Pressure-regulating vial adaptors
AssigneeICU Medical, Inc.
InventorThomas F. Fangrow
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
In certain embodiments, a vial adaptor comprises a housing configured to couple the adaptor with a vial, an access channel, a regulator channel, and a regulator assembly. The access channel is configured to facilitate withdrawal of fluid from the vial when the adaptor is coupled to the vial. The regulator channel is configured to facilitate a flow of a regulating fluid from the regulator assembly to compensate for changes in volume of a medical fluid in the vial. The regulator assembly can include a valve configured to transition between a closed configuration and an opened configuration.
Claims24
A vial adaptor comprising:
- a piercing member capable of piercing a septum of a sealed vial when the piercing member is urged against the septum;
- a proximal access port positioned proximal of the piercing member;
- an extractor channel extending from the proximal access port to a distal extractor opening;
- a regulator channel extending from a proximal regulator port through at least a portion of the piercing member to a distal regulator opening in the piercing member;
- a filter housing assembly comprising:
- a filter housing base having a first face and a base aperture extending through the first face;
- a plurality of arcuate base protrusions extending around the base aperture from the first face;
- a filter housing cover coupled to the filter housing base and having a second face opposing the first face of the filter housing base and having a cover aperture extending through the second face;
- a plurality of arcuate cover protrusions extending around the cover aperture from the second face toward the filter housing base;
- and
- a filter chamber formed between the first face and the second face;
- a filter positioned between the cover protrusions and the base protrusions;
- wherein:
- the filter divides the filter chamber into a base chamber portion and a cover chamber portion;
- and
- the filter housing assembly is configured to permit fluid passing through the base aperture to pass through the filter prior to passing through the cover aperture.
A vial adaptor configured to couple with a sealed vial, the vial adaptor comprising:
- a housing assembly comprising a piercing member capable of piercing a septum of a vial when the piercing member is urged against the septum of the vial;
- an extractor channel, wherein the extractor channel extends between a proximal extractor aperture and a distal extractor aperture and is configured to permit withdrawal of fluid from the vial when the vial adaptor is coupled to the vial, and wherein at least a portion of the extractor channel passes through at least a portion the housing assembly;
- a sealed chamber configured to contain regulating fluid;
- a regulator channel, wherein the regulator channel extends between a proximal regulator aperture and a distal regulator aperture and is configured to transfer the regulating fluid from the sealed chamber to the vial, and wherein at least a portion of the regulator channel passes through at least a portion of the housing assembly;
- and
- a filter chamber configured to house a filter, wherein the filter chamber comprises a cover and a base, and wherein the filter chamber is in fluid communication with the regulator channel such that the regulating fluid passes through the filter chamber in response to a volume of fluid being withdrawn from or added to the vial.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.