Variable displacement inflation devices and methods of use

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9452279-B2
Application number	US-201314021054-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 9, 2013
Priority date	Sep 21, 2012
Publication date	Sep 27, 2016
Grant date	Sep 27, 2016

Abstract

An inflation device that may comprise multiple plungers is disclosed. The inflation device may have multiple configurations wherein certain plungers are locked with respect to a body of the inflation device while others are configured to be displaceable within the body. Each plunger may be configured with a different effective surface area, allowing a practitioner to vary the amount of force required to attain certain pressures.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An inflation device configured to displace fluid within a medical device, the inflation device comprising:
a body member defining a reservoir;
a first plunger displaceable within the body member, the first plunger configured to displace fluid within the reservoir;
a second plunger displaceable within the body member, the second plunger configured to displace fluid within the reservoir;
a handle operably coupled to the first and second plungers; and
a thread rail configured to selectively couple the first plunger to the body member, the thread rail configured such that interaction between the thread rail and the first plunger forces the thread rail radially outward when the first plunger is in a locked configuration;
wherein the inflation device is configured to transition from an unlocked configuration to the locked configuration as the handle is displaced to eject fluid from the reservoir;
wherein the first and second plungers are displaceable with respect to the body member when the inflation device is in the unlocked configuration; and
wherein the second plunger, but not the first plunger, is displaceable with respect to the body member when the inflation device is in the locked configuration.

2. The inflation device of claim 1 , wherein an effective surface area, acting on the reservoir, of the first plunger is larger than an effective surface area, acting on the reservoir, of the second plunger.

3. The inflation device of claim 1 , wherein the first plunger is coupled to the body member when the inflation device is in the locked configuration.

4. The inflation device of claim 3 , wherein the first plunger comprises an outer plunger and an intermediate plunger and wherein the outer plunger is releasably coupled to the intermediate plunger.

5. The inflation device of claim 4 , wherein the intermediate plunger is configured to release from the outer plunger when forces acting on the outer plunger are sufficient to overcome forces acting on a detent operably coupling the intermediate plunger to the outer plunger.

6. The inflation device of claim 4 , wherein the intermediate plunger is configured to release from the outer plunger when the pressure inside the reservoir exceeds a given pressure.

7. The inflation device of claim 3 , wherein the reservoir comprises a first portion and a second portion, and wherein the first plunger is selectively displaceable within the first portion and the second plunger is selectively displaceable within the second portion.

8. The inflation device of claim 1 , further comprising a valve operably coupled to the first plunger and configured to retard rapid displacement of fluid within the reservoir by the second plunger.

9. An inflation device comprising:
a syringe body defining a reservoir;
a first plunger disposed within the syringe body, the first plunger comprising an outer plunger and an intermediate plunger that are releasably coupled to each other;
a second plunger disposed within the first plunger; and
a handle operably coupled to the first and second plungers, the handle configured to displace the first and second plungers with respect to the syringe body; and
a locking sleeve disposed around the intermediate plunger, the locking sleeve comprising a guide groove that interacts with the intermediate plunger to resist rotation of the intermediate plunger relative to the locking sleeve.

10. The inflation device of claim 9 , wherein the locking sleeve is coupled to the outer plunger and the locking sleeve is releasably coupled to the intermediate plunger.

11. The inflation device of claim 10 , wherein displacement of the locking sleeve with respect to the intermediate plunger is configured to selectively couple the locking sleeve and the intermediate plunger to the syringe body.

12. The inflation device of claim 10 , wherein the second plunger is releasably coupled to the first plunger.

13. The inflation device of claim 10 , wherein the locking sleeve is configured to automatically decouple from the intermediate plunger when pressure within the reservoir reaches a given pressure.

14. The inflation device of claim 9 , further comprising a valve operably coupled to the intermediate plunger.

15. The inflation device of claim 9 , further comprising one or more thread rails, the thread rails configured to releasably couple the first plunger to the syringe body.

16. An inflation device comprising:
a syringe body defining a reservoir;
a first plunger disposed within the syringe body;
a valve that remains attached to the first plunger adjacent a distal end of the first plunger throughout operation of the inflation device, wherein the valve is configured to both retard rapid distal displacement of fluid across the valve as the first plunger is advanced distally within the syringe body and to allow rapid proximal displacement of fluid across the valve as the plunger is retracted proximally within the syringe body; and
a handle operably coupled to the first plunger, the handle configured to displace the first plunger with respect to the syringe body.

17. The inflation device of claim 16 , wherein the valve comprises a seal configured to only allow fluid flow in one direction.

18. The inflation device of claim 17 , wherein the valve further comprises a weep hole located and configured to allow continuous fluid flow independent of the seal.

19. The inflation device of claim 17 , wherein the valve further comprises a perforated disk with inflow holes formed therein, wherein the seal is configured to cover the inflow holes unless the seal is deformed or displaced by sufficiently pressurized fluid flow in the one direction.

20. A method of displacing fluid within an inflation device, the method comprising:
displacing a handle of the inflation device in a distal direction from a first position to a second position such that a first plunger, coupled to the handle, displaces fluid within a reservoir of the inflation device;
locking the first plunger to a body member of the inflation device, by displacing a locking component radially outward from the first plunger, to prevent proximal displacement of the first plunger with respect to the body member;
displacing the handle of the inflation device in a distal direction from the second position a third position such that a second plunger, coupled to the handle, displaces fluid within the reservoir while the first plunger is locked with respect to the body member;
wherein a maximum force needed to displace the handle from the second position to the third position is smaller in magnitude than a maximum force needed to displace the handle from the first position to the second position.

21. The method of claim 20 , wherein:
the first plunger is locked to the body member of the inflation device after the handle has been displaced from the first position to the second position; and
displacing the handle of the inflation device in the distal direction from the second position to the third position fully evacuates the reservoir.

Assignees

• Merit Medical Systems Inc

Inventors

• Stevens Brian
• Padilla William
• Weir Steven

Classifications

• A61M2005/1787

  Syringes for sequential delivery of fluids, e.g. first medicament and then flushing liquid · CPC title

• A61M25/10182 Primary

  Injector syringes · CPC title