Monitoring Manually Operated Syringes

• US 20170189621A1
• Filed: 03/21/2017
• Published: 07/06/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 09/23/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Romaltek Medical S.L.
• Original Assignee: Romaltek Medical S.L.
• Inventors: RODIERA OLIV, Jos Javier, SOLER I PLA, Pau
• Granted Patent: US 10,398,846 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2005/1588 having means for monitoring, controlling or visual inspection, e.g. for patency check, avoiding extravasation
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2039/0205 for injecting media
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2039/0258 for vascular access, e.g. blood stream access
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2039/0267 comprising sensors or electrical contacts
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2039/0276 for introducing or removing fluids into or out of the body
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/3306 Optical measuring means
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/52 with memories providing a history of measured variating parameters of apparatus or patient
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/6054 Magnetic identification systems
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/6063 Optical identification systems
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/6072 Bar codes
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2209/088 on the body
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 39/0247 Semi-permanent or permanent transcutaneous or percutaneous access sites to the inside of the body peritoneal dialysis catheters A61M1/285; tracheostomy devices A61M16/0465; measuring pressure within the body A61B5/03; colostomy devices A61F5/445; gastrotomy feeding tubes A61J15/0015; means for fixing a feeding tube outside of the body A61J15/0053
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 5/158 Needles for infusions; Accessories therefor, e.g. for inserting infusion needles, or for holding them on the body
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 5/31525 Dosing burettes, pipettes B01L3/02
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 5/31535 Means improving security or handling thereof, e.g. blocking means, means preventing insufficient dosing, means allowing correction of overset dose
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 5/31568 Means keeping track of the total dose administered, e.g. since the cartridge was inserted
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 5/31573 Accuracy improving means
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 5/04 Prisms
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 5/208 for use with infrared or ultraviolet radiation, e.g. for separating visible light from infrared and/or ultraviolet radiation
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/0012 Biomedical image inspection
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/70 : Determining position or orientation of objects or cameras camera calibration G06T7/80
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/17 : delivered via infusion or injection
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/33 : Transforming infrared radiation cameras or camera modules for generating image signals from infrared radiation H04N23/20; circuitry of SSIS for transforming infrared radiation into image signals H04N25/20

Abstract

A device for monitoring a manually operated syringe that according to one embodiment includes a basis which is adapted to be connected to a medication administration point of a patient and comprises a syringe insertion port to receive the syringe dispensing tip, the basis being configured such that when the syringe is inserted in the insertion port the syringe barrel is not in direct contact with the basis, and at least part of the syringe barrel projects from the basis in the direction of the barrel axis, and further comprising an image acquisition system arranged on the basis and adapted to capture an image of at least part of the syringe plunger when the syringe is inserted in the insertion port.

Claims

1. A device for monitoring a manually operated syringe, the syringe comprising a dispensing tip, a syringe barrel with a syringe barrel axis and a syringe plunger, the device comprising:

a basis configured to be connected to a medication administration point of a patient and comprising a syringe insertion port configured to receive the syringe dispensing tip, the basis being configured such that when the syringe is inserted in the insertion port the syringe barrel is not in direct contact with the basis, and at least part of the syringe barrel projects from the basis in the direction of the barrel axis, and

an image acquisition system arranged on the basis and configured to capture an image of at least part of the syringe plunger when the syringe is inserted in the insertion port.

2. The device according to claim 1, wherein the imaging acquisition system is configured to also capture an image of at least a part of the syringe barrel when the syringe dispensing tip is inserted in the insertion port.

3. The device according to claim 1, wherein an optical axis of the image acquisition system intersects the syringe barrel axis at a point within the barrel when the syringe is inserted in the insertion port.

4. The device according to claim 1, wherein the image acquisition system comprises a solid state sensor and an optical system configured to focus an image of the syringe barrel on the solid state sensor.

5. The device according to claim 4, wherein the optical system is aligned on a first plane and the solid state sensor is aligned on a second plane, the first plane being tilted with respect to the second plane.

6. The device according to claim 5, wherein the first plane is tilted with respect to the second plane by an angle of between 0.2°

to 15°

.

7. The device according to claim 4, wherein the optical system comprises an optical prism.

8. The device according to claim 4, wherein the image acquisition system comprises at least two sensors and at least two corresponding optical systems, the at least two sensors and at least two corresponding optical systems being arranged on the basis and distributed around the insertion port.

9. The device according to claim 1, further comprising an illumination system adapted to illuminate the syringe barrel when the syringe is inserted in the insertion port.

10. The device according to claim 9, wherein the illumination system comprises a light source arranged on the basis.

11. The device according to claim 9, wherein the light source is an infrared light source, and the optical system comprises an infrared filter.

12. The device according to claim 9, wherein the illumination system is configured to illuminate a liquid in an interior of the syringe barrel when the syringe dispensing tip is inserted in the insertion port.

13. The device according to claim 1, wherein the image acquisition system is configured to capture an image of a data label attached to the syringe barrel when the syringe dispensing tip is inserted in the insertion port.

14. The device according to claim 1, wherein the image acquisition system is configured to capture images of the syringe plunger at different positions when the syringe dispensing tip is inserted in the insertion port.

20. A method for injecting a medication to a patient, comprising:

providing a manually operated syringe having a barrel and a plunger, the barrel containing the medication that is expelled from the barrel by a movement of the plunger,

providing a medication administration point to a patient, and connecting a device according to claim 1 to the medication administration point,

manually operating the syringe to inject the therapeutic medication to the patient,

automatically recording data from the syringe operation; and

automatically storing and/or transmitting to a computer system the recorded data.

15. A method for monitoring a manually operated syringe having a barrel and a plunger, the barrel containing a medication that is expelled from the barrel by a movement of the plunger, the method comprising:

providing a basis configured to be connected to a medication administration point of a patient and comprising a syringe insertion port and an image acquisition system,

detecting the insertion of a syringe dispensing tip in the insertion port,

identifying the medication inside the barrel,

obtaining successive images of the syringe plunger, and

processing the obtained images to determine at least an initial plunger position and a final plunger position.

16. The method according to claim 15, wherein the step of identifying the medication comprises obtaining at least one image of a data label attached to the syringe barrel, and the step of processing the images comprises determining a syringe identification parameter from the image of the data label.

17. The method according to claim 15, wherein the step of processing the images further comprises determining a length of the plunger stroke between the initial plunger position and the final plunger position.

18. The method according to claim 17, comprising obtaining successive images of a tip portion of the syringe plunger inside the syringe barrel.

19. The method according to claim 17, comprising obtaining successive images of a stem portion of the syringe plunger located outside the syringe barrel.