Path, Inc.

Vitajet Corporation

Glenn D Austin

Timothy J Salo

Theodore J Colburn

Lisa Tam

Sergio Landau

Ronny D Thomas

Carib Nelson

Yancy Seamans

Donald A Todd

Margaret Z Kilbourne-Brook

William Robert Van Lew, Jr

T Patrick Lennon

Paul Labarre

Van Lew

Kapaakea C Puaa

A female condom is provided that includes a pouch of resilient membranous material and a hydrophilic cling mechanism. According to an embodiment of the invention, the cling mechanism includes three or more foam cling elements attached to an outer surface of the pouch. Upon insertion, the foam cling elements cling lightly to vaginal walls proximate a transition zone between the vagina's introitus and its rugated internal tissue. The foam cling elements may be shaped to permit them to nestle into a user's rugated internal vaginal tissue. An inserter may be coupled to the pouch for facilitating insertion of the condom. The inserter may retain a distal portion of the pouch in a collapsed form. The cling mechanism may be contained within the dissolvable inserter. The inserter may be dissolvable in the presence of vaginal moisture. Methods are also provided for collapsing the pouch and compressing it into an insertion package.

Soft cling female condom

Employing the known 'tensegrity' principle, a female condom is configured such that when the condom is inserted into a woman's vagina, the woman's introitus acts on a proximal section of an elongated pouch extending between internal and external biasing members (e.g., rings) of the condom. Inward compressive forces exerted by the introitus on the inner ring of the condom cause the inner ring to be pushed distally within the vaginal canal, and the proximal pouch section to become a tension member pulling against the external ring. This causes a 'tenting' of the proximal pouch section against the introitus. The resulting interaction of compression and tensile forces (a tensegrity effect) serves to provide the condom with a high degree of internal and external stability, including resistance to twisting and slippage.

Female condom employing tensegrity principle

A disposable medicine delivery unit for use in a needleless hypodermic injector is configured to allow economical replacement, after each injection, of a patient contact surface and the entire injection flow-path of the medicament, to thereby ensure sterility with less need for repeated equipment cleaning and sterilization procedures. The delivery unit includes a piston seal configured to prevent improper reuse. The piston seal deforms and sticks in a conical end of the medicine delivery chamber at the end of its injection stroke. A push-only connection between the piston seal and a piston drive rod of the injector ensures that the latter cannot be used to retract the former. Preferably, the piston seal also includes a protruding nipple which enters and destroys the injection orifice following an injection, to further disable the delivery unit.

Single-use medicine delivery unit for needleless hypodermic injector

A contraceptive diaphragm having a rim surrounding a thin membrane, the membrane having a cervical dome extending downwardly from a posterior portion of the membrane. The rim has two curvilinear bands joined together at their respective ends and encased in a coil spring. The shape of the bands creates a rim which curves slightly upwardly at the anterior end of the diaphragm and slightly downwardly at its posterior end. The rim is formed with a curvilinear profile which provides an advantageous fit. A small dome projects upwardly from an anterior portion of the membrane which is grasped by the wearer to remove the diaphragm.

Contraceptive diaphragm

A needleless, low pressure, air powered medicine injector with a quick disconnect medicine delivery assembly removably connected to the injector housing. Low pressure air drives a biased piston through a discharge stroke, beginning from the retracted position into the medicine chamber, thereby forcing medicine through a one-piece nozzle. A removable chamber filling mechanism connected to the housing is coupled to the medicine chamber through fill ports, such that the medicine chamber is filled utilizing a positive pressure medicine distributor. A movable spacer collar positioned in front of the nozzle provides an air gap between a patient's skin and the one-piece nozzle. A safety interlock coupled to an activating mechanism and the chamber filling mechanism prevents unwanted discharge of the injection.

Air powered needleless hypodermic injector

An improved injection port (1) for a single-use syringe is described. One embodiment of the injection port has a one-way valve system for making it more difficult to reuse the syringe (2). The one-way valve system has a flap or diaphragm valve (6) housed in a valve chamber (11) at the proximal end of port cylinder (45). When the valve (6) is seated against valve seat (51) on valve cap (5), refilling of the syringe is blocked. During injection, the valve (6) unseats and moves toward radial ribs (7), allowing flow of medicament into the proximal end of a needle (2). Another embodiment of the injection port (1) includes longitudinal grooves (8) on the interior surface of the chamber (12) at the distal end of cylinder (45). The grooves (8) vent pressure from a Luer syringe inserted in the distal end of the cylinder (45).

Growing community of inventors

Seattle, WA, United States of America

Glenn D Austin