The invention relates to medical devices in general and liquid transfer devices for use with infusion liquid containers and discrete injection vials in particular.
Commonly owned WIPO International Application No. PCT/IL2014/050680 entitled Liquid Transfer Devices for Use with Infusion Liquid Containers and published under WIPO International Publication No. WO 2015/019343 discloses liquid transfer devices for use with an infusion liquid container and a discrete injection vial for assisting preparation of an infusion liquid container with a medicated infusion liquid for administration to a patient. The infusion liquid containers can be in the form of an infusion bag, an infusion bottle, and the like. The infusion liquid containers contain an infusion liquid and have an intravenous (IV) or administration port. WO 2015/019343's FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 show a liquid transfer device hereinafter referred to as the WO 2015/019343 liquid transfer device, WO 2015/019343's FIG. 6 shows another liquid transfer device and WO 2015/019343's FIG. 7 shows yet another liquid transfer device.
The WO 2015/019343 liquid transfer device includes a trifurcated connector body having an IV spike for sealing insertion into an IV port, a vial adapter port with an integral vial adapter for snap fit telescopic mounting on a discrete injection vial for flow communication therewith, and a twist-off substitute IV port. The twist-off substitute IV port includes a septum which is initially sealed prior to being punctured on insertion of an IV spike of an infusion set. The bifurcated body has three lumens for the IV spike, the vial adapter port and the twist-off substitute IV port. The three lumens are in 3 way direct and continuous fluid connection such that preparation of an infusion liquid container with a medicated infusion liquid includes the following steps:
Step 1 snap fit telescopic mounting a liquid transfer device's vial adapter onto a discrete injection vial.
Step 2 inserting the liquid transfer device's IV spike into an infusion liquid container's IV port for establishing an immediate flow path between the infusion liquid container and the discrete injection vial.
Step 3 repeated forward and backward transfer of liquid contents from the infusion liquid container to the discrete injection vial to mix or reconstitute the injection vial's medicament to form medicated infusion liquid in the infusion liquid container.
Step 4 opening the liquid transfer device's substitute IV port and inserting an infusion set's IV spike thereinto for establishing immediate flow path between the infusion liquid container and the infusion set ready for gravitational flow of medicated infusion liquid from the infusion liquid container to a patient.
In some medical institutions, Step 1 to Step 4 are performed in quick succession adjacent a patient immediately before administration notwithstanding a healthcare provider having gloved hands has to be dexterous to handle a liquid transfer device and a discrete injection vial. In other medical institutions, such bedside preparation is regarded as inconvenient and problematic and prefer Step 1 to Step 3 be performed beforehand and only Step 4 be performed adjacent a patient immediately before administration. But such early preparation of a medicated infusion liquid inherently leads to a delay between preparation and administration with a possible detrimental effect to a medicated infusion liquid.
There is a need to facilitate administration of medicated infusion liquids.
The present invention is directed towards liquid transfer devices similar to the aforementioned WO 2015/019343 liquid transfer device. The liquid transfer devices of the present invention differ from the former as follows: First, the liquid transfer devices include an integral telescopic vial adapter for snap fit telescopic mounting on a discrete injection vial but leaving it intact insofar as its injection vial stopper remains non-punctured until a subsequent compaction. Second, the integral telescopic vial adapter includes a safety catch mechanism for precluding its advertent compaction from a pre-compacted state to a compacted state. The safety catch mechanism requires a user release action to release same. User release actions can include inter alia a twist action, a pull action, removal of a safety catch, and the like. And third, the integral telescopic vial adapter includes a clamping arrangement for irreversibly clamping same in its compacted state. The liquid transfer devices of the present invention are not limited to a twist-off substitute IV port but can be equally fitted with, for example, a substitute IV port requiring the breaking of a frangible component for opening the substitute IV port for insertion of an infusion set's IV spike thereinto.
