Abstract: An anesthesiology pump for automatic delivery and control of anesthetics to a patient provides a remote unit that may be carried by an anesthesiologist to improve supervision of the anesthesiology process without unnecessarily constraining the anesthesiologist's movement. The anesthesiology pump may assess one or both of a status of the anesthesiology procedure and the availability of the anesthesiologist to provide tailored alerts to the anesthesiologist when additional attention or availability may be needed. Availability may consider separation distance between the pump and the radiologist as well as express indications of availability. A set of predefined safe states permit a pump response when the anesthesiologist is not available and additional attention is required.

Abstract: An automatic injection device has an insertion needle configured to be inserted into a patient and a drug container which contains a pharmaceutical product. The drug container includes a plunger. The automatic injection device also has a fluid path which fluidly connects the drug container to the insertion needle. The automatic injection device further has a drive system configured to cause linear movement of the plunger to force the pharmaceutical product into the fluid path. The drive system has a driving element and a movable element. The automatic injection device additionally has electronics configured to provide a signal to the drive system to move the plunger. The movable element has an outer magnet at least partially surrounding the drug container and an inner magnet inside the drug container.

Abstract: Disclosed herein is a breast pump sensor network. The breast pump sensor network includes an emitter disposed within a bodily fluid capture system and a detector disposed within the bodily fluid capture system. Further disclosed is a method for controlling the breast pump sensor network which includes emitting a beam of electromagnetic radiation within a bodily fluid capture system, detecting one or more drops of body fluid within the bodily fluid capture system, determining a bodily fluid flow rate based at least on the detected one or more drops of bodily fluid, and providing the determined bodily fluid flow rate to at least one user.

Abstract: The present invention is an inflatable balloon which is enclosed by an expandable cover which becomes increasingly porous/permeable during expansion. The balloon is coated or enclosed with a matrix which contains a pharmaceutically active agent. During expansion of the balloon, the pharmaceutically active agent is released or extruded through the expandable cover into a body cavity such as an artery or vein. The present invention also provides for a method of treating a disease or condition by delivering the inflatable balloon to a particular body cavity.

Abstract: Systems and methods are disclosed for transporting a transport target across a membrane that is impermeable or semi-permeable to the transport target via artificially created microchannels or through hypodermic microneedles. The transport target can be a medicant and the membrane can be a stratum corneum layer of skin. The transport is enhanced by the application of ultrasound energy having a high peak intensity, which generates an inertial cavitation effect, an acoustic streaming effect, or both.

Abstract: Fluid control devices, systems, and methods are useful for articulating catheters and other elongate flexible structures. A modular manifold architecture includes plate-mounted valves to facilitate fluid communication along a plurality of fluid channels included in one or more multi-lumen shafts for articulating actuators comprising balloons within a balloon array, with the balloons often mounted on two or more extruded multi-lumen shafts. Valve/plate modules can be assembled in an array, and a proximal interface of the shaft(s) may have ports for accessing the balloon channels distributed along an axis of the interface. By aligning and engaging the proximal interface with a receptacle that traverses the plates of the manifold assembly, the ports can be quickly and easily sealed to associated channels of the various valve/plate modules using a quick-disconnect fitting.

Abstract: A drug delivery system includes a reservoir and a drug delivery device coupled to the reservoir. The drug delivery device also may include at least one temperature-sensitive component and a lock having locked and unlocked states. The system further includes an output device, and a controller coupled to the lock and the output device. The controller may also include a temperature sensor, or may be coupled to the temperature sensor. The controller is programmed or configured to determine if the temperature of a drug in the reservoir or of the temperature-sensitive component exceeds an upper limit or is below a lower limit, and to activate the lock in either event. The controller is also programmed or configured to determine, directly or indirectly, if the temperature subsequently is between the upper and lower limits, and to unlock lock as a consequence.

Abstract: Described herein are bend-limited catheters (e.g., apparatuses, including devices and systems) and methods of using them.

Abstract: A gasket (10) is used for a medical syringe (30), and includes a main body (11) made of an elastic material and an inert resin film (12) provided on a surface of the main body (11). The gasket (10) has a cylindrical shape, and includes a plurality of annular ribs (13, 14, 15) provided on an outer circumferential surface (20) thereof and each having a sliding contact portion (16) to be kept in sliding contact with an inner peripheral surface of a syringe barrel. The plurality of annular ribs are axially arranged from a distal end to a rear end of the gasket (10). The sliding contact portion (16) of a distal annular rib (13) has a width that is 1 to 25% of axial length of the cylindrical gasket.

Abstract: A supplemental device for attachment to an injection device, the supplemental device comprising: an electromechanical switch arrangement having an open state and a closed state, the electromechanical switch arrangement comprising a protrusion configured to contact a surface of the injection device when a dose of zero units is dialled into the injection device, wherein the state of the switch arrangement is configured to change when a dose dialled into the attached injection device is decreased from one unit to zero units; and a processor arrangement configured to: detect one or more changes in the state of the electromechanical switch arrangement; and determine from the one or more state changes that a dose of zero units is dialled into the injection device.

