Blood withdrawal system

• US 20050090850A1
• Filed: 08/06/2004
• Published: 04/28/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 08/07/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Roche Diabetes Care Inc. (Roche Holding AG)
• Original Assignee: Roche Diagnostics Operations Incorporated (Roche Holding AG)
• Inventors: Ruschke, Peter, Kuhr, Hans, Schabbach, Michael, Kintzig, Hans, Thoes, Bruno Robert
• Granted Patent: US 7,273,484 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 606/182
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/150022 for capillary blood or interstitial fluid
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/150206 Construction or design features not otherwise provided for; manufacturing or production; packages; sterilisation of piercing element, piercing device or sampling device
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/150412 Pointed piercing elements, e.g. needles, lancets for piercing the skin blade-like piercing elements A61B5/150442
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/15113 Manually triggered, i.e. the triggering requires a deliberate action by the user such as pressing a drive button
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/15117 comprising biased elements, resilient elements or a spring, e.g. a helical spring, leaf spring, or elastic strap
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/15128 comprising 2D- or 3D-shaped elements, e.g. cams, curved guide rails or threads comprising tooth-shaped elements A61B5/15132
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1513 comprising linear sliding guides comprising tooth-shaped elements A61B5/15132
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/15132 comprising tooth-shaped elements, e.g. toothed wheel or rack and pinion
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/15186 Devices loaded with a single lancet, i.e. a single lancet with or without a casing is loaded into a reusable drive device and then discarded after use; drive devices reloadable for multiple use
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1519 comprising driving means, e.g. a spring, for propelling the piercing unit
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/15194 fully automatically retracted, i.e. the retraction does not require a deliberate action by the user, e.g. by terminating the contact with the patient's skin

Abstract

The present invention generally relates to a blood withdrawal system for withdrawing blood for diagnostic purposes. The blood withdrawal system comprises housing with a lancet, which can be moved within the housing. The housing also includes a lancet drive with a drive spring and a cocking mechanism that includes an actuation element. The blood withdrawal system of the present invention also includes a lancet ejection mechanism that can be moved from an active position to remove the lancet to a passive position where such removal of the lancet is not possible.

Claims

1. A Blood withdrawal system for withdrawing blood for diagnostic purposes, the system comprising:

a housing with an exit opening for the tip of a lancet, wherein the lancet can be moved within the housing along a pre-determined puncturing path; and

a lancet drive with a drive spring and a cocking mechanism;

wherein the cocking mechanism includes an actuation element, wherein the actuation element is coupled by an input-side coupling mechanism to the drive spring such that the drive spring is tensioned when the actuation element is moved during a cocking phase of the lancet drive;

wherein the drive spring is coupled by an output-side coupling mechanism to the lancet such that the lancet during a drive phase of the lancet drive, is driven by the relaxing motion of the drive spring at a high speed along the pre-determined puncturing path until the lancet'"'"'s tip exits from the exit opening to generate a wound; and

wherein the actuation element is coupled to a track control mechanism, the track control mechanism comprising a control track part and a control traveler, wherein the control traveler performs a relative motion with respect to the control track part during at least a part of the cocking phase, in which the control traveler travels along a control track of the control track part, wherein at least a part of the motion of the lancet drive is controlled.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the control track part is the input-side component of the track control mechanism coupled with the actuation element of the cocking mechanism.

3. The system according to claim 1, wherein the control track part or the control traveler is movably guided in the housing parallel to its longitudinal axis (A).

4. The system according to claim 1, wherein the actuation element includes a cocking button projecting from the rear end of the housing opposite from the exit opening.

5. The system according to claim 1, wherein the control track of the control track part includes a one-way section which is designed and arranged in such a manner that the control traveler, once it is driven into the one-way section, can be driven out of the one-way section only in one direction whereby a relative motion of the control traveler with respect to the control track part beyond the one-way section is possible only in one travel direction of the control track.

6. The system according to claim 1, wherein the control track of the control track part includes a reversing section, which is designed and arranged in such a manner that the control traveler, once it is driven into the reversing section, can be driven out of the reversing section only after the control traveler performs a relative motion with respect to the control track part in the reverse direction of its previous motion.

