Pen needle hub with a patient contact surface
Inventors
Sullivan, Sean • Huang, David • HILL, Brendon • Srinivasan, Sudarsan • Rini, Christopher • Klug, Richard • Roberts, Bruce Clyde • Morel, Didier • Pettis, Ronald J.
Assignees
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Publication Number
US-11400238-B2
Publication Date
2022-08-02
Expiration Date
Abstract
A needle-bearing hub for a pen needle is provided with a distal patient-facing side having an enlarged surface for contact with the subject's skin. The enlarged surface is provided with a radius of curvature that increases the likelihood that the needle reaches full injection depth when an injection is performed at an inclined angle with respect to the surface of the skin and with to the desired depth less discomfort to the patient.
Core Innovation
The invention is a pen needle with a hub whose distal surface forms a convex skin-contact surface when the cannula penetrates the subject. The surface has a diameter greater than 3.0 mm and 10 mm or less, and includes an outer peripheral surface, an inner annular surface surrounding the cannula, and a curved portion between them with a radius of curvature from 3.0 mm to 16.0 mm.
The convex skin-contact surface distributes skin pressure to control cannula penetration depth, including during angled insertion into the subject. This design improves stability and comfort while resulting in fewer shallow or excessively deep injections. Additionally, the curved hub design produces fewer shallow injections than enlarged flat-face designs.
Claims Coverage
The three independent claims are claims 1, 22, and 26, covering three inventive features directed to pen needles with defined skin-contact geometry and hub structures.
Convex skin-contact surface
Claim 1 covers a pen needle with a hub and cannula, where the hub’s distal surface forms a convex skin-contact surface with a diameter greater than 3.0 mm and 10 mm or less. The surface includes an outer peripheral surface, an inner annular surface surrounding the cannula, and a curved portion between them with a radius of curvature from 3.0 mm to 16.0 mm.
Hub body, tower, and cannula-supporting post
Claim 22 covers a pen needle with the specified skin-contact surface and a hub comprising a body, a narrower tower, and a post extending from the tower’s end wall toward the open end of the body. The post is configured for supporting the cannula extending from the end wall of the tower.
Raised rings and annular recess
Claim 26 covers a pen needle with the specified skin-contact surface, where the inner annular surface defines a raised inner ring and the outer peripheral surface defines a raised outer ring. The curved portion forms an annular recess between the rings, with a bottom surface whose radius of curvature corresponds to the radius of curvature of the axial faces of the raised rings.
The independent claims cover three related pen-needle configurations: a convex skin-contact surface with defined dimensions and curvature; that surface combined with a hub body, tower, and cannula-supporting post; and that surface configured with raised inner and outer rings surrounding an annular recess.
Stated Advantages
The convex surface distributes skin pressure to control cannula penetration depth, including during angled insertion.
The design is stated to improve stability and comfort and to reduce shallow or excessively deep injections.
In the reported comparison, the curved hub design produced fewer shallow injections than enlarged flat-face designs.
Documented Applications
A pen needle for injection into a subject’s skin, with the cannula positioned in a medication compartment of a medication pen body.
A medication pen incorporating a pen needle, with a pen body configured to receive and couple to the pen needle.
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