Patent ID: 7500963

Claim:
A medical injection system, comprising: a needle guard, comprising: a cartridge housing coupled with a release mechanism and configured to house a pre-filled medical cartridge comprising a needle located on a distal end, a plunger and a carrier configured to carry a dose; a shield having an open proximal end and an open distal end, the shield coupled with the cartridge housing and the release mechanism and configured to extend between a retracted and an extended position that substantially covers the needle when the cartridge is housed in the cartridge housing, wherein the release mechanism is configured to maintain the shield in the retracted position and allow the shield to extend upon engagement of the release mechanism; and an automatic injection system configured to house the needle guard and the medical cartridge and configured to inject the dose when activated, the automatic injection system comprising: a drive system configured to depress the plunger and engage the release mechanism when the automatic injection system is activated; and an activation system configured to activate the automatic injection system; wherein the needle guard is removable from the automatic injection system with the shield in the extended position after injection of the dose.