Reusable, spring driven autoinjector
First Claim
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1. An autoinjector comprising:
- a housing;
a reservoir for containing a medicament in a distal portion of the housing;
a needle for delivering the medicament;
a drive mechanism in a proximal portion of the housing, the drive mechanism being capable of exerting a force sufficient to expel the medicament from the reservoir through the needle, the drive mechanism comprising a shape memory alloy drive spring, the shape memory alloy drive spring being formulated to exert a first force when in a martensite phase and a second force, which is larger than the first force, when in an austenite phase, the drive mechanism being capable of being manually re-cocked when the shape memory alloy drive spring is in the martensite phase.
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Abstract
The present invention provides a reusable spring driven autoinjector. The drive mechanism of the autoinjector of the present invention includes one or more drive springs formed of a shape memory alloy. Therefore, by alternating the shape memory alloy forming the one or more drive springs between austenite phase before an injection and a martensite phase after injection, the reusable autoinjector of the present invention is capable of providing an injection force that is higher than the compressive force required to cock the drive mechanism in preparation for a subsequent injection operation.
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Citations
15 Claims
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1. An autoinjector comprising:
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a housing; a reservoir for containing a medicament in a distal portion of the housing; a needle for delivering the medicament; a drive mechanism in a proximal portion of the housing, the drive mechanism being capable of exerting a force sufficient to expel the medicament from the reservoir through the needle, the drive mechanism comprising a shape memory alloy drive spring, the shape memory alloy drive spring being formulated to exert a first force when in a martensite phase and a second force, which is larger than the first force, when in an austenite phase, the drive mechanism being capable of being manually re-cocked when the shape memory alloy drive spring is in the martensite phase. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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Specification