Needle injection-facilitating device

Abstract

A device to aid in the subcutaneous injection of a hypodermic needle has an outer component which is a hollow longitudinal cylindrical sleeve with an inverted frusto-conical base capable of placement on a skin surface, and an inner component which is a hollow cylindrical sleeve of smaller diameter than the outer component and slidably disposed within the outer component. The inner component can hold various size adaptors to customize the device for use with different types or sizes of syringe. Located at the distal end of the inner component is a retaining collar with an aperture sized to receive the hub of a hypodermic needle and through which the needle projects. In a retracted position, the retaining collar rests inside a retaining groove circumscribed within the inner wall of the outer component. The two components slide along a common longitudinal axis in a telescopic arrangement and their movement relative to one another may be controlled by spring means which is compressed when a manual axial force is applied to the syringe prior to insertion of the hypodermic needle. After fluid medication has been delivered at the targeted injection site and the axial force to the syringe is released, the inner component returns to its retracted position with simultaneous extraction of the needle driven by the force of expansion of the spring means.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.