Needle-Free Blood Draw
First Claim
1. A device comprising:
- an evacuated negative-pressure barrel with an aperture membrane sealing an aperture at a distal end of the evacuated negative-pressure barrel, and a housing affixed to, and sealing, a proximal end of the evacuated negative-pressure barrel;
an accelerator barrel positioned lengthwise within the evacuated negative-pressure barrel with an open proximal end fixed to the housing and opening into a chamber within the housing, and having an open distal end proximate to, and aligned with, the aperture;
a high-pressure gas source configured for filling the chamber with pressurized gas;
a trigger valve situated between, and forming a hydrostatic boundary between, the chamber and the open proximal end of the accelerator barrel;
a micro-particle positioned within the accelerator barrel at a launch point proximate to the trigger valve; and
a trigger-valve release actuator configured for abruptly opening of the trigger valve to abruptly release the pressurized gas from the chamber and into the open proximal end of the accelerator barrel,wherein, the abruptly released pressurized gas is configured to accelerate the micro-particle from the launch point to the open distal end of the accelerator barrel and through the aperture with sufficient momentum to pierce through the aperture membrane and penetrate a sufficient depth of dermal tissue proximate to the distal end of the evacuated negative-pressure barrel to induce a micro-emergence of blood at the dermal tissue surface,and wherein, residual negative pressure within the evacuated negative-pressure barrel is configured to draw at least a portion of blood from the micro-emergence into the evacuated negative-pressure barrel through the pierced aperture membrane.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system for needle-free drawing of blood is disclosed. A device can include an evacuated negative-pressure barrel with a membrane sealing an aperture at a distal end, and a housing affixed to a proximal end. An accelerator barrel can be positioned within the negative-pressure barrel and fixed to the housing, with an open proximal end in a chamber in the housing, and an open distal end aligned with the aperture. The chamber can be filled with pressurized gas, and a trigger valve can hydrostatically separate the chamber from the open proximal end of the accelerator barrel. A micro-particle positioned within the accelerator barrel can be accelerated to high speed by an abrupt surge of gas by releasing the trigger valve. The micro-particle can attain enough momentum to pierce the aperture membrane and penetrate adjacent dermal tissue. A resulting micro-emergence of blood can be drawn into the negative pressure barrel.
38 Citations
30 Claims
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1. A device comprising:
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an evacuated negative-pressure barrel with an aperture membrane sealing an aperture at a distal end of the evacuated negative-pressure barrel, and a housing affixed to, and sealing, a proximal end of the evacuated negative-pressure barrel; an accelerator barrel positioned lengthwise within the evacuated negative-pressure barrel with an open proximal end fixed to the housing and opening into a chamber within the housing, and having an open distal end proximate to, and aligned with, the aperture; a high-pressure gas source configured for filling the chamber with pressurized gas; a trigger valve situated between, and forming a hydrostatic boundary between, the chamber and the open proximal end of the accelerator barrel; a micro-particle positioned within the accelerator barrel at a launch point proximate to the trigger valve; and a trigger-valve release actuator configured for abruptly opening of the trigger valve to abruptly release the pressurized gas from the chamber and into the open proximal end of the accelerator barrel, wherein, the abruptly released pressurized gas is configured to accelerate the micro-particle from the launch point to the open distal end of the accelerator barrel and through the aperture with sufficient momentum to pierce through the aperture membrane and penetrate a sufficient depth of dermal tissue proximate to the distal end of the evacuated negative-pressure barrel to induce a micro-emergence of blood at the dermal tissue surface, and wherein, residual negative pressure within the evacuated negative-pressure barrel is configured to draw at least a portion of blood from the micro-emergence into the evacuated negative-pressure barrel through the pierced aperture membrane. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A device comprising:
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an outer barrel with an aperture at a distal end, and a housing affixed to a proximal end; a hydrophilic absorptive wick in the outer barrel, unobstructively surrounding at least a portion of the aperture; an inner barrel positioned lengthwise within the outer barrel with an open proximal end fixed to the housing and opening into a chamber within the housing, and having an open distal end proximate to, and aligned with, the aperture; a high-pressure gas source configured for filling the chamber with pressurized gas; a trigger valve situated between, and forming a hydrostatic boundary between, the chamber and the open proximal end of the inner barrel; a micro-particle positioned within the inner barrel at a launch point proximate to the trigger valve; and a trigger-valve release actuator configured for abruptly opening of the trigger valve to abruptly release the pressurized gas from the chamber and into the open proximal end of the inner barrel, wherein, the abruptly released pressurized gas is configured to accelerate the micro-particle from the launch point to the open distal end of the inner barrel and through the aperture with sufficient momentum to penetrate a sufficient depth of dermal tissue proximate to the distal end of the outer barrel to induce a micro-emergence of blood at the dermal tissue surface, and wherein, the hydrophilic absorptive wick is configured to draw at least a portion of blood from the micro-emergence into outer barrel through the aperture by capillary action. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27)
