Patent ID: 6746429
Filing Date: 2004-06-08
Classification: A61M

Abstract:
A jet injection device comprising:a housing having distal and proximal ends; a fluid chamber having a seal at one end and located within said housing for holding at least about 0.02 ml to 3 ml of a medicament; an injection-assisting needle having an injecting end and a piercing end and coupled to the distal end of said housing and moveable between a medicament storing position and a medicament delivering position wherein said needle is isolated from said fluid chamber when said needle is in said medicament storing position and said piercing end punctures the seal to provide a fluid pathway from the fluid chamber through the needle when said needle is in said medicament delivering position, wherein the needle has a tip with a length of approximately 1-5 mm; a plunger movable within the fluid chamber; a force generating source capable of providing sufficient force on the plunger to eject an amount up to about 3 ml of the medicament from the fluid chamber in less than 2.75 seconds; a needle guard located at the distal end of said housing for concealing said needle, the needle guard being moveable between a protecting position and an injecting position; and an activation element operatively associated with the needle guard; wherein the needle is located within the needle guard prior to activation of the force generating source so that retraction of the needle guard exposes the injecting end of said needle to an insertion point and activation of the force generating source moves the plunger to expel medicament from said fluid chamber and thereby eject the amount of the medicament through the injecting end of said needle and past the needle insertion point to an injection site in less than 2.75 seconds, the needle insertion point being located at the injecting end of the needle, and the injection site being distal to the injecting end of the needle, and wherein the medicament is ejected at a pressure between around 100 and 1000 p.s.i. and at a rate of at least 0.40 ml/sec.