US-12616792-B2 - Pressure container for driving a medical device

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a portable pressure container for driving a medical device. The container includes a pressure housing confining an interior volume and a pressure outlet extending through the pressure housing . The interior volume comprises a liquid storage portion and a gas storage portion. The liquid storage portion and the gas storage portion are in flow connection with each other. The liquid storage portion is configured to store a liquid phase of a driving medium. The gas storage portion is configured to store a gas phase of the driving medium. The pressure outlet is only in flow connection with the gas storage portion.

Inventors

• Christian Nessel
• Christian Dexheimer
• Tobias Uth
• Florian Hammen

Assignees

• SANOFI-AVENTIS DEUTSCHLAND GMBH

Dates

Publication Date

20260505

Application Date

20201120

Priority Date

20150508

Claims (17)

1. 1 . A portable pressure container for driving a medical device, the pressure container comprising: a pressure housing defining an interior volume, the interior volume of the pressure housing comprising a liquid storage portion configured to store a liquid phase of a driving medium and a gas storage portion configured to store a gas phase of the driving medium, the liquid storage portion and the gas storage portion being in flow connection with each other; and a pressure outlet extending through the pressure housing to an exterior of the pressure housing, the pressure outlet being in direct flow connection with the gas storage portion of the interior volume and not the liquid storage portion of the interior volume; and a fluid channel comprising an outer end in flow communication with the pressure outlet, the fluid channel protruding from the pressure housing into the interior volume, and terminating with an inner end in the gas storage portion, wherein the liquid storage portion is at least partially filled by the liquid phase of the driving medium and wherein the liquid phase of the driving medium is free and configured to evaporate into the gas storage portion, and wherein a surface of the liquid phase of the driving medium is separated from the inner end of the fluid channel in any orientation of the pressure container such that the liquid phase of the driving medium is hindered from entering the fluid channel.
2. 2 . The pressure container according to claim 1 , wherein only the gas storage portion of the interior volume of the pressure housing is in direct flow connection with the pressure outlet.
3. 3 . The pressure container according to claim 1 , wherein a volume of the liquid phase of the driving medium is less than about 60% of the interior volume.
4. 4 . The pressure container according to claim 1 , wherein the pressure housing comprises: a bottom portion; a top portion; and at least one sidewall portion extending from the bottom portion towards the top portion.
5. 5 . The pressure housing according to claim 4 , wherein the fluid channel extends from one of the top portion, the sidewall portion, or the bottom portion of the pressure housing, into the interior volume.
6. 6 . The pressure container according to claim 4 , wherein the inner end of the fluid channel is arranged at a predefined distance from the sidewall portion and at a predefined distance from at least one of the bottom portion and the top portion.
7. 7 . The pressure container according to claim 4 , wherein in a vertical orientation of the pressure housing, in which the pressure outlet and the top portion are located on top and in which the bottom portion of the pressure housing is a lower portion of the pressure housing, a filling level of the liquid phase of the driving medium contained in the interior volume is smaller than a distance between the inner end of the fluid channel and the bottom portion.
8. 8 . The pressure container according to claim 4 , wherein in an upside down orientation of the pressure housing, in which the pressure outlet is located at a lower portion, a filling level of the liquid phase of the driving medium contained in the interior volume is smaller than a distance between the inner end of the fluid channel and the top portion.
9. 9 . The pressure container according to claim 4 , wherein the inner end of the fluid channel is covered by a splash guard.
10. 10 . The pressure container according to claim 4 , wherein the fluid channel comprises a sidewall portion, wherein the sidewall portion of the fluid channel comprises at least one inlet opening at or near the inner end of the fluid channel.
11. 11 . The pressure container according to claim 4 , wherein the fluid channel is integrally formed with the pressure housing.
12. 12 . The pressure container according to claim 4 , wherein the fluid channel is separate from the pressure housing and is connected to at least one of the pressure outlet, the top portion, the sidewall portion or the bottom portion.
13. 13 . The pressure container according to claim 1 , wherein the pressure housing has a cylindrical shape, a cubic shape, a rectangular shape, a spherical shape, an oval shape or an ellipsoidal shape.
14. 14 . The pressure container according to claim 1 , wherein the interior volume of the pressure housing is divided between the liquid storage portion and the gas storage portion.
15. 15 . The pressure container according to claim 1 , wherein the liquid storage portion is completely filled by the liquid phase of the driving medium and wherein the gas storage portion is completely filled by the gas phase of the driving medium.