Abstract: The present invention is an inflatable balloon which is enclosed by an expandable cover which becomes increasingly porous/permeable during expansion. The balloon is coated or enclosed with a matrix which contains a pharmaceutically active agent. During expansion of the balloon, the pharmaceutically active agent is released or extruded through the expandable cover into a body cavity such as an artery or vein. The present invention also provides for a method of treating a disease or condition by delivering the inflatable balloon to a particular body cavity.

Abstract: A medical device comprising an infusion device comprising a fluid reservoir to contain a therapeutic fluid and a transcutaneous access tool fluidly coupled to the fluid reservoir, the transcutaneous access tool configured to deliver the therapeutic fluid subcutaneously to a patient; wherein the infusion device operates in a stand-by mode prior to the therapeutic fluid being introduced into the fluid reservoir; wherein the infusion device operates to deploy the transcutaneous access tool within a predetermined deployment time period upon filling the fluid reservoir to a predetermined fill level with the therapeutic fluid.

Abstract: Articulation devices and methods include balloon arrays interacting with elongate skeletal support structures so as to locally alter articulation of the skeleton. The skeleton may include a helical coil, and the array can be under control of a processor. Inflation fluid may be directed to the balloons from an inflation system including valves controlled by the processor. The articulation structures can be employed in minimally invasive medical catheter systems.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a painless and patchless shooting microstructure, and a microstructure shooting device. According to the present invention, it is possible to inject a microstructure into the skin within the time of less than one second, and the inconvenience of waiting for the decomposition of a microstructure and removing a patch are completely overcome. A patch-type conventional technology has a problem wherein it is difficult to be applied to a region having hair, but the present invention completely overcomes this problem. According to the present invention, it is possible to precisely control the permeation depth of a microstructure into the skin by controlling discharge power.

Abstract: An apparatus for use in injectate delivery includes an actuator including a linkage, a force generating mechanism mechanically coupled to the linkage, and a controller coupled to the force generating mechanism. The force generating mechanism includes a passive force generator and an active force generator. In operation and on the basis of a control signal, the controller is configured to control the force generating mechanism to provide an input force to the linkage that is a combination of the first force provided by the passive force generator and a second force provided by the active force generator.

Abstract: Implantable drug delivery devices include a housing defining a reservoir, a first unit within the reservoir, and a second unit within the reservoir. The first unit contains a drug and the second unit contains a functional agent that facilitates release of the drug. Intravesical drug delivery devices include a housing portion containing a drug formulation and a housing portion containing an excipient, and are configured to release the drug according to a first release profile and the excipient according to a second release profile. Methods include inserting any of these devices into a patient and releasing drug from the device.

Abstract: With certain implementations, the configuration is such that a controller uses a first driver to move a pharmaceutical syringe attachment component closer to the distal end side than a needle removal position when a needle unit is attached to a pharmaceutical syringe unit or when the needle unit is removed from the pharmaceutical syringe unit, so when an injection needle is attached to the pharmaceutical syringe unit, or when the injection needle is removed from the pharmaceutical syringe unit, these operations can be executed without removing a distal end cap, which makes the device extremely convenient to use.

Abstract: The disclosure relates to a skin piercing tool for locally puncturing a human or an animal skin, comprising a piercing needle, which is embodied as solid needle, in the case of which a needle body has a proximal needle section and a distal needle section, in which a piercing tip is arranged, wherein the needle body has a needle section, which is resilient against the piercing tip in response to a compressive stress, wherein the resilient needle section is arranged on the needle body in the area of an angled needle section, in which adjacent needle sections assume an angle of less than 180° with one another. Further, a hand-held device for repeated local puncturing of a human or an animal skin is provided.

Abstract: Disclosed is a micro-needle including a tip formed using medicine that penetrates into the skin and melts therein; and at least one guide groove each in a stepped shape inward from the outer surface of the tip, and provided to the tip. The micro-needle configured as above may be used to administer a fixed quantity of medicine within a relatively short period of time. Also, since a guide space stepped based on the tip is provided to a base that supports the tip, a large amount of medicine may easily penetrate into the skin.

Abstract: An intravenous delivery system may have a liquid source containing a liquid, tubing, and a vent cap. The tubing may be connected to the liquid source and the vent cap to convey liquid from the liquid source to the vent cap. The vent cap may have a vent that is substantially impermeable to the liquid and permeable to air, and therefore releases air from the liquid from the vent cap. The vent cap may also have a chamber in communication with the vent. The chamber may have a volume selected to enable the chamber to receive a quantity of liquid from the tubing in which the air, if entrained in the liquid, is likely to reside after the tubing has been primed with the liquid.