Patent ID: 9737251
Date: 2017-08-22
CPC Classifications: A61B

Claim:
1. A hand-portable device comprising: an evacuated negative-pressure barrel with an aperture membrane sealing an aperture at a distal end of the evacuated negative-pressure barrel, and a housing affixed to, and sealing, a proximal end of the evacuated negative-pressure barrel; an accelerator barrel positioned lengthwise within the evacuated negative-pressure barrel with an open proximal end fixed to the housing and opening into a chamber within the housing, and having an open distal end proximate to, and aligned with, the aperture; a high-pressure gas source configured for filling the chamber with pressurized gas; a trigger valve situated between, and forming a hydrostatic boundary between, the chamber and the open proximal end of the accelerator barrel; a single micro-particle positioned within the accelerator barrel at a launch point proximate to the trigger valve; and a trigger-valve release actuator configured for abruptly opening of the trigger valve to abruptly release the pressurized gas from the chamber and into the open proximal end of the accelerator barrel, wherein, the abruptly released pressurized gas is configured to accelerate the single micro-particle from the launch point to the open distal end of the accelerator barrel and through the aperture with sufficient momentum to pierce through the aperture membrane and penetrate a sufficient depth of dermal tissue proximate to the distal end of the evacuated negative-pressure barrel to induce a micro-emergence of blood at the dermal tissue surface, wherein, residual negative pressure within the evacuated negative-pressure barrel is configured to draw at least a portion of blood from the micro-emergence into the evacuated negative-pressure barrel through the pierced aperture membrane, wherein the accelerator barrel comprises an inner cylindrical channel having a constant interior cross-sectional shape between the launch point and the open distal end, and wherein the single micro-particle has an exterior cross-sectional shape configured to be a flush fit to the constant interior cross-sectional shape of the channel and at the same time not impede free longitudinal motion of the single micro-particle through the channel.