The liquid transfer devices preferably enable a non-punctured intact discrete injection vial to be readily detached from an integral telescopic vial adapter after snap fit telescopic mounting before user compaction for puncturing its injection vial stopper. Such detachment can prevent wastage of injection vials which might otherwise occur in case of early preparation of a medicated infusion liquid and a subsequent decision that the medicated infusion liquid is no longer required to be administered to a patient. Such detachment is preferably achieved by a pincers-like compression. The pincers-like compression is effected by an intact discrete injection vial release tool having an opposite pair of inward directed protrusions. The intact discrete injection vial release tool can be configured as a pincers-like hand tool or a user-operated electromechanical apparatus. The use of an intact discrete injection vial release tool to detach non-punctured intact discrete injection vials as opposed to manual detachment enables only authorized healthcare providers to detach same.
In order to understand the invention and to see how it can be carried out in practice, preferred embodiments will now be described, by way of non-limiting examples only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which similar parts are likewise numbered, and in which:
The infusion set 50 includes an IV spike 51 and additionally includes first tubing 52, a clamp 53, a drip chamber 54, second tubing 56, a roller clamp 57, and a male Luer connector 58.
The liquid transfer device 100A differs from the liquid transfer device 60 insofar that it includes an integral telescopic vial adapter 101 with a longitudinal vial adapter centerline 101A and having two part construction: an inner vial adapter body 102 and an outer vial adapter body 103. The integral telescopic vial adapter 101 includes a twist release safety catch mechanism 104 for preventing inadvertent user compaction from a pre-compacted state to a compacted state and a clamping arrangement 106 for irreversibly clamping the integral telescopic vial adapter 101 in its compacted state. The integral telescopic vial adapter 101 additionally includes an inverted T-shaped sealing member 107.
The inner vial adapter body 102 has an inverted cup shape including an uppermost transverse annular inner vial adapter body wall 108 and a downward depending vial crown sleeve 109 with a lowermost vial crown sleeve rim 109A. The inner vial adapter body 102 bounds a vial crown cavity 111 for snugly receiving the vial crown 33 therein on telescopically snap fitting the inner vial adapter body 102 thereon. The uppermost transverse annular inner vial adapter body wall 108 has a center uppermost transverse annular inner vial adapter body wall throughgoing aperture 108A along the longitudinal vial adapter centerline 101A overlying the uppermost injection vial surface 41 on telescopically snap fitting on the discrete injection vial 30.
The vial crown sleeve 109 includes a major vial crown sleeve surround 112 with a first adjacent pair of longitudinal directed slits 113A and a second adjacent pair of longitudinal directed slits 113B for correspondingly forming a diametric pair of vial crown holding members 114A and 114B. The diametric pair of vial crown holding members 114 are pivotal with respect to the major vial crown sleeve surround 112 such that each vial crown holding member 114 has a proximal vial crown holding member section 116 and a distal vial crown holding member section 117. The uppermost transverse annular inner vial adapter body wall 108 preferably has a diametric pair of cutouts 118 inward of the diametric pair of vial crown holding members 114 such that the diametric pair of vial crown holding members 114 pivot on the uppermost transverse annular inner vial adapter wall 108.
The distal vial crown holding member sections 117 are each provided with a radial inward vial crown holding projection 119 towards the lowermost vial crown sleeve rim 109A for snap fitting under the vial crown 33 on telescopically snap fitting the inner vial adapter body 102 on the initially non-punctured intact discrete injection vial 30. Application of a pincers-like compression on the proximal vial crown holding member sections 116 towards the longitudinal vial adapter centerline 101A pivots the vial crown holding members 114A and 114B with respect to the major vial crown sleeve surround 112 thereby distancing the radial inward vial crown holding protrusions 117 from the longitudinal vial adapter centerline 101A.
The uppermost transverse annular inner vial adapter body wall 108 has a diametric pair of upright wings 121A and 121B orthogonal to the diametric pair of vial crown holding members 114A and 114B. The diametric pair of upright wings 121 each have a radial outward projection 122 constituting a component of both the twist release safety catch mechanism 104 and the clamping arrangement 106. The vial crown sleeve 109 has a peripheral vial crown sleeve surface 109B with a diametric pair of user indications for indicating a first user step denoted by a circular arrow labelled 1 and a second user step denoted by an upright arrow labelled 2 for activating the liquid transfer device 100A. The vial crown sleeve 109 has a diametric pair of radial outward finger grips 109C towards the lowermost downward depending vial crown sleeve rim 109A.