7. The system according to claim 1, wherein the motion of the lancet drive is controlled by the relative motion of the control traveler with respect to the control track part during at least a part of the cocking phase until the triggering of the drive phase.

8. The system according to claim 1, wherein the lancet drive includes a drive rotor which is driven by the drive spring and is rotatable about an axis wherein during the drive phase of the motion of the lancet drive the rotational motion of the drive rotor is converted by the output-side coupling mechanism into the puncturing motion.

9. The system according to claim 8, wherein one of the components of the track control mechanism is coupled to the drive rotor in such a manner that it rotates synchronous therewith.

10. The system according to claim 9, wherein the component of the track control mechanism which is coupled to the drive rotor is the control traveler.

11. The system according to claim 8, wherein the housing has an elongated shape, the control track part or the control traveller is movably guided in the housing parallel to its longitudinal axis, the actuation element of the cocking mechanism is coupled to a force transmission part, which is guided within the housing such that it can be displaced in the longitudinal direction of the housing, and the rotation axis of the drive rotor extends transverse to the longitudinal axis of the housing.

12. The system according to claim 11, wherein the input-side coupling mechanism includes a toothed rack provided on the force transmission part, and a pinion gear which engages the toothed rack.

13. The system according to claims 8, wherein the output-side coupling mechanism includes a recess, which forms a guide curve, which recess is engaged by a guide pin, in such a manner that, during the rotational motion of the drive rotor in the drive phase, the guide pin travels along the guide curve formed by the recess, whereby at least a part of the motion of the lancet in the drive phase is controlled and the maximal displacement of the lancet in the puncturing direction is determined by a lower reversing point of the guide curve.

14. The system according to claim 8, wherein the end of the drive spring remote from the drive rotor abuts against a rotatable tensioning element, wherein the tensioning element can be rotated in the same rotation direction, in which the drive rotor rotates during the drive phase for tensioning of the drive spring, while the rotation of the drive rotor is inhibited, and the tensioning element is locked against a reverse motion during the drive phase such that the drive rotor performs, after release of the inhibition, a rotational motion which is transformed by the output-side coupling mechanism into the puncturing motion of the lancet.

15. The system according to claim 14, wherein the rotatable tensioning element and the drive rotor are components of a drive module which components are rotatable about a common axis (C).

16. A blood withdrawal system for withdrawing blood for diagnostic purposes, the system comprising:

a housing with an exit opening for the tip of a lancet, wherein the lancet can be moved within the housing along a pre-determined puncturing path;

a lancet drive with a drive spring and a cocking mechanism;

wherein the cocking mechanism includes an actuation element, which is coupled by an input-side coupling mechanism to the drive spring such that the drive spring is tensioned when the actuation element is moved during a cocking phase of the motion of the lancet drive;

wherein the drive spring is coupled by an output-side coupling mechanism to the lancet such that the lancet is, during a drive phase of the motion of the lancet drive driven by the relaxing motion of the drive spring, moved at high speed along the pre-determined puncturing path in the puncturing direction until its tip exits from the exit opening to generate a wound; and

a lancet ejection mechanism, wherein the lancet ejection mechanism includes a release element which is borne in the housing such that it can be switched between a passive position and an active position, wherein when the release element is in its active position such that actuating an actuation button of the lancet ejection mechanism removes a used lancet from the housing;

wherein the front end of the housing with the puncturing opening is formed by a cap, which can be removed in order to remove used lancets, such that when the cap is attached, the cap interacts with the release element such that it is in its passive position, and

wherein the release element is switched to its active position upon removal of the cap.

17. The system according to claim 16, wherein the release element is a part of a force transmission chain between the actuation button and a lancet, which force transmission chain is required for the ejection of the lancet.

18. The system according to claim 17, wherein the release element can be displaced in the same direction as the actuation button.

19. The system according to claim 17, wherein the force transmission chain is interrupted when the release element is in its passive position.

20. The system according to claim 16, wherein the actuation element of the cocking mechanism of the lancet drive is also the actuation button of the lancet ejection mechanism.