US 12,458,757 B2
Automated syringe fill state measurement
Hilko Cords, Windisch (CH); Yves Simmen, Windisch (CH); Matthias Friebe, Glattbrugg (CH); and Christian Schmidt, Glattbrugg (CH)
Assigned to Augmenticon AG, Glattbrugg (CH)
Appl. No. 19/099,463
Filed by Augmenticon AG, Glattbrugg (CH)
PCT Filed Apr. 4, 2023, PCT No. PCT/EP2023/058792
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Jan. 28, 2025,
PCT Pub. No. WO2024/022624, PCT Pub. Date Feb. 1, 2024.
Claims priority of application No. 2211146 (GB), filed on Jul. 29, 2022.
Prior Publication US 2025/0256035 A1, Aug. 14, 2025
Int. Cl. A61M 5/31 (2006.01); A61M 5/00 (2006.01); G01F 22/00 (2006.01); G06T 7/60 (2017.01)
CPC A61M 5/3129 (2013.01) [A61M 5/002 (2013.01); G01F 22/00 (2013.01); G06T 7/60 (2013.01); A61M 2205/3379 (2013.01)] 19 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method of measuring the volume of liquid contained in a syringe comprising a barrel with a barrel flange and a barrel bottom surface, and a plunger with a plunger flange, the method comprising:
providing a dataset storing, for each of a number of syringe models, syringe manufacturer, nominally specified syringe volume, at least one length dimension and at least one calibration value to permit the volume of liquid contained in each syringe model to be computed as a function of plunger position in the barrel;
presenting the syringe to an image acquisition device;
capturing an image of the syringe with the image acquisition device;
computer processing the image to determine a length dimension of the syringe and to identify the plunger position, wherein the plunger position is determined by computer processing the image to identify the plunger flange and either the barrel flange or the barrel bottom surface and then determining the distance therebetween;
referring to the dataset to identify the syringe model based on the length dimension; and
referring to the dataset to obtain the calibration values for the identified syringe model and then to determine the volume of liquid contained in the syringe from the plunger position and interpolation between the calibration values.