The invention relates to a system for preparing and making available a flowable medium formed by mixing a dry substance with a fluid, in particular a medium for therapeutic purposes.
Fluid media which are intended, for example, for therapeutic purposes or also for other purposes must often be freshly prepared close to the time they are actually to be used, because only the components which form the medium are inherently stable and/or storable enough, but not the ultimately prepared medium. In practical applications therefore it is often necessary to store a dry substance and a fluid separately from one another until the use of the medium formed from a mixture of the dry substance and the fluid is imminent.
Generally the procedure followed here is such that the fluid, for example, a solvent, is taken up by means of a hypodermic needle and injected into a container which contains the dry substance. Afterwards the resulting solution is removed with a new syringe in order to be applied or administered in the desired manner; in therapeutic applications this can take place, for example, by injection, placement as an additive in an infusion container or the like.
Such application processes, in which injection needles are used, entail the risk that injuries can occur. This circumstance is extremely problematical when working in an environment in which the presence of HIV viruses can be expected.
In this respect, the object of the invention is to make available a system for preparing and making available a flowable medium which is formed by mixing a dry substance with a fluid, which is characterized by improved handling safety.
This object is achieved by a system which has the features of claim 1 in its entirety.
Because, according to the invention, there is a transfer device as the additional system component, the fluid exchange between the containers involved which is necessary for preparing and making available the medium takes place in a closed operating process, i.e., without separate handling of the individual containers themselves and drawing up a syringe from one container and injection of the withdrawn fluid into the other container having been necessary. Because the first container which holds the pertinent fluid has a wall part which can be deformed against a restoring force, the fluid from the first container can be forced by way of a transfer device into the second container which holds the dry substance so that in the latter container the dry substance is mixed with the fluid. When this has taken place, the deformable wall part of the first container is released, so that as a result of the restoring force acting on the first container its volume increases again and thus the prepared medium is intaken by way of the transfer device into the first container in which now the completely prepared medium is ready for use. The system according to the invention enables not only safe handling without the risk of injury, but, moreover, as a result of the closed operating process also offers special protection against contamination.
Preferably the wall part which can be deformed against the restoring force is formed by a bellows which has an inherent restoring force against deformation. This container is preferably an ampule-like plastic container which is produced using the known Bottelpack® molding process and is filled with the pertinent fluid, and whose wall is provided with folds and is designed bellows-like such that it can be compressed in the axial direction in order to express the enclosed fluid. Such a bellows, which is formed from a suitable plastic material after the compressive force acting on it is removed, returns to its original shape in which the volume of the container is returned to its original size.
Preferably the first container for its connection to the transfer device on one end of the bellows can have a head part which is preferably molded onto the bellows in one piece, on the head part there being catch means for forming a catch with the catch means which are present on an assigned connecting means of the transfer device.
Preferably the arrangement can be such that the head part has a central, projecting connection piece whose end is normally closed by a removable closure part, preferably a twist-off toggle which is integral with the connection piece.
The catch means of the head part can be formed by arms which are integral with the head part and which extend along the outside of the connection piece with the formation of an intermediate space; on the free end regions of the arms catch bodies are molded which project in the direction to the connection piece and on which there are recessed catch notches.
In such a configuration of the head part and of the catch means of the first container, the connecting means of the transfer device assigned to this container can have a hollow connecting shank which, in order to form a plug connection with the connection piece of the first container, has an end-side widening as a seat for holding the connection piece which extends with its outside wall surface into the intermediate space between the arms which form the catch means of the head. In an especially simple manner, when the plug connection is formed by the holder of the connection piece of the first container in the seat of the hollow connecting shank of the transfer device, a fluid-tight connection is formed with simultaneous mechanical connection by the interacting catch means.
As catch means which are provided on the connecting means of the transfer device there can be catch projections which are molded onto the outer wall surface of the connecting shank and which interact with the catch notches on the arms of the head part and thus ensure the plug connection which has been formed in this way.
In advantageous embodiments the transfer device in an extension of the connecting shank has a through channel whose end section as a component of the connecting means of the transfer device which is intended for the second container is formed by a projecting cannula, via which at the same time a fluid connection can be produced with the second container which contains the dry substance when the second container has a closure which can be penetrated by the cannula. Containers such as these, preferably in the form of small-volume glass bottles, are standard.
In especially advantageous embodiments, an additional system component can be a device which facilitates and simplifies joining the transfer device and the second container in the positional relationship which is provided for penetration of the closure by the cannula. For this purpose there can be a sleeve body which is open on one end and which on the other end has an end plate with a central through opening for the cannula of the transfer device, the sleeve body being designed such that it forms a guide for the second container which can be inserted into the sleeve body from the open end in the direction to the cannula. To implement the connection process, therefore the second container, for example, in the form of a small-volume glass bottle of the conventional type, need simply be pushed into the sleeve body after the transfer device has been inserted beforehand into the sleeve body through the central through opening of the end plate. This ensures that when the container is pushed into the sleeve body the cannula penetrates the central region, i.e., the region of the closure of the second container which can be penetrated.
In this configuration of the sleeve body, at the same time it forms a protective jacket of the inserted cannula. Although this cannula, in contrast to conventional injection needles, does not pose a significant injury risk, an additional improvement of handling safety is achieved by the jacketing.
The subject matter of the invention is also a container which is intended for use in the system according to the invention and is characterized by the features specified in claim 12.
According to claim 16, another subject matter of this invention relates to the use of a system according to one of claims 1 to 11 and a container according to one of claims 12 to 15 for preparing and making available a flowable medium.
The invention will be detailed below using the drawings.
As
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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10 2006 009 611.8 | Mar 2006 | DE | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/EP2006/012361 | 12/21/2006 | WO | 00 | 7/23/2008 |