The outer vial adapter body 103 has an inverted cup shape including an uppermost transverse outer vial adapter body wall 123 and a downward depending skirt 124 with a lowermost skirt rim 124A. The uppermost transverse outer vial adapter body wall 123 is integral mounted on the vial adapter port 64. The outer vial adapter body 103 bounds an inner vial adapter body cavity 126 for snugly telescopically receiving the inner vial adapter body 102 therein on compacting the integral telescopic vial adapter 101 from a pre-compacted state to a compacted state.
The uppermost transverse outer vial adapter body wall 123 includes a downward depending puncturing cannula 127 with a proximal puncturing cannula opening 127A and a distal puncturing cannula tip 127B. The proximal puncturing cannula opening 127A is in flow communication with the vial adapter port 64 and the distal puncturing cannula tip 127B punctures the injection vial stopper 37 in the compacted state of the liquid transfer device 100A.
The downward depending skirt 124 has a diametric pair of L-shaped tracks 128 co-directional with the longitudinal vial adapter centerline 101A constituting a component of both the twist release safety release mechanism 104 and the clamping arrangement 106. The downward depending skirt 124 includes a diametric pair of anti-slip surfaces 129 generally orthogonal to the diametric pair of L-shaped tracks 128 and the diametric pair of radial outward finger grips 109C in the initial pre-compacted state of the liquid transfer device 101A. The downward depending skirt 124 also has a diametric pair of throughgoing discrete injection vial release apertures 131 for use during the release of the discrete injection vial 30. The discrete injection vial release apertures 131 are disposed beneath the anti-slip surfaces 129 and designed to require the pincers-like hand tool 200 to apply a pincers-like compression for releasing a non-punctured intact injection vial 30 and preclude manual application of the pincers-like compression.
Each L-shaped track 128 includes a major track leg 132 co-directional with the longitudinal vial adapter centerline 101A, a minor track leg 133 transverse to the longitudinal vial adapter centerline 101A and a juncture 134 between its major leg 132 and its minor leg 133. Each L-shaped track 128 has a start track end 128A adjacent the lowermost skirt rim 124A and a finish track end 128B adjacent the uppermost transverse outer vial adapter body wall 123. Each minor track leg 133 has a one-way passage arrangement 136 for irreversibly enabling priming of the liquid transfer device 100A. Each finish track end 128B has a one-way passage arrangement 137 constituting a component of the clamping arrangement 106.
The sealing member 107 has a sealing member tube 138 for mounting on the puncturing cannula 127 and a flat sealing member base 139 disposed in the central uppermost transverse annular inner vial adapter body wall throughgoing aperture 108A in the initial pre-compacted state of the liquid transfer device 100A. The central part of the flat sealing member base 139 acts as a sealing member septum 141 for maintaining sterility of the distal puncturing cannula tip 127B. The flat sealing member base 139 is sealing disposed on the uppermost injection vial surface 41 on telescopic mounting the liquid transfer device 100A on the injection vial 30. The sealing member septum 141 is intended to be punctured by the distal puncturing cannula tip 127B in the compacted state of the liquid transfer device 100A.
The use of the liquid transfer device 100A is now described with reference to
In the event it is decided not to administer the medicament and re-use the non-punctured intact discrete injection vial 30, a healthcare provider takes the following steps as shown in
While particular embodiments of the present invention are illustrated and described, it would be obvious to those skilled in the art that various other changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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249408 | Dec 2016 | IL | national |
This application claims the benefit of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/467,370, filed Jun. 6, 2019, which is a Section 371 of International Application No. PCT/IL/2017/051308, filed Nov. 30, 2017, which was published in the English language on Jun. 14, 2018 under International Publication No. WO 2018/104932 A1, and claims priority to Israeli Application No. 249408, filed Dec. 6, 2016, the disclosures of each of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 16467370 | Jun 2019 | US |
Child | 16992752 | US |