Portable automatic syringe device and injection needle unit thereof

• US 5,993,411 A
• Filed: 02/02/1999
• Issued: 11/30/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 08/18/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Choi, Soo Bong
• Original Assignee: Choi, Soo Bong
• Inventors: Choi, Soo Bong
• Primary Examiner(s): McDermott, Corrine
• Assistant Examiner(s): Thissell, Jeremy
• Application Number:
  US09/243,288
• Time in Patent Office: 301 Days
• Field of Search: 604/65, 604/66, 604/67, 604/239, 604/901, 604/131, 604/151, 604/152, 604/154, 604/155, 128/DIG. 1, 128/DIG. 12, 128/DIG. 13, 600/347, 600/365
• US Class Current: 604/67
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2005/1581 Right-angle needle-type devices
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2230/201 Glucose concentration
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 5/14244 adapted to be carried by the patient, e.g. portable on the body
• 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: Y10S 128/12 Pressure infusion
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 128/26 Cannula supporters

Abstract

A portable automatic syringe device having a configuration including a separable rotating shaft adapted to provide a drive force to a piston included in the automatic syringe device so that the rotating shaft can be separated, along with the piston, from a housing of the syringe device upon re-filling a syringe of the syringe device with a liquid medicine. A coupling member is coupled between the rotating shaft and power transmission means. The coupling member has a reduction gear engaging with an output gear of the power transmission means, and a cross groove. A horizontal engaging pin is fixed to a lower end of the rotating shaft in such a fashion that it is engaged in the cross groove when the rotating shaft is positioned in position in the syringe device, thereby causing the rotating shaft to be coupled to the coupling member. An injection needle unit is also provided which includes an "L" shaped injection needle member provided with a curved portion capable of absorbing impact, thereby preventing a breakage of the injection needle member. The injection needle unit also includes a sensor for sensing an abnormal blood sugar level generated due to an abnormal injection of a liquid medicine.

Claims

1. An injection needle unit usable in a portable automatic syringe device, the injection needle unit comprising a feeding tube, an "L" shaped injection needle member connected to one end of the feeding tube, a connector connected to the other end of the feeding tube, and a depressing member integrally formed with the injection needle member in such a fashion that the injection needle protrudes perpendicularly from the depressing member, the depressing member being depressed against the skin of a user upon penetrating the injection needle member into the subcutaneous tissue of the user, further comprising:

a glucose sensor attached to said injection needle and adapted to penetrate the body of the user when the injection needle penetrates the body of the user, said glucose sensor comprising an electrode wire wound around the injection needle in the form of a core, an insulating layer coated over the injection needle to insulate the injection needle from said electrode wire, and an enzyme member fitted around a portion of the injection needle adjacent to the injection tip while being insulated from the electrode wire, said enzyme member and said electrode wire penetrating the body of the user when the injection needle penetrates the body of the user, and leads connected to the enzyme member and the electrode wire, respectively, to electrically connect the enzyme member and the electrode wire to a voltage sensing means included in the automatic syringe device, the leads being buried in the depressing member and the feeding tube.

2. A portable automatic syringe device comprising a housing, a syringe separably received in the housing and contained with a liquid medicine, an injection needle unit coupled to the housing in such a fashion that it communicates with the syringe, the injection needle unit including a feeding tube, an "L" shaped injection needle member connected to one end of the feeding tube, a connector connected to the other end of the feeding tube, and a depressing member integrally formed with the injection needle member in such a fashion that the injection needle protrudes perpendicularly from the depressing member, the depressing member being depressed against the skin of a user upon penetrating the injection needle member into the subcutaneous tissue of the user, a piston slidably fitted in the syringe and separably received in the housing, the piston being vertically movable in the syringe to inject the liquid medicine into the injection needle unit, a vertical rotating shaft having a screw extending throughout the length thereof, push means adjacent the piston and threadedly coupled to the screw of the rotating shaft in such a fashion that it moves along the rotating shaft when the rotating shaft rotates, for moving the piston by the movement of the push means, and power transmission means fixedly installed in the housing and adapted to transmit a drive force generated from a drive motor to the rotating shaft, further comprising:

a glucose sensor attached to said injection needle and adapted to penetrate the body of the user when the injection needle penetrates the body of the user, said glucose sensor comprising an electrode wire wound around the injection needle in the form of a core, an insulating layer coated over the injection needle to insulate the injection needle from said electrode wire, and an enzyme member fitted around a portion of the injection needle adjacent to the injection tip while being insulated from the electrode wire, said enzyme member and said electrode wire penetrating the body of the user when the injection needle penetrates the body of the user, and leads connected to the enzyme member and the electrode wire, respectively;

voltage sensing means connected to the leads and adapted to sense a variation in resistance outputted from the glucose sensor;

a control unit for comparing an output from said voltage sensing means with a reference value, thereby generating a control signal, said control unit comprising a microcomputer adapted to control the entire operation of said control unit; and

a motor driving unit for controlling said drive motor in accordance with said control signal from said control unit, said motor driving unit comprising a relay controlled by the microcomputer, said drive motor controlled by an operation of said relay, and a gear mechanism adapted to select a desired output level of the drive motor under the control of the relay.