Devices, systems, and methods for volumetrically measuring syringe fluid

#The presently disclosed subject matter generally relates to fluid measurement and transfer. More particularly, the presently disclosed subject matter relates to devices, systems, and methods for volumetrically measuring syringe fluids.

#Cancer is the second most common cause of death in the United States. Treatments for this disease involve the administration of toxic chemicals to the body, which can be harmful in excessive doses and ineffective in inadequate doses. One method of cancer treatment is chemotherapy. Chemotherapy involves injectable drugs that target rapidly dividing cells for destruction. Rapidly dividing cells in the body are affected by the toxicity of the drug, and overexposure to the drug can lead to widespread tissue damage with a variety of symptoms. Thus, a goal of oncologists is to prescribe medications that are potent enough to significantly reduce the number of malignant cells without causing significant systemic damage to a patient.

#In practice, chemotherapy doses are prepared by pharmacy technicians who transfer drugs from vials to patient-specific IV bags with syringes. The volumes that are required for each dose are calculated from the prescriptions and measured with a volumetric scale on a barrel of the syringe. However, preparing doses in this manner is notoriously imprecise and inaccurate. For example, one study concluded that only 86% of doses prepared in this manner are accurate to within 10% of the prescription, and only 72% of doses are accurate to within 5% of the prescription. The magnitude of this error is primarily a result of estimations made by the technicians who are using potentially inaccurate volumetric measurements on the syringes, themselves. Although, error may also be attributed to residual fluid left in the syringes after dispensing, and potentially other practices in the preparation of the dose. Thus, it is desirable to reduce error in the process of dose preparation by automating the dosage process, thereby removing the element of human estimation. While some automated dose-measuring systems exist, they are both expensive and too large for use in a fume hood or crowded laboratory setting.

#The features and advantages of the present subject matter will be more readily understood from the following detailed description which should be read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings that are given merely by way of explanatory and non-limiting example, and in which:

#FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an exemplary device for volumetrically measuring syringe fluid according to a first embodiment of the subject matter described herein;

#FIG. 2 is an elevation view of an exemplary device for volumetrically measuring syringe fluid according to a first embodiment of the subject matter described herein;

#Devices, systems, and methods for volumetrically measuring syringe fluid are provided herein. In some aspects, the presently disclosed subject matter relates to the field of chemotherapy drug preparation for patient treatments. In other aspects, the presently disclosed subject matter relates to the field of general fluid measurement and transfer for clinical and research use, as well as for use in veterinary or other medicine. Accordingly, the present subject matter is in no way limited to use in preparation of chemotherapy drugs.

#FIGS. 1-4 illustrate a first embodiment of device 100 for volumetrically measuring syringe fluids. Device generally designated 100 is configured to hold at least one syringe and to measure an amount of fluid drawn in by the at least one syringe with high accuracy and precision. In the field of chemotherapy, where there is a narrow therapeutic index between a toxic dose and a therapeutic dose, it is especially important to have improved accuracy and precision in determining an amount of chemotherapy drug that has been drawn into the syringe. Although it is known in the art to use automated dose-measuring systems for this exact reason, such systems can be expensive and too large for use in a fume hood or crowded laboratory setting. Thus, device 100 can advantageously provide a user (e.g., a pharmacy technician) with an ability to measure chemotherapy volumes from drug vials with greater precision and accuracy than current methods, without adding significant time to the technician's workload. Additionally, device 100 can minimize the risk of contact between the drug and the technician to prevent both contamination of the medicine and chemical harm to the technician, since device 100 is small enough to fit within a fume hood. Device 100 can also advantageously be durable enough to withstand multiple uses each day, but still be inexpensive to produce.

#In some aspects, device 100 can comprise a flange adapter base generally designated 110 and a housing generally designated 120 in which a syringe generally designated 200 can be resiliently received and manipulated. Adapter base 110 and housing 120 can be composed of materials durable enough to withstand hundreds of uses (e.g., 200 uses) per day, while still being flexible enough to resiliently secure components of a syringe to device 100. For example, adapter base 110 and housing 120 can be composed of or comprise stainless steel, plastic, rubber, ceramic, or any other suitable material.