes the syringe release gear 136 that forms an enclosure 162 for receiving the syringe 102 when the syringe 102 is fully seated within the injector housing. The syringe release gear 136 is mounted to a rear side of the front plate 106 by at least one syringe release cam pin 164. The syringe release cam pin 164 is configured to be connected to the syringe release gear 136 and extend through the front plate 106 of the injector 108 into a slot 166 in the arc-shaped second portion 158 of the latch members 154 of the syringe latch 148.

[0044] With reference to FIG. 7 and with continued reference to FIG. 2, the piston 122 is surrounded by a plunger release tube 168. The plunger release tube 168 has a first end that is rotationally engaged with the syringe release gear 136 such that rotation of the syringe release gear 136 causes rotation of the plunger release tube 168.

[0045] The process for engaging a syringe 102 with the injector 108 to form an injector system 100 is illustrated in FIGS. 4A-4E. This process allows for syringe engagement with an injector 108 that provides a syringe engagement adapted to releasably engage the syringe 102 with the injector 108 regardless of the rotational orientation of the syringe 102 with respect to the injector 108. The syringe engagement uses the flex legs 118 attached to the back side of the plunger 116 of the syringe 102 and a corresponding feature on the piston 122 of an injector 108 that provides axial engagement that does not require any specific rotational orientation of the syringe 102 to releasably engage with the injector 108. Additionally, a feature (i.e., the syringe engagement flange 124) is provided on the outside surface of the rear portion of the tubular body 110 to transfer rotational movement of the syringe into a release mechanism (i.e., the syringe release gear 136) implemented in the injector 108 releasing both the syringe 102 and the plunger 116 regardless of the axial position of the engaged syringe plunger 116.

[0046] The first step in the process for engaging the syringe 102 with the injector 108 is shown in FIG. 4A in which the syringe 102 is positioned axially with the syringe-receiving opening 134 of the front plate 106 of the injector 108 and is moved axially along the piston 122 into the enclosure 162 formed by the syringe release gear 136 in the direction of arrow A.sub.1. With reference to FIG. 4B, as the syringe 102 is inserted, the sloping section 126 of the syringe engagement flange 124 engages the sloping face 160 of the arc-shaped second section 158 of the latch members 154 of the syringe latch 148 and pushes the syringe latch 148. In addition, with reference to FIGS. 4C and 4D, as the syringe 102 is inserted, the sloped surface of the piston/plunger interface 120 flexes the at least one flex leg 118 of the plunger 116 open. With reference to FIG. 4E, continual movement of the syringe 102 in the direction of arrow A.sub.1 causes the syringe 102 to be fully seated within the enclosure 162 formed by the syringe release gear 136. When the body of the syringe 102 is fully seated within the enclosure 162 formed by the syringe release gear 136, the following items occur: first, the engagement section 130 of the syringe engagement flange 124 engages the teeth 132 of the syringe release gear 136. In addition, the syringe engagement flange 124 moves beyond the arc-shaped second portion 158 of the latch members 154 of the syringe latch 148, thereby closing the syringe latch 148 to retain the syringe 102. Desirably, when the syringe latch 148 returns to the closed position, it provides an audible “click” to indicate to the operator that the syringe 102 has been installed on the injector 108. Furthermore, the flex legs 118 on the plunger 116 flex closed engaging the piston/plunger interface 120. Finally, the plunger sense interrupter 123 of the plunger 116 interrupts the light path produced by an IR transmitter 140 and IR receiver 142 through a fiber optic cable 144 extending along the length of the piston 122, thereby providing a signal to an injector controller (not shown) that the syringe 102 is fully seated within the injector 108.

[0047] Removal of the syringe 102 from the injector 108 upon the completion of an injection procedure requires that the syringe 102 be rotated, as described below. This operation is illustrated in and described by reference to FIGS. 8A-8D.