16. 16 . A pressure driven portable medical device comprising: a pressure driven drive mechanism; and at least one portable pressure container, the pressure container comprising: a pressure housing defining an interior volume, the interior volume of the pressure housing comprising a liquid storage portion configured to store a liquid phase of a driving medium and a gas storage portion configured to store a gas phase of the driving medium, the liquid storage portion and the gas storage portion being in flow connection with each other; and a pressure outlet extending through the pressure housing to an exterior of the pressure housing, the pressure outlet being in direct flow connection with the gas storage portion of the interior volume and not the liquid storage portion of the interior volume; and a fluid channel comprising an outer end in flow communication with the pressure outlet, the fluid channel protruding from the pressure housing into the interior volume and terminating with an inner end in the gas storage portion, wherein the liquid storage portion is at least partially filled by the liquid phase of the driving medium and wherein the liquid phase of the driving medium is free to evaporate into the gas storage portion, and wherein a surface of the liquid phase of the driving medium is separated from the inner end of the fluid channel in any orientation of the pressure container such that the liquid phase of the driving medium is hindered from entering the fluid channel.
17. 17 . The pressure driven portable medical device according to claim 16 , wherein the interior volume of the pressure housing is divided between the liquid storage portion and the gas storage portion.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS The present application is a continuation application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/571,691, filed Nov. 3, 2017, which is the national stage entry of International Patent Application No. PCT/EP2016/060146, filed on May 6, 2016, and claims priority to Application No. EP 15166871.2, filed on May 8, 2015, the disclosures of which are expressly incorporated herein in entirety by reference thereto. TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure relates to the field of pressure containers and in particular to pressure containers for pressure driven medical devices such like automatic injection devices for delivery of a liquid medicament by way of injection. BACKGROUND Automatic medicament delivery devices, such like auto-injectors provide a rather easy and convenient approach to inject a predefined dose of a liquid medicament into biological tissue. Such drug delivery devices may provide an injection needle extension and retraction mechanism in order to puncture biological tissue to which the liquid medicament is to be delivered. After the injection needle has been extended into an injection position, drug delivery through the injection needle may automatically start. After termination of a delivery process the needle is typically retracted back into the housing. Since such drug delivery devices are intended for home or self-medication, their general handling should be easily understandable and unambiguous. Additionally, such devices should provide a high degree of patient safety in order to avoid stitch damages or similar injuries. The therapy, the medication schedule, the size of the dose, and/or the viscosity of the liquid medicament may cause some difficulties and problems with existing drug delivery device designs. For instance, the total time for the delivery of the medicament may be out of a predefined range. This can occur, in some cases, when the injection volume is rather large, e.g., larger than 1.25 ml and/or when the liquid medicament has a high viscosity. Alternatively, a high viscosity and a large volume of the liquid medicament could lead to patient discomfort. When such drug delivery or injection devices are of portable or mobile type, they are typically equipped with some kind of energy storage to conduct a dispensing procedure and optionally to displace and to retract the injection needle. Document US 2012/0071829 A1 describes an apparatus featuring a medicament injector moveably disposed within a housing and an energy storage member configured to produce a force to move the medicament injector to an injection position in which a portion of a needle is disposed outside of a distal end portion of the housing. The energy storage member is a compressed gas cylinder that is operable to produce a force that acts upon the medicament container to move the medicament container between a first position and a second position. In response to a force produced by the pressurized gas, a moveable member and the medicament injector are moved towards a distal end portion of the housing, thereby exposing the needle from the housing. Thereafter a movable member continues to move a medicament container distally within a carrier. This continued movement of the medicament container places the needle in fluid communication with the medicament container, thereby allowing the medicament to be injected. Finally, the force from the pressurized gas causes the movable member to move within the medicament container, thereby expelling the medicament through the needle. Energy storage by compressed gas comes along with some limitations in regards to the stability of the pressure of the gaseous driving medium as the compressed gas leaves the respective pressure container. Providing a constant pressure of the gaseous driving medium over a rather long time interval, e.g. over a complete time of injection either requires implementation of rather highly pressurized pressure containers or requires an increase of the size and the filling volume of such pressure containers. For mobile or portable medical applications both of these options come along with some drawbacks in regards to compact and small-sized portable medical devices or in view of patient safety and handling comfort. SUMMARY In a first aspect, a portable pressure container for driving a medical device is provided. The container comprises a pressure housing confining or defining an interior volume. The pressure container further has a pressure outlet extending through the pressure housing. The pressure outlet provides a flow or fluid connection between the exterior and the interior volume of the pressure housing. Typically, the pressure outlet comprises some kind of standardized adapter or connector by way of which the pressurized content of the pressure container can be guided or transferred to the medical device for driving the same. The interior volume of the pressure housing comprises a liquid storage portion and a gas storage