Encoding and sensing of syringe information

Abstract

A syringe for use with a powered injector to inject a fluid into a patient includes at least a first indicator positioned on the syringe at a predetermined axial position. The distance between a rearward surface of the first indicator and a predetermined position on the powered injector provides information about the syringe configuration. The first indicator can, for example, be a rear surface of the attachment flange. An injector system includes a powered injector having a drive member and at least one sensor for detecting energy. The injector system also includes a syringe having at least a first indicator positioned on the syringe at a predetermined axial position. The energy detected by the sensor is determined by the axial position of the indicator when the syringe is attached to the powered injector. The axial position of the indicator thereby provides information about the syringe configuration.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A syringe for use with a powered injector, the syringe comprising: 
 at least a first indicator positioned on the syringe at a predetermined position, the at least a first indicator defining a surface, the distance between the surface of the at least a first indicator and a predetermined position on the powered injector when the syringe is in operative connection with the powered injector providing information about the syringe configuration.    
     
     
         2 . A syringe for use with a powered injector, the syringe comprising: 
 a rearward projecting member on a rear portion of the syringe, an axial position of a rear surface of the rearward projecting member providing information about a syringe configuration when the syringe is attached to the powered injector; and    a positioning member operable to cooperate with the injector when the syringe is attached to the injector to position the rearward surface of the rearward projecting member at the axial position.    
     
     
         3 . The syringe of  claim 2  wherein the axial position is within a unique range of axial positions defined for the syringe configuration of the syringe.  
     
     
         4 . The syringe of  claim 3  wherein the rear surface comprises the rear surface of an attachment flange operable to attach the syringe to the injector.  
     
     
         5 . The syringe of  claim 4  wherein the positioning member comprises a flange on the syringe positioned forward of the attachment flange.  
     
     
         6 . A set of a plurality of syringes for use with a powered injector to inject a fluid into a patient, each of the syringes comprising at least a first indicator positioned on the syringe at a predetermined position, the distance between a surface of the first indicator and a position on the powered injector when the syringe is in operative connection with the powered injector providing information about a configuration of each syringe.  
     
     
         7 . A set of  claim 6  wherein the indicator is a rearward surface of a rearward projecting member on a rear portion of each of the syringes.  
     
     
         8 . A set of  claim 7  wherein each of the syringes further comprises a positioning member operable to cooperate with the injector when the syringe is attached to the injector to position the rearward surface of the rearward projecting member at the predetermined position.  
     
     
         9 . The set of  claim 8  wherein the predetermined position of the rear surface of each syringe is within a unique range of axial positions defined for the syringe configuration of that syringe.  
     
     
         10 . The set of  claim 9  wherein the rear surface is the rear surface of an attachment flange operable to attach the syringe to the injector.  
     
     
         11 . The set of  claim 10  wherein the positioning member comprises one or more flanges on the syringe positioned forward of the attachment flange.  
     
     
         12 . An injector system comprising: 
 a powered injector comprising a drive member and at least one sensor for detecting energy; and    a syringe comprising at least a first indicator positioned on the syringe at a predetermined position, the syringe configuration that is detected by the sensor is determined by the position of the at least a first indicator when the syringe is attached to the powered injector, the position of the at least a first indicator thereby providing information about the syringe configuration.    
     
     
         13 . The injector system of  claim 12  wherein a rear surface of the first indicator transmits energy to the sensor.  
     
     
         14 . The injector system of  claim 13  wherein the rear surface of the first indicator comprises an energy source to transmit energy to the sensor.  
     
     
         15 . The injector system of  claim 13  wherein the rear surface of the first indicator comprises a surface that transmits energy to the sensor by reflecting energy from an energy source to the sensor.  
     
     
         16 . The injector system of  claim 12  wherein the powered injector further comprises a contact member movably disposed in the injector, a surface in operative connection with the contact member transmitting energy to the sensor, the contact member being positioned to come into contact with the first indicator when the syringe is in operative connection with the powered injector such that the position of the surface is determined by the axial position of the first indicator.  
     
