WO2009070037A2

WO2009070037A2 - A solid-treatment delivery device and a method for its use

Info

Publication number: WO2009070037A2
Application number: PCT/NZ2008/000314
Authority: WO
Inventors: Wayne Frederick Leech
Original assignee: Bomac Research Limited
Priority date: 2007-11-26
Filing date: 2008-11-25
Publication date: 2009-06-04
Also published as: WO2009070037A3; NZ563335A

Abstract

A delivery device for delivering a solid treatment into an orifice of an animal, the delivery device including: a chamber for the solid treatment, and an outlet for the solid treatment, and a displacement means for the solid treatment, and an actuator for activating a delivery force to be applied to the solid treatment via the displacement means to cause the solid treatment to exit the chamber through the outlet, and a rearming mechanism configured to apply a rearming force to the displacement member, and characterised in that the delivery device is configured such that a rearming force applied to the rearming mechanism is separate to and greater than the delivery force.

Description

Z2008/000314

A DELIVERY DEVICE AND A METHOD FOR ITS USE

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates to a delivery device. The invention has particular application to the delivery of medicament or nutritional supplements to animals, such as cows or sheep.

BACKGROUND ART

The agricultural sector contributes significantly to the gross domestic product of New Zealand through export of its meat and dairy products. The health of New Zealand's animal stock is vital to the success of this country's export sector. Any animal health issues such as the recent foot and mouth epidemic in the United Kingdom would impact drastically on the economy of New Zealand.

Typical agricultural parasites such as roundworms or tapeworms can be detrimental to the health of the animal, and in some circumstances can result in the death of the infected animal. Such parasitic infestations are easily transmitted throughout the herd, and so the herd needs to be regularly treated with various veterinary treatments. Such treatments can include drenches, pour-ons or ruminal boluses.

Therefore, there is considerable effort expended in treatment and maintenance of the health of cattle and sheep of New Zealand.

Medicaments and other nutrients such as minerals for the care of cattle and sheep are often administered orally or transdermally. These methods of administration are efficient relative to the costly and time consuming process of administering medicaments via parenteral injection in a large herd.

The oral method or administering medication is further preferred due to the difficulties in achieving suitable absorption of the medicament when transdermal administration is used.

Oral medicament is often in a liquid state, and therefore is commonly administered to the animal using a drench gun.

There are problems associated with using drench guns for delivery of medicaments to the animal.

For example, the medicament has to be applied orally, requiring the barrel of the gun to be inserted into the animal's mouth. A firm grip on the animal is necessary to stop the animal resisting or otherwise adversely reacting to the insertion of the drench gun. There can be wastage of the drench if not administered correctly, and the drenching process can often be messy. Additionally, a reservoir of drench must be worn by the operator of a drench gun, usually in the form of a heavy backpack, to allow the drench gun to be refilled as required.

As an alternative to liquid oral medicaments, some oral medicaments are delivered to the animal in a solid state, such as a bolus. The bolus is required to be placed near the back of the mouth, proximate to the oesophagus. This induces the animal to swallow the bolus thus allowing passage of the bolus to the desired location for release of the medicament, which usually is the stomach of the animal.

As with the use of drench guns, a firm grip on the animal is required when administering a bolus. To successfully treat an animal, more than one person may be required to restrain the animal if it is particularly temperamental. Considerable effort must sometimes be exerted when treating cows or sheep in this manner, and there is the potential for injury to the person or persons restraining the animal while it is being treated.

Alternatively, the animal may be treated with a tablet or capsule. These can also be difficult to administer to the animal. Delivery to the animal is often done by hand. The risks of injury to the person administering the medicament to the back of the animal's mouth or throat can be appreciated.

Another problem that often arises when treating an animal with tablets or capsules is the tendency for the animal to spit the medicament out during the delivery of the treatment. This is particularly the case when treating horses.

To help resolve these issues, equipment has been specially developed for delivery of solid medicaments to an animal.

One such example is the animal pill dispenser gun disclosed in United States Patent No. 5584805. The dispenser gun comprises a PVC barrel with a handle and plunger mechanism to dispense the medicament located inside the barrel. This mechanism requires operation with two hands, one to hold the handle on the barrel and the other to push the plunger. When handling animals, it is preferable to have one hand free to assist in the restraining of the animal when administering the medicament.

Another such example is the applicator gun disclosed in New Zealand Patent No. 248754. However, there are problems associated with this applicator gun. Firstly, the gun itself is equipped with a long barrel, due to the length of action of the operating mechanism. The bolus to be delivered is situated very near to the outlet of the barrel in the muzzle.

Depressing the actuating means of the applicator gun operates a piston and cylinder, which acts as a force translation member. The movement of the piston actuates a plunger to move through the barrel into the muzzle of the applicator gun thus displacing a bolus proximate to the oesophagus of the animal, where it moves through to the stomach. The force applied to the piston via the trigger is half the force being applied to the trigger by the user. Because of this, the trigger is required to have a relatively long "reach". Although this mechanism works with only one hand on the applicator, the user's trigger hand can quickly become fatigued when dosing a large herd of cattle or sheep.

The size of this applicator gun with its associated long barrel and muzzle can make the applicator gun very unwieldy to use, particularly in confined spaces such as stock races and the like. The length of the barrel is quite important, as it is required to be at least as long as the action of the plunger. This then places a limitation on how short the barrel can be, and therefore the overall size of the gun.