[0048] With reference to FIG. 8A and FIG. 8B, the rotation of the syringe 102 causes rotation of the syringe release gear 136 via the engagement between the engagement section 130 of the syringe engagement flange 124 and the plurality of teeth 132 of the syringe release gear 136 as shown in FIG. 6. This rotation, in turn, causes rotation of the syringe release cam pins 164 along the slots 166 provided in the latch members 154 of the syringe latch 148 as shown in FIG. 8C. The latch members 154 of the syringe latch 148 are thereby forced into the open position.

[0049] As also shown in FIG. 8C, the rotation of the syringe release gear 136 also rotates the plunger release tube 168 about the piston 122 since the plunger release tube 168 is coupled to the syringe release gear 136 as described hereinabove. The rotation of the plunger release tube 168 about the piston 122 causes a cam action at a release cam surface 170 (see FIGS. 1 and 5) causing an axial extension of the plunger release tube 168 towards the syringe-receiving opening 134 of the front plate 106. The axial extension of the plunger release tube 168 forces the at least one flex leg 118 of the plunger 116 to flex open to release the piston/plunger interface 122.

[0050] At this point, a user can remove the syringe 102 from the housing of the injector 108. Once the syringe 102 is removed, the syringe release gear 136 returns to original position allowing the syringe latch 148 to return to the closed position and the plunger release tube 168 to drop down as shown in FIG. 8D.

[0051] While the syringe latch 148 discussed hereinabove includes two latch members, this is not to be construed as limiting the disclosure as any suitable number of latch members may be utilized. For instance, with reference to FIGS. 9-14, the injector may be embodied as a dual syringe injector system 200 that includes a pair of syringes 202a, 202b and an injector 204. As shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, the injector 204 utilizes a syringe latch 206a, 206b for each of the syringes 202a, 202b that includes three latch members 208 for engaging the syringe 202a, 202b within the injector 204. In addition, rather than having the latch members 208 connected to a body member as with the syringe latch 148 discussed hereinabove, each of the latch members 208 is independent and utilizes a spring return 210 (see FIG. 14).

[0052] More specifically, with reference to FIGS. 13 and 14, a syringe 202a, 202b for use with injector 204 includes a body 212 comprising a rearward end 214 and a forward end 216; a plunger (not shown) movably disposed within the body 212; and at least one syringe drive paw 218 positioned toward the rearward end 214 of the body 212. Desirably, the syringe 202a, 202b includes a pair of syringe drive paws 218 at the rearward end 214 of the body 212 located 180° apart. The syringe 202a, 202b also includes a syringe engagement flange 220 positioned toward the rearward end 214 of the body 212 and extending around a circumference of the body 212.

[0053] The injector 204 includes a pair of syringe latches 206a, 206b mounted to a front side of the front plate thereof. Each of the syringe latches 206a, 206b comprises a plurality of latch members 208 extending toward a center of the syringe-receiving opening 222 and configured to move from a closed position to an open position when a force is applied thereto and from the open position to the closed position when the force is removed therefrom. The syringe engagement flange 220 pushes against the plurality of latch members 208 of the syringe latch 206a, 206b to open the syringe latch 206a, 206b as axial rearward motion is applied to the syringe 202a, 202b relative to the syringe latch 206a, 206b and the plurality of latch members 208 return to the closed position to retain the syringe 202a, 202b within the opening 222 of the injector 204 when the syringe 202a, 202b is fully seated within the injector 204.

[0054] The syringe 202a, 202b may be disengaged from the injector 204 after completion of an injection procedure by rotating the syringe 202a, 202b. This causes rotation of a syringe release gear 224 via the engagement between the syringe drive paws 218 and a plurality of teeth of the syringe release gear 224. The rotation of the syringe release gear 224 activates the spring returns 210, which force the latch members 208 of the syringe latch 206a, 206b into the open position, thereby allowing a user to remove the syringe 202a, 202b from the injector 204.

[0055] While specific embodiments of the device of the present disclosure have been described in detail, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various modifications and alternatives to those details could be developed in light of the overall teachings of the disclosure. Accordingly, the particular arrangements disclosed are meant to be illustrative only and not limiting as to the scope of the device of the present disclosure which is to be given the full breadth of the claims appended and any and all equivalents thereof.