     
         17 . The injector system of  claim 16  wherein the surface is a rear surface of the contact member.  
     
     
         18 . The injector system of  claim 17  wherein the rear surface of the contact member comprises an energy source to transmit energy to the sensor.  
     
     
         19 . The injector system of  claim 17  wherein the rear surface of the contact member comprises a surface to reflect energy from an energy source to the sensor.  
     
     
         20 . The injector system of  claim 17  wherein the energy is light energy.  
     
     
         21 . The injector system of  claim 19  wherein the energy is light energy.  
     
     
         22 . The injector system of  claim 21  wherein the reflective surface of the contact member is a mirrored surface.  
     
     
         23 . The injector system of  claim 22  wherein the first indicator is a rear surface of an attachment flange on a rear portion of the syringe.  
     
     
         24 . An injector system comprising: 
 at least one syringe comprising at least a first indicator positioned on the syringe at a predetermined position, the position of the at least a first indicator being associated with information about the syringe configuration; and    a powered injector comprising a drive member and at least a first contact member movably disposed in the injector, the at least a first contact member is positioned to come into contact with the at least a first indicator when the syringe is attached to the powered injector such that the position of the at least a first contact member is determined by the position of the at least a first indicator, the amount of change in the position of the at least a first contact member as a result of contact with the at least a first indicator being associated with syringe configuration.    
     
     
         25 . The injector system of  claim 24  wherein at least three syringe configurations are associated with at least three corresponding positions of the first contact member.  
     
     
         26 . The injector system of  claim 24  wherein each syringe configuration is associated with a range of positions of the first contact member.  
     
     
         27 . The injector system of  claim 24  wherein the powered injector further comprises at least one light reflective surface in operative connection with the first contact member, the injector system further comprising a sensor to detect light reflected from the light reflective surface.  
     
     
         28 . The injector system of  claim 27  wherein the first indicator is positioned on the rear surface of an attachment flange of the syringe.  
     
     
         29 . The injector system of  claim 24  wherein the powered injector further comprises a plurality of sensors and at least a first shutter mechanism in operative connection with the first contact member, each of the sensors having an on state and an off state, the shutter mechanism comprising at least one cooperating member to cooperate with at least one of the sensors to place the sensor in an on state or an off state, the state of each of the plurality of sensors providing a digital code corresponding to information on syringe configuration.  
     
     
         30 . The injector system of  claim 29  wherein the first indicator is positioned on the rear surface of an attachment flange of the syringe.  
     
     
         31 . The injector system of  claim 29  wherein the shutter mechanism comprises a plurality of cooperating members.  
     
     
         32 . The injector system of  claim 31  wherein the sensors are optical sensors and the cooperating members are spaced opaque members operable to block transmission of light to the sensors.  
     
     
         33 . An injector for use with a syringe comprising at least a first indicator positioned thereon, the position of the at least a first indicator being associated with syringe configuration, the injector comprising: 
 a drive member; and    at least a first contact member movably disposed in the injector, the at least a first contact member is positioned to come into contact with the at least a first indicator when the syringe is in operative connection with the injector such that the position of the at least a first contact member is determined by the position of the at least a first indicator, the amount of change in the position of the at least a first contact member as a result of contact with the at least a first indicator being associated with syringe configuration.    
     
     
         34 . The injector of  claim 33  wherein at least three syringe configurations are associated with at least three corresponding positions of the first contact member.  
     
     
         35 . The injector system of  claim 33  wherein each syringe configuration is associated with a range of positions of the first contact member.  
     
     
         36 . The injector of  claim 35 , further comprising at least one light reflective surface in operative connection with the first contact member, the injector system further comprising a sensor to detect light reflected from the light reflective surface, the light detected by the sensor being dependent upon the position of the first contact member.  
     