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15. A device comprising:
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a negative-pressure barrel having an aperture opening at a distal end and a housing affixed to a proximal end; an accelerator barrel positioned lengthwise within the negative-pressure barrel with an open proximal end fixed to the housing and opening into a chamber within the housing, and having an open distal end proximate to, and aligned with, the aperture; a high-pressure gas source configured for filling the chamber with pressurized gas; a trigger valve situated between the chamber and the open proximal end of the accelerator barrel, the trigger valve having a closed operational state in which the trigger valve is closed so as to form a hydrostatic boundary between the chamber and the open proximal end of the accelerator barrel, and an open operational state in which the trigger valve is opened so as to remove the hydrostatic boundary; an arming actuator configured for setting the device in an armed operational state in which (i) the trigger valve is set in the closed operational state, (ii) the chamber is filled with pressurized gas, (iii) a micro-particle is positioned within the accelerator barrel at a launch point proximate to the trigger valve, (iv) a negative-pressure vacuum is created within the negative-pressure barrel and within the accelerator barrel between the open distal end and the closed trigger valve, and (v) an aperture membrane is configured to seal the aperture and maintain the negative-pressure vacuum; and a trigger-valve release actuator configured for causing the trigger valve to abruptly transition from the closed operational state to the open operational state, thereby abruptly releasing the pressurized gas from the chamber into the open proximal end of the accelerator barrel, wherein, the abruptly released pressurized gas is configured to accelerate the micro-particle from the launch point to the open distal end of the accelerator barrel and through the aperture with sufficient momentum to pierce through the aperture membrane and penetrate a sufficient depth of dermal tissue proximate to the distal end of the negative-pressure barrel to induce a micro-emergence of blood at the dermal tissue surface, and wherein, the negative-pressure vacuum within the negative-pressure barrel is configured to draw at least a portion of blood from the micro-emergence into the negative-pressure barrel through the pierced aperture membrane. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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28. A method comprising:
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evacuating a negative-pressure barrel of a device, the evacuated negative-pressure barrel having an aperture membrane sealing an aperture at a distal end of the negative-pressure barrel, and a housing affixed to, and sealing, a proximal end of the negative-pressure barrel, wherein the negative-pressure barrel contains an accelerator barrel positioned lengthwise within the negative-pressure barrel with an open proximal end fixed to the housing and opening into a chamber within the housing, and having an open distal end proximate to, and aligned with, the aperture; arming a trigger valve situated between the chamber and the open proximal end of the accelerator barrel, the armed trigger valve forming a hydrostatic boundary between chamber and the open proximal end of the accelerator barrel; configuring a micro-particle within the accelerator barrel at a launch point proximate to the trigger valve; by abruptly releasing the armed trigger valve, abruptly releasing pressurized gas from the chamber and into the open proximal end of the accelerator, wherein, the abruptly released pressurized gas is configured to accelerate the micro-particle from the launch point to the open distal end of the accelerator barrel and through the aperture with sufficient momentum to pierce through the aperture membrane and penetrate a sufficient depth of dermal tissue proximate to the distal end of the negative-pressure barrel to induce a micro-emergence of blood at the dermal tissue surface; and drawing at least a portion of blood from the micro-emergence into the evacuated negative-pressure barrel through the pierced aperture. - View Dependent Claims (29)
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30. A method comprising:
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configuring a micro-particle at a launch point at a proximal end of an accelerator barrel of a hand-portable hyperspeed micro-particle accelerator device, wherein the accelerator barrel is positioned lengthwise within an outer barrel of the hand-portable hyperspeed micro-particle accelerator device and has an open distal end proximate to, and aligned with, an aperture at a distal end of the outer barrel; arming the hand-portable hyperspeed micro-particle accelerator device for hyperspeed acceleration of the micro-particle; and triggering the armed hand-portable hyperspeed micro-particle accelerator device to cause the micro-particle to accelerate from the launch point to the open distal end of the accelerator barrel and through the aperture with sufficient momentum to pierce dermal tissue proximate to the distal end of the outer barrel with no larger than a dermal-pore-sized surface puncture.
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Specification