Patent ID: 7465290

Claim:
An injector system comprising, in combination, an injector and a syringe for injecting fluid into a patient, the syringe comprising: a body; a plunger movably disposed within the body; and an encoding device on the body providing syringe information; and the injector comprising: a housing; a motor disposed within the housing; a controller operably associated with the motor; a sensor operably associated with the controller and operable to read the encoded syringe information provided by the encoding device on the syringe body; a drive member disposed in the housing and powered by the motor, the drive member operable to automatically advance and engage the plunger after the syringe is mounted on the injector; and a plunger engagement detection device operably associated with the controller and operable to indicate when the drive member of the injector has engaged the plunger of the syringe, wherein the plunger engagement detection device comprises a motor current measuring device operably associated with the motor for measuring motor current, the motor current being affected by increased resistance to advancement of the drive member upon engagement thereof with the plunger of the syringe.