Carrying Cases for Medical Devices and Methods

• US 20110154889A1
• Filed: 12/28/2010
• Published: 06/30/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 12/29/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Abbott Diabetes Care Incorporated (Abbott Laboratories Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Abbott Diabetes Care Incorporated (Abbott Laboratories Incorporated)
• Inventors: Chang, Johnny, Ching, Jessica, Leung, Mina Min, Stafford, Gary Ashley, Sloan, Mark Kent
• Granted Patent: US 8,661,895 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 73/61.59
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2050/311 Cases
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/14532 for measuring glucose, e.g. by tissue impedance measurement
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 50/31 Carrying cases or bags, e.g. doctors' bags
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2209/088 on the body
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 5/002 Packages specially adapted therefor, e.g. for syringes or needles, kits for diabetics needle protection, e.g. caps, A61M5/3202; for sharps A61B50/3001
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 45/16 Making multilayered or multicoloured articles B29C45/0062 takes precedence; feeding colouring materials into the injection unit B29C45/1816
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 33/48778 Containers specially adapted therefor, e.g. for dry storage

Abstract

Carrying cases for medical devices and components thereof are provided. Also provided are methods for carrying medical devices and for medical testing.

Claims

1. A medical device carrying case for carrying an encased medical device having an integrated in vitro analyte test strip port, the carrying case comprising:

a housing having a first wall and a second wall;

a connector portion that joins the first and second walls together to provide a compartment to accommodate a medical device having an integrated in vitro analyte test strip port; and

an in vitro analyte test strip port access portion provided in the housing, the test strip port access portion comprising a cut-out that is configured to permit passage of an in vitro analyte test strip therethrough.

2. The carrying case of claim 1 further comprising a closeable fastener to selectively interconnect the first and second walls together.

3. The carrying case of claim 2, wherein the closeable fastener comprises an inter-engageable connector positioned about the perimeters of the first and second walls.

4. The carrying case of claim 3, wherein the inter-engageable connector comprises a zipper.

5. The carrying case of claim 4, wherein the zipper comprises dual sliders that move independently of each other.

6. The carrying case of claim 1, wherein the in vitro analyte test strip port access portion is immoveable.

7. The carrying case of claim 1, wherein the in vitro analyte test strip port access portion is moveable to selectable positions about the carrying case.

8. The carrying case of claim 1, wherein the carrying case comprises a transparent window to permit viewing of the medical device carried in the carrying case.

9. The carrying case of claim 8, wherein the transparent window is made of a material that permits manipulation of a user interface of the medical device carried in the carrying case from outside the carrying case.

10. The carrying case of claim 1, wherein at least a portion of the housing comprises a material that permits manipulation of a user interface of the medical device when carried in the carrying case from outside the carrying case.

11. The carrying case of claim 1 further comprising an attachment member to attach the carrying case to an article of clothing.

12. The carrying case of claim 11 wherein the attachment member is configured to enable the case to be swivelable.

13. The carrying case of claim 1 further comprising a covering to provide a water-tight seal about the cut-out.

14. An analyte meter carrying system, the system comprising:

an analyte meter comprising an integrated in vitro analyte test strip port and a user interface; and

a carrying case comprising first and second walls that define a cavity to hold the analyte meter, wherein the carrying case is configured to allow manipulation of the user interface of the analyte meter from outside the carrying case when the analyte meter is in the carrying case.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the carrying case comprises a test strip port access portion that is configured to permit passage of an in vitro analyte test strip therethrough to engage with the in vitro analyte test strip port of the analyte meter when the analyte meter is in the carrying case.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the test strip port access portion comprises a cut-out.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the carrying case comprises a covering to seal the test strip access portion.

18. The system of claim 15, wherein the analyte meter is a component of an in vivo analyte monitoring system.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the analyte meter is integrated with an in vivo analyte monitoring system receiver unit.

20. The system of claim 14, wherein the carrying case further comprises a stretchable side wall interconnecting the first and second walls.

21. A method of testing for an analyte, the method comprising:

positioning a medical device comprising a test strip port into a carrying case;

inserting a test strip through a test strip access portion of the carrying case and into the test strip port of the medical device; and

testing for an analyte using the test strip.

22. The method of claim 21 further comprising removing a covering from the test strip access portion of the carrying case prior to inserting the test strip.

23. The method of claim 21 wherein positioning the medical device into the carrying case comprises expanding a stretchable portion of the carrying case.

24. The method of claim 21 further comprising manipulating a user interface of the medical device from outside the carrying case.

25. A method of fabricating a carrying case for a medical device, the method comprising:

injecting a first material into a carrying case mold to produce a case body defining a compartment for receiving the medical device, the case mold having at least one feature to provide a corresponding at least one void within the produced case body; and

injecting a second material into the carrying case mold to produce a user-accessible area at the at least one void of the case body, wherein the user-accessible area enables user access to the medical device when operatively positioned within the carry case.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein injecting the first material and injecting the second material occur independently of each other.

27. The method of claim 25, wherein injecting the first material and injecting the second material occurs simultaneously.

28. The method of claim 25, wherein the user-accessible area enables visibility of the medical device.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein the second material is a transparent material.

30. The method of claim 28, wherein the medical device includes a display and wherein the user-accessible area of the carrying case is configured to substantially align with the display of the medical device when the medical device is operatively positioned within the compartment.

31. The method of claim 25, wherein the user-accessible area enables manipulation of the medical device.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein the second material is a flexible material.

33. The method of claim 31, wherein second material has a thickness that is less than the thickness of first material.

34. The method of claim 31, wherein the medical device includes a user interface and wherein the user-accessible area of the carrying case is configured to substantially align with the user interface when the medical device is operatively positioned within the compartment.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein the user interface includes input keys and wherein the user-accessible area includes receptacles positioned for aligning with the input keys.

36. The method of claim 25, wherein the second material includes a thermoplastic elastomer.

37. The method of claim 25, wherein the first material includes a rigid plastic material.

38. The method of claim 25, wherein the first material and the second material are waterproof.

39. The method of claim 25, wherein injecting the second material provides a water-tight seal between the case body and the user-accessible area.

40. The method of claim 25, further comprising injecting a third material into the carrying case mold.

41. The method of claim 40, wherein injecting the third material produces a second user-accessible area of the medical device at at least one void.

42. The method of claim 25, further comprising providing a sealing member for enclosing the compartment to provide a water-tight carrying case.

43. The method of claim 25, further comprising forming an attachment member on an exterior surface of the case body, the attachment member configured to attach the carrying case to an article of clothing.

44. The method of claim 43, wherein injecting the first material forms the attachment member.

45. A method of fabricating a carrying case for a medical device, the method comprising:

providing a carrying case mold having at least one void;

providing a plug at the at least one void;

injecting at least one material into the carrying case mold to produce a case body defining a compartment for receiving the medical device; and

removing the plug to provide a cut-out within the resulting case body, for physically accessing a portion of the medical device when the medical device is operatively received within the compartment.

46. The method of claim 45, wherein the medical device comprises an integrated in vitro analyte test strip port which is accessible via the cut-out when the medical device is operatively received within the compartment.