The length of the action of the plunger is also relatively time consuming, as the driving piston utilises viscous oil, which is displaced as the piston moves through the cylinder. This means that there is a limit on the speed with which the treatment of individual animals is effected. This issue of time inefficiency is an important consideration when the farmer or farm hand has to dose a large herd of cattle or sheep.

This applicator gun only takes one or two boluses at a time, and therefore requires reloading the gun between each deployment.

The reloading action also rearms the gun as the bolus is inserted into the barrel. However, reloading the gun for each individual animal to be treated is a manual operation performed by the user, and can add considerably to the time required to administer large herds.

In other applicator guns, rearming or priming the gun so that it is ready to deliver the bolus to the animal being treated is also usually a manual operation performed by the user. This can involve the activating of a spring or similar mechanism, usually the same mechanism used in the delivery of the bolus to the animal. It is preferable that the persons treating the herd monitor the movements of the animals to ensure that all animals are dosed. This is harder to achieve when during treatment of the herd, the attention of the user has to be divided between the herd being treated and. the reloading and rearming of the device. Thus it is possible for problems with the herd or groups of animals within the herd to be unobserved until it requires considerable intervention by the treating person or assistants to remedy the problem.

All references, including any patents or patent applications cited in this specification are hereby incorporated by reference. No admission is made that any reference constitutes prior art. The discussion of the references states what their authors assert, and the applicants reserve the right to challenge the accuracy and pertinency of the cited documents. It will be clearly understood that, although a number of prior art publications are referred to herein, this reference does not .constitute an admission that any of these documents form part of the common general knowledge in the art, in New Zealand or in any other country.

It is acknowledged that the term 'comprise' may, under varying jurisdictions, be attributed with either an exclusive or an inclusive meaning. For the purpose of this specification, and unless otherwise noted, the term 'comprise' shall have an inclusive meaning - i.e. that it will be taken to mean an inclusion of not only the listed components it directly references, but also other non-specified components or elements. This rationale will also be used when the term 'comprised' or .'comprising' is used in relation to one or more steps in a method or process.

It is an object of the present invention to address the foregoing problems or at least to provide the public with a useful choice.

Further aspects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the ensuing description which is given by way of example only. DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a delivery device for delivering a solid treatment into an orifice of an animal, including

a chamber for the solid treatment, and

an outlet for the solid treatment, and

an actuator for activating a delivery force to be applied to the solid treatment to cause the solid treatment to exit the chamber through the outlet, and

a rearming mechanism,

characterised in that

the delivery device is configured such that the rearming force is separate to and greater than delivery force.

According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a method delivering a solid treatment to an animal including the steps of;

(a) loading a delivery device with a solid treatment, and

(b) placing the outlet of the delivery device approximate to an orifice of the animal to be treated, and

(c) . activating the delivery device to deliver the treatment through an orifice into the area to be treated, and

(d) rearming the delivery device

(e) reloading the delivery device with a solid treatment,

wherein the rearming force is separate to and greater than the delivery force

According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a solid treatment, wherein the solid treatment is substantially spherical or ovoid,

characterised in that

the solid treatment is adapted to fit in a delivery device configured to deliver the solid treatment to an orifice of an animal.

The delivery device may be any device configured to deliver a solid medicament or nutritional supplement to an animal. The delivery device may be a syringe or pill dispenser, or a gun. Preferably, the delivery device is a gun, and shall be referred to as such throughout the remainder of this specification.

A solid treatment may be any medicament or nutritional supplement in which at least the .exterior of the medicament is in a non-gaseous or non-liquid phase. Preferably the solid treatment is in the form of a tablet or pill, and shall be referred to as such during the remainder of this specification.

Alternatively, the solid treatment may be a bolus.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the solid treatment may be in the form of liquid, powder, or particulate medicament or nutritional supplement encapsulated by a solid exterior.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the exterior may be made of soluble or degradable matter which breaks up once delivered to the animal to release the medicament contained therein. For example, the exterior may be a cellulose or gelatin coating, although those skilled in the art will appreciate that other coatings may be used.

In yet another embodiment of the present invention, the solid treatment may be a suppository.

The medicament or nutritional supplement may be any medicament to treat animal health issues or to improve the general health and wellbeing of an animal. For example, the solid treatment may be a pharmaceutical medicament such as an anthelmintic, steroids, or an anti-biotic or anti-viral agent, although those skilled in the art will appreciate that other medicaments can be used.

In other embodiments of the present invention, the medicament or nutritional supplement may be a nutritional supplement such as a herbal remedy, vitamins, minerals, or a combination of these, although those skilled in the art will appreciate that other nutritional supplements can be used.

In further embodiments of the present invention, the medicament or nutritional supplement may be a combination of one or more pharmaceutical medicaments and one or more herbal remedies, vitamins and/or minerals.

Preferably, the solid treatment is of an oval or spherical or similarly rounded shape and configuration, with no sharp edges. This minimises the potential for injury to the animal while the treatment is being delivered, as well as possibly providing aerodynamic features.

The animal may be any animal requiring administration of medicaments or nutritional supplements such as humans and domesticated animals. Preