Claims for Patent: 7,780,635

Summary for Patent: 7,780,635

Title:	Apparatus and methods for delivering fluid and material to a subject
Abstract:	The present invention provides fluid and material delivery methods and devices for practicing the methods. The invention provides a method of delivering cellular material comprising injecting the cellular material into a subject such that the injected cells retain their inherent morphologic characteristics upon injection. The method comprises the steps of aspirating the cellular material into a fluid delivery device which incorporates a syringe arrangement. The cellular material is aspirated into the main body of the syringe until the desired amount of a material has filled the syringe body. The needle of the fluid delivery device is then inserted into the skin of a subject at an angle about parallel to the skin until a desired depth has been reached. The cellular material is then injected in the subject until the desired volume of material has been injected. The needle of the device is then rotated approximately 45 to 90 degrees and the needle is removed from the injection site.
Inventor(s):	Pruitt; Terrell (Lawrenceville, GA), Cochran; Stephen A. (Tucker, GA), Marshall; Bryan (Atlanta, GA), Su; Yandong (Atlanta, GA), Stenn; Kurt Stricker (Princeton, NJ), Washenik; Kenneth Justin (Beverly Hills, CA), DePiano; John (Burlington, MA), Prokop; Gary F. (Wheaton, IL), Rathgeber; Martin (Chicago, IL)
Assignee:	Aderans Research Institute, Inc. (Marietta, GA)
Application Number:	11/672,675
Patent Claims:	1. A housing body for a fluid delivery device comprising: an exterior and an interior and a cartridge aperture; a pinion housing attached to the interior of the housing body, the pinion housing having a pinion receiving aperture; a pinion which is received by the pinion receiving aperture, and attached to the pinion housing within the pinion receiving aperture, the pinion comprising a front section having gear ridges, a cartridge receiving aperture, and a rear section; and a trigger portion having a tab section which is adapted to engage with the gear ridges of the pinion when depressed, and wherein the pinion rotates within the pinion receiving aperture when the trigger portion is depressed. 2. The housing body of claim 1 wherein the housing body comprises a rear portion and a front portion. 3. The housing body of claim 2 wherein the pinion housing further comprises an exterior threaded portion and the rear and front portion of the housing body contain threaded portions in the interior of the housing bodies, wherein the threaded portions of the front and rear housing bodies engage the threaded portion of the pinion housing. 4. A method of delivering cellular material comprising injecting the cellular material to a subject using a fluid delivery device, wherein the cellular material comprises cells that retain their inherent morphologic characteristics upon injection, and wherein the fluid delivery device comprises a housing body and a detachable cartridge, wherein the housing body comprises an exterior and an interior and a cartridge aperture; a pinion housing attached to the interior of the housing body, the pinion housing having a pinion receiving aperture; a pinion which is received by the pinion receiving aperture, and attached to the pinion housing within the pinion receiving aperture, the pinion comprising a front section having gear ridges, a cartridge receiving aperture, and a rear section; and a trigger portion having a tab section which is adapted to engage with the gear ridges of the pinion when depressed, and wherein the pinion rotates within the pinion receiving aperture when the trigger portion is depressed, and wherein the detatchable cartridge comprises a head portion, a cartridge body, a main body portion, a plunger and a needle; wherein the head portion engages the housing body and is attached to the cartridge body; wherein the cartridge body has an interior channel; the main body portion has an interior channel, the main body portion being attached to the cartridge body and the interior channel of the main body portion having a threaded portion; wherein the plunger is received by the interior channel of the cartridge body and the main body portion, the plunger having a plunger tip, a threaded screw section which engages with the threaded portion of the interior channel of the main body portion, and a tail section which is received by the cartridge receiving aperture of the pinion and which engages with the rear section of the pinion; and wherein the needle is attached to the head portion of the cartridge and is operatively connected to the interior channel of the cartridge body. 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the cellular material further comprises a suspension media. 6. The method of claim 4, wherein the cellular material is delivered to a subject in an amount effective to treat a disease or a physical condition which afflicts the subject. 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the disease or condition is hair loss. 8. The method of claim 6, wherein the disease or physical condition is selected from the group consisting of hair loss, psoriasis, diabetes, rhytids, skin atrophy, tooth loss, skin ulcers, bed sores, diabetic foot ulcers, burn wounds, microbial infections, surgical scars, acne, chicken pox and combinations thereof. 9. The method of claim 4, wherein the cells comprise follicular progenitor cells. 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the follicular progenitor cells are autologous. 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the cells comprise dermal cells. 12. The method of claim 10, wherein the cells comprise epidermal cells. 13. The method of claim 4, wherein the cells are delivered to the skin's sub-epidermal layer, papillary dermal layer or upper reticular dermal layer. 14. The method of claim 4 wherein the cells are delivered to the skin of the subject. 