Patent ID: 7862551

Claim:
A method of atraumatically injecting a bioactive agent into tissue, the method comprising: (a) providing a device having a syringe, an actuator with a trigger, and an injection needle, the syringe comprising a piston and a body containing the bioactive agent, the syringe and the injection needle coupled to the actuator and configured so that depression of the trigger in a first range of motion causes the injection needle, the body, and the piston to extend in a distal direction in unison, and continued depression of the trigger in a second range of motion causes the injection needle and the body to retract in a proximal direction in unison while the piston remains stationary, and wherein the body of the syringe reciprocates in accordance with a degree of actuation of the trigger; (b) approximating the device to the tissue with the injection needle in a retracted status; (c) depressing the trigger in the first range of motion to insert the injection needle into the tissue and form a needle track in the tissue; and (d) thereafter, further depressing the trigger in the second range of motion to withdraw the injection needle from the needle track while atraumatically delivering the bioactive agent into the needle track.