Device and process for dispensing multiple-phase mixtures

A device for delivering a multi-phase mixture of a composition dispersed in a gas, the device comprising:

• a base component configured to receive a supply of the gas;
• a needle assembly connectable to the base component, the needle assembly comprising:
• an outer needle comprising an inlet opening adjacent to the base component and configured to receive a supply of the composition, and a tip;
• and
• an inner needle disposed within the outer needle, the inner needle comprising an inlet opening configured to receive the gas from the base component, and a tip, wherein the tip of the inner needle is offset inward from the tip of the outer needle along a longitudinal axis of the needle assembly by an offset distance.

A method for dispensing a multi-phase mixture, the method comprising:

• providing a needle assembly having an outer needle and an inner needle disposed within outer needle, the needle assembly having a proximal end and a distal end offset along a longitudinal axis, wherein the outer needle and the inner needle each have a tip at the distal end of the needle assembly,
• directing pressurized gas through an inner lumen of the inner needle such that the pressurized gas is emitted from the tip of the inner needle;
• generating a vacuum in a lumen region between the outer needle and the inner needle from the emission of the pressurized gas from the tip of the inner needle;
• drawing a composition through the lumen region between the outer needle and the inner needle from the generated vacuum;
• mixing the drawn composition and the emitted pressurized gas in a dispersion region, which is located along the longitudinal axis between the tip of the inner needle and the tip of the outer needle, to form the multi-phase mixture;
• and
• ejecting the multi-phase mixture from the distal end of the needle assembly.