     
         37 . The injector of  claim 36  wherein the first indicator is positioned on the rear surface of an attachment flange of the syringe.  
     
     
         38 . The injector of  claim 33 , further comprising a plurality of sensors and at least a first shutter mechanism in operative connection with the first contact member, each of the sensors having an on state and an off state, the shutter mechanism comprising at least one cooperating member to cooperate with at least one of the sensors to place the sensor in an on state or an off state, the state of each of the plurality of sensors providing a digital code corresponding to information on syringe configuration.  
     
     
         39 . The injector of  claim 38  wherein the first indicator is positioned on the rear surface of an attachment flange of the syringe.  
     
     
         40 . The injector of  claim 38  wherein the shutter mechanism comprises a plurality of cooperating members.  
     
     
         41 . The injector of  claim 40  wherein the sensors are optical sensors and the cooperating members are spaced opaque members operable to block transmission of light to the sensors.  
     
     
         42 . The injector of  claim 41  wherein the first indicator is positioned on the rear surface of an attachment flange of the syringe and causes the first contact member to move in an axial direction.  
     
     
         43 . The injector of  claim 42  wherein the first contact member is slidably positioned on a bushing that is rotatable about the axis of the syringe.  
     
     
         44 . The injector of  claim 43  wherein the shutter mechanism is attached to the first contact member and is rotated into cooperation with the plurality of sensor upon rotation of the bushing to attach the syringe to the injector.  
     
     
         45 . A method of reading information of syringe configuration from a syringe for use with a powered injector, the method comprising: 
 positioning at least a first indicator at a predetermined position on the syringe;    transmitting energy from a position determined by the indicator to a sensor on the powered injector; and    measuring an output from the sensor and correlating the output to a state distance defined by a distance between the first indicator and a known position on the injector, the state distance providing information of the syringe configuration.    
     
     
         46 . A method of reading information of syringe configuration from a syringe for use with a powered injector, the method comprising: 
 positioning at least a first indicator at a predetermined position on the syringe;    contacting the indicator with at least a first contact member movably disposed in the injector so that the position of the first contact member is determined by the position of the first indicator; and    associating the position of the contact member with syringe configuration.    
     
     
         47 . The method of  claim 46  wherein at least three different syringe configurations are associated with at least three corresponding positions of the first contact member.  
     
     
         48 . The method of  claim 47 , further comprising the step of transmitting light energy from a surface in operative connection with the first contact member to a sensor, the light energy measured by the sensor corresponding to the position of the first contact member.  
     
     
         49 . The method of  claim 47  wherein a shutter mechanism in operative connection with the first contact member moves with motion of the contact member to a position that determines a state of each of a plurality sensors having an on state and an off state, the state of each of the plurality of sensors providing a digital code corresponding to information on syringe configuration.  
     
     
         50 . A syringe adapter for use with a powered injector, the syringe adapter comprising: 
 an injector attachment;    a syringe attachment; and    at least a first indicator positioned on the syringe adapter at a predetermined position, the distance between a surface of the at least a first indicator and a predetermined position on the powered injector when the syringe adapter is in operative connection with the powered injector providing information about the syringe configuration of a syringe attachable to the syringe attachment.    
     
     
         51 . An injector system comprising: 
 at least one syringe comprising at least a first indicator positioned on the syringe at a predetermined position, the position of the at least a first indicator being associated with information about the syringe configuration; and    an injector comprising: 
 a drive member;  
 a plurality of sensors;  
 at least a first contact member movably disposed in the injector, the at least a first contact member is positioned to come into contact with the at least a first indicator when the syringe is attached to the injector such that the position of the at least a first contact member is determined by the position of the at least a first indicator; and  
 at least a first shutter mechanism in operative connection with the at least a first contact member, each of the sensors having an on state and an off state, the shutter mechanism comprising at least one cooperating member to cooperate with at least one of the sensors to place the sensor in an on state or an off state, the state of each of the plurality of sensors providing a digital code corresponding to information on syringe configuration.