15. A method of delivering a material into a subject's skin using a fluid delivery device, wherein the fluid delivery device comprises a housing body and a detachable cartridge, wherein the housing body comprises an exterior and an interior and a cartridge aperture; a pinion housing attached to the interior of the housing body, the pinion housing having a pinion receiving aperture; a pinion which is received by the pinion receiving aperture, and attached to the pinion housing within the pinion receiving aperture, the pinion comprising a front section having gear ridges, a cartridge receiving aperture, and a rear section; and a trigger portion having a tab section which is adapted to engage with the gear ridges of the pinion when depressed, and wherein the pinion rotates within the pinion receiving aperture when the trigger portion is depressed, and wherein the detatchable cartridge comprises a head portion, a cartridge body, a main body portion, a plunger and a needle; wherein the head portion engages the housing body and is attached to the cartridge body; wherein the cartridge body has an interior channel; the main body portion has an interior channel, the main body portion being attached to the cartridge body and the interior channel of the main body portion having a threaded portion; wherein the plunger is received by the interior channel of the cartridge body and the main body portion, the plunger having a plunger tip, a threaded screw section which engages with the threaded portion of the interior channel of the main body portion, and a tail section which is received by the cartridge receiving aperture of the pinion and which engages with the rear section of the pinion; and wherein the needle is attached to the head portion of the cartridge and is operatively connected to the interior channel of the cartridge body, the method comprising the steps of: i) loading the cartridge into the housing body of the fluid delivery device, wherein the cartridge body is filled with the material; ii) inserting the needle of the fluid delivery device into the skin at an angle about parallel to skin until a desired depth has been reached; iii) injecting an amount of the material by depressing the trigger portion of the fluid delivery device; iv) rotating the fluid delivery device approximately 45 to 90 degrees; and v) removing the needle from the injection site. 16. The method of claim 15, wherein in step ii), four to six millimeters of the needle is below the skin surface. 17. The method of claim 16, further comprising, between steps ii) and iii), drawing 1 to 2 mm of the needle out of the skin. 18. The method of claim 15, wherein the material is selected from the group consisting of botox, collagen, hyaluronic acid, antibiotics, anti-inflammatory drugs, steroids and combinations thereof. 19. The method of claim 15, wherein the material is a cellular material comprising cells. 20. The method of claim 19, wherein the cells are selected from the group consisting of dermal cells, epidermal cells, epidermal stem cells, basal cells, keratinocytes, melanocytes, trichogenic dermal cells, fibroblasts, follicular progenitor cells, pancreatic islet cells, adipose cells, dental epithelial cells, dental dermal cells and combinations thereof. 21. The method of claim 19, wherein the cells retain their inherent morphologic characteristics upon injection. 22. The method of claim 15, wherein in step iii) further comprises: engaging one gear ridge with the tab section of the trigger portion, rotating the pinion one increment, wherein one increment is equal to the arc length of the gear ridge of the pinion, and turning the plunger to move the plunger forward in the cartridge body and thereby inject the amount of the material. 23. A fluid delivery device comprising a housing body and a detachable cartridge, wherein the housing body comprises an exterior and an interior and a cartridge aperture; a pinion housing attached to the interior of the housing body, the pinion housing having a pinion receiving aperture; a pinion which is received by the pinion receiving aperture, and attached to the pinion housing within the pinion receiving aperture, the pinion comprising a front section having gear ridges, a cartridge receiving aperture, and a rear section; and a trigger portion having a tab section which is adapted to engage with the gear ridges of the pinion when depressed, and wherein the pinion rotates within the pinion receiving aperture when the trigger portion is depressed, and wherein the detatchable cartridge comprises a head portion, a cartridge body, a main body portion, a plunger and a needle; the head portion engages the housing body and is attached to the cartridge body; the cartridge body has an interior channel; the main body portion has an interior channel, the main body portion being attached to the cartridge body and the interior channel of the main body portion having a threaded portion; the plunger is received by the interior channel of the cartridge body and the main body portion, the plunger having a plunger tip, a threaded screw section which engages with the threaded portion of the interior channel of the main body portion, and a tail section which is received by the cartridge receiving aperture of the pinion and which engages with the rear section of the pinion; and the needle is attached to the head portion of the cartridge and is operatively connected to the interior channel of the cartridge body. 24. The cartridge of claim 23 wherein the head portion of the cartridge is made from a clear material. 25. The cartridge of claim 23 wherein the tail section of the plunger is splined. 26. The fluid delivery device of claim 23 wherein the housing body has a longitudinal axis and wherein the needle is at an acute angle to the longitudinal axis of the housing body. 27. The fluid delivery device of claim 26 wherein the needle is at an approximately 40.degree. angle to the longitudinal axis of the housing body. 28. The fluid delivery device of claim 23, wherein the housing body comprises a rear portion and a front portion. 29. The fluid delivery device of claim 28, wherein the pinion housing further comprises an exterior threaded portion and the rear and front portion of the housing body contain threaded portions in the interior of the housing bodies, wherein the threaded portions of the front and rear housing bodies engage the threaded portion of the pinion housing. 30. The fluid delivery device of claim 23 wherein the head portion of the cartridge is made from a clear material. 31. The fluid delivery device of claim 23 wherein the tail section of the plunger is splined and the rear section of the pinion contains channels designed to receive the splines of the tail section of the plunger.

Details for Patent 7,780,635

Applicant	Tradename	Biologic Ingredient	Dosage Form	BLA	Approval Date	Patent No.	Expiredate
Allergan, Inc.	BOTOX COSMETIC	onabotulinumtoxina	For Injection	103000	12/09/1991		2026-02-09
Allergan, Inc.	BOTOX	onabotulinumtoxina	For Injection	103000	12/09/1991		2026-02-09