Aspirator syringe with blood detector

• US 10,493,204 B2
• Filed: 11/11/2016
• Issued: 12/03/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 11/11/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University
• Original Assignee: Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University
• Inventors: Almoumen, Saud Abdullah A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Mehta, Bhisma
• Assistant Examiner(s): Engel, Matthew A
• Application Number:
  US15/349,060
• Publication Number:
  US 20180133400A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,117 Days
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2005/2026 Semi-automatic, e.g. user activated piston is assisted by additional source of energy
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2202/0241 Anaesthetics; Analgesics
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/3576 with non implanted data transmission devices, e.g. using external transmitter or receiver
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/502 User interfaces, e.g. screens or keyboards
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/52 with memories providing a history of measured variating parameters of apparatus or patient
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/583 by visual feedback
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/586 Ergonomic details therefor, e.g. specific ergonomics for left or right-handed users
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/6081 Colour codes
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/8206 battery-operated
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 5/20 Automatic syringes, e.g. with automatically actuated piston rod, with automatic needle injection, filling automatically A61M5/142 , A61M5/46 take precedence; hypodermic projectiles F42B12/54
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 5/3137 Specially designed finger grip means, e.g. for easy manipulation of the syringe rod

Abstract

An aspirator syringe comprising a blood-detecting spectrometer. The syringe may accommodate a standard drug cartridge and may provide manual or automatic movement of a plunger for aspiration and injection. Indicator lights may signal the presence or absence of blood in an aspirate within a drug cartridge. The syringe may also include a detector to read a color of a band on a standard drug cartridge in order to identify a drug.

Claims

1. An aspirator syringe comprising:

a hollow syringe barrel with a needle mount extending outwards from a first end of the barrel;

a plunger extending from a second end of the barrel and slidably moveable within the barrel, the plunger having a piston-engaging tip extending into the barrel;

a spectrometer attached to a side of the barrel, the spectrometer configured to detect blood in an aspirate;

wherein the spectrometer comprises a photodetector, the photodetector being in direct contact with an interior side of the barrel; and

wherein the aspirator syringe further comprises a first indicator light on an exterior side of the barrel electrically connected to the spectrometer to indicate if blood has been detected during aspiration.

2. The aspirator syringe of claim 1 further comprising:

a thumb rest attached to an end of the plunger distal to the piston-engaging tip; and

a finger grip attached to and in direct contact with an exterior surface of the barrel adjacent to the second end.

3. The aspirator syringe of claim 1 wherein the piston-engaging tip is a harpoon having a pointed shape in the form of a cone, a pyramid, or an arrowhead, and

wherein the pointed shape has a pointed tip at an end distal to the plunger.

4. The aspirator syringe of claim 1 further comprising a battery electrically connected to the spectrometer.

5. The aspirator syringe of claim 1 wherein the needle mount is removably attached to the first end of the barrel by a screw thread connection, and

wherein the screw thread connection is between a screw thread on the needle mount and a complementary thread on an interior of the first end of the barrel.

6. The aspirator syringe of claim 1 further comprising a bushing located within the barrel and attached by a spring to the second end, wherein the bushing is traversed by the plunger and configured to secure a drug cartridge within the barrel.

7. The aspirator syringe of claim 1 wherein the spectrometer comprises an LED light source.

8. The aspirator syringe of claim 1 wherein the spectrometer is a spectrophotometer and detects an absorbance of a wavelength from 400 to 680 nm.

9. The aspirator syringe of claim 1 further comprising a second indicator light on the exterior side of the barrel and electrically connected to the spectrometer to indicate if blood has not been detected during aspiration.

10. A method of administering an anesthetic injection to a tissue of a patient with the aspirator syringe of claim 1, the method comprising:

inserting an anesthetic syringe needle mounted onto the needle mount of the aspirator syringe into the tissue of the patient, wherein the aspirator syringe is loaded with a drug cartridge comprising an anesthetic drug;

aspirating the aspirate into the drug cartridge;

detecting the presence or absence of blood in the aspirate with the spectrometer; and

injecting the anesthetic drug into the patient when no blood is detected in the aspirate.