Sample collection device

• US 6,506,165 B1
• Filed: 09/25/2000
• Issued: 01/14/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 03/25/1998
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: The Provost Fellows and Scholars of the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth, near Dublin
• Original Assignee: The Provost Fellows and Scholars of the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth, near Dublin
• Inventors: Sweeney, Eamon Charles
• Primary Examiner(s): Hindenburg, Max
• Assistant Examiner(s): WINGOOD, PAMELA LYNN
• Application Number:
  US09/668,468
• Time in Patent Office: 841 Days
• Field of Search: 600/562-572, 601/93-1-, 251/4, 251/5, 251/6, 251/7, 251/8, 251/9, 251/10
• US Class Current: 600/562
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 10/0283 with vacuum aspiration, e.g. caused by retractable plunger or by connected syringe A61B10/025, A61B10/0266 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/15003 for venous or arterial blood
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/150221 Valves
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/150389 Hollow piercing elements, e.g. canulas, needles, for piercing the skin
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/150519 Details of construction of hub, i.e. element used to attach the single-ended needle to a piercing device or sampling device
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/150732 Needle holders, for instance for holding the needle by the hub, used for example with double-ended needle and pre-evacuated tube,
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/150946 Means for varying, regulating, indicating or limiting the speed or time of blood collection
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/154 Devices using pre-evacuated means
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/415 the glands, e.g. tonsils, adenoids or thymus
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/418 lymph vessels, ducts or nodes

Abstract

A device (1) for acquiring cell samples by aspiration into an evacuated container (3) comprising:

a front hollow needle portion (7) to be inserted into the body from which a sample is to be taken;

a rear hollow needle portion (5) for communication with the evacuated container;

a conduit (11) connecting the front needle portion (7) to the rear needle portion (5);

and a normally closed pinch valve mechanism (6) to open and close the conduit;

The valve mechanism (6) is manually operable by one hand and controls the application of negative pressure in the front needle portion (7). The conduit may comprise a flexible tube and the valve mechanism (6) may comprise releasable means (8) to pinch the flexible tube in a pressure-tight manner. The valve mechanism (6) may comprise a spring-biased push-button (8) operable by one digit of a user'"'"'s hand.

Claims

1. A device (1) for acquiring tissue or cell samples by aspiration into an evacuated container (3), the device comprising:

(a) a front hollow needle portion (7) to be inserted into a body from which a sample is to be taken,

(b) a rear hollow needle portion (5) for communicating with the evacuated container (3); and

(c) a conduit (11) connecting the front needle portion (7) to the rear needle portion (5),

characterized in that the conduit (11) comprises a flexible tube, and a pinch valve mechanism (6) is provided to open and close the conduit and to control the application of negative pressure in the front needle portion, the valve mechanism (6) being manually operable by one hand and comprising a slide member (8) moveable between a rest position in which it pinches the flexible tube in a pressure-tight manner against a fixed element (10) of the valve mechanism (6), and an activated position in which it opens the conduit.

2. A device (1) according to claim 1 wherein the valve mechanism (6) comprises a spring-biased push-button (8) operable by one digit of a user'"'"'s hand.

3. A device (1) according to claim 1 wherein the front (7) and rear (5) needle portions and the conduit (11) are mounted longitudinally in a housing, and the valve mechanism (6) comprises a slide member (8) which is moveable transversely of the housing between a rest position and an activated position.

4. A device (1) according to claim 3 wherein the front (7) and rear (5) needle portions and the conduit (11) are in alignment.

5. A device (1) according to claim 3 wherein the conduit (11) comprises a flexible tube which passes through an aperture (33) in the slide member (8).

6. A device (1) according to claim 5 wherein the flexible tube is pinched between a fixed element (10) of the valve mechanism and a part (40) of the slide member.

7. A device (1) according to claim 1 having a spring (15) acting to pinch the tube in a pressure-tight manner when the valve mechanism (6) is in the rest position.

8. A device (1) according to claim 3 wherein the housing is manufactured from a translucent or transparent material.

9. A device (1) according to claim 1 wherein one part of the conduit and the rear needle portion (5) are formed from an elongate rigid tube (50) provided with a break point (52b) at which the tube is breakable into front (55) and rear (56) parts, and a second part of the conduit (11) is a flexible tube formed by flexible sheathing which was on the rigid tube and which is free of support by the rigid tube (50) between the front (55) and rear (56) parts thereof.

10. A device (1) for acquiring tissue or cell samples by aspiration into an evacuated container (3), the device (1) comprising:

(a) a front hollow needle portion (7) to be inserted into a body from which a sample is to be taken,

a rear hollow needle portion (5) for communicating with the evacuated container (3); and

a conduit (11) connecting the front needle portion (7) to the rear needle portion (5),

characterized in that the conduit (11) comprises a flexible tube, and a pinch valve mechanism (6) is provided to open and close the conduit (11), the valve mechanism (6) comprising a push-button releasable means (8) to pinch the flexible tube (11) in a pressure-tight manner against a fixed element (10) of the valve mechanism when in a rest position and to release the pinch effect when the push-button is depressed.

11. A method of acquiring tissue and cell samples by aspiration into an evacuated container (3), utilizing a device (1) comprising:

(a) a front hollow needle portion (7) to be inserted into a body from which a sample is to be taken,

a rear hollow needle portion (5) for communicating with the evacuated container (3),

a conduit (11) connecting the front needle portion (7) to the rear needle portion (5), and

(d) a valve mechanism (6) to open and close the conduit (11), the valve mechanism (6) being manually operable by one hand and controlling the application of negative pressure in the front needle portion (7), the valve mechanism (6) being moveable between a rest position in which the conduit (11) is closed and an activated position in which the conduit is open,

 

the method comprising the steps of;

(i) establishing communication between a pre-evacuated container (3) and the rear hollow needle portion (5);

(ii) inserting the front needle portion (7) into the body from which the sample is to be taken at the appropriate location for obtaining the desired sample;

the valve mechanism being in the rest position and the conduit being closed during steps (i) and (ii); and

(iii) actuating the valve mechanism (6) for sufficient time, and repeatedly if desired, to open the conduit and to apply negative pressure in the front needle portion (7) so as to draw a sample through the front needle portion (7) through the conduit (11) to the rear needle portion (5) and into the pre-evacuated container (3).