Protectus Safety Syringe Earns Patent for Spring Action

Protectus Medical Devices, Inc. announces it has received a notice of allowance from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on its patent application describing a spring-activated, automatic, self-sheathing safety syringe. 

Dr. John Salstrom, CEO of Protectus, says the unique spring-activation feature distinguishes the Protectus Safety Syringe and its entire line of safety needle devices from others and has the potential to significantly reduce accidental needlestick injuries automatically without any action by users. 

Jack Dillard, COO and inventor of the Protectus/SquareOne Medical Safety Syringe and its family of safety needle devices, says, "The key elements of this patent provide coverage for the spring responsible for the automatic deployment of the Protectus safety technology that keeps users, patients and other healthcare workers safe during and after use without having to perform any conscience action."

Protectus also announces the filing of its patent application for a Safety IV Catheter/Cannula Introducer.  This device employs the same spring-activated safety features as the Protectus Safety Syringe, as does the soon-to-be announced Protectus Safety Phlebotomy device.

The Protectus Safety Syringe is designed to significantly reduce accidental needlestick injuries that have plagued the healthcare workplace for decades. When issued, the patent will have a lifespan of 20 years, prohibiting the use of similar designs that include a spring to automatically deploy a safety feature.

"The Protectus automatic self-sheathing safety syringe will be to nurses what seat belts and air bags are to motorists," says former Marine Marc Barbanell who has been taking the syringe on test drives and finds it to be safe. "Even when patients jerk their arm during an injection and send the syringe flying, it can't hurt anyone," says Barbanell, a Silver Star recipient who has since given thousands of injections to patients. "If a nurse were to lose control of this syringe or have it knocked out of her hands, she'd automatically be protected as a spring-activated plastic sheath instantly covers the needle, rendering it harmless and incapable of sticking anyone accidentally.   

According to most recent statistics, nearly a million needlestick injuries are reported annually among U.S. healthcare workers costing healthcare system over $3 billion a year. Workers at U.S. hospitals on average incur approximately 30 needlestick injuries per 100 beds annually. Studies show nurses sustain most of these injuries and one in seven U.S. healthcare workers is accidentally stuck by a contaminated sharp every year, while it is believed only 1 in 3 needlesticks is even reported. From these sharps injuries there have been scores of documented cases of HIV seroconversion among healthcare personnel and 2,000 workers a year become infected with hepatitis C, and 400 contract hepatitis B. More than 20 additional types of infectious agents have been transmitted through needlesticks, including tuberculosis, syphilis, malaria, herpes, diphtheria, gonorrhea, typhus, and Rocky Mountain spotted fever. The CDC estimates more than 80 percent of needlestick injuries can be prevented by the use of safer medical devices; needlesticks occur most in fast-paced, stressful and often understaffed facilities.

For more information, visit http://www.protectusmedical.com/faq.html