Multi Chamber Syringe

About

Injections are an effective way to administer medicines to patients. Injections can be used to administer high doses of medicines, and to achieve a rapid response. Injections are especially used in emergencies for severely ill patients. Because the medicine is injected directly into the blood stream, intravenous injections must be sterile, highly pure, clear solutions. Many injections must be dissolved in the correct fluid or diluted to the right strength. Because of those complexities, intravenous medicines are usually only to be given by health professionals, and often only in hospitals. Even with these controls, many mistakes are made annually that can put patients at harm. Some of these mistakes include: Not preparing the injection aseptically, creating the risk of infection. Globally errors in 13-84% of all IV injection events Diluting the injection to the wrong strength or with the wrong fluid. 50% of errors in some hospitals are incompatible admixture events. Use of incorrect diluents occurs in 1% of all UK injections Giving the wrong dose. Error rate increase under emergency scenarios where incorrect reconstitution, admixing, line flushing and poor aseptic practice occurs Giving the correct dose too quickly or slowly Mixing two (or more) medicines that react with each other in a syringe in the hope of giving fewer injections Missing a dose because it takes too long to prepare. The use of injectable medicinal products creates patient safety risks and healthcare delivery costs. This new, patented valve concept achieves metering of fluids in combination delivery. The technology currently exists as non-medical grade proof-of-concept prototypes for dispensing two liquids sequentially. The patents protect both the concept and design of a valve which is opened under hydraulic pressure, thereby delivering fluid flow from a fluid-filled compartment into a subsequent compartment. The subsequent chamber may be filled with a liquid or gas fluid, or with a powder. The valve itself is a simple two-part device. The outer part seals against the inner bore of the syringe to separate the two liquids. When the syringe is plunged the valve moves down the syringe to dispense the first liquid. The central part seals against the outer part of the valve until the valve bottoms out, the pressure in liquid 2 forces the valve to open and then the second liquid is dispensed. A number of prototype valves have been engineered for incorporation into syringes of as small a volume as 2.5 mL. In addition, the plunger has been prototyped, allowing a pre-filled syringe plunger product to be developed. Computational fluid dynamic simulation of the valve opening event for a liquid-liquid pre-filled syringe device has been carried out.  A number of lead design twin O-ring travelling valves for inclusion in a 20 mL syringe were produced and tested in accordance with European Standard ISO11608-3:2012 with both air and liquid. The tested valve designs have now been miniaturized and prototyped from polypropylene for trialling in 10, 5, and 2.5 mL syringe bodies. Capavalve Ltd has designed and developed a novel device solution for combination parenteral products using a  patented valve to separate a syringe into multiple chambers which provides the following advantages: Reduce the risk of infection by reducing  the number of separate injections required and mixing the drug solution or powder within the syringe itself Prevent incorrect dosages being given as the syringe will be “pre-loaded” Reduce the complex delivery of products that require a separate IV (Intravenous) line flush by including the line flush in the same syringe as the initial drug Avoid negative drug interactions Reduce care delivery costs Achieve home-based injection therapy Provide for domiciliary and self-care therapies with improved product shelf-lives The valve technology is intended for production by injection moulding using components and techniques currently employed to produce standard intravenous syringes and syringe components The valve technology can create multiple compartments within the chamber of a standard syringe meaning it can be incorporated into existing well-tested industrial manufacturing and assembly pathways for syringe products Existing alternative approaches to creating multiple compartment syringes require expensive engineering or device design solutions that are usually product specific and proprietary. This design could be used as a generic pre-filled syringe platform technology for generic and proprietary/innovator pharmaceutical and healthcare products. All the syringe products would also be compatible for administering medicinal products via nasogastric tube, percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy tube, and bronchial or other body cavity instillation. In addition, the syringes could be used for cosmetic applications such as in-situ dermal fillers administration. The technology can be applied to any medical syringe and thus would be beneficial for both human and animal healthcare applications.   If you would like to speak to a representative at Enterprise Europe Network about this company before contacting them directly please contact:  Nicky Whiting – Innovation Advisor [email protected] +44(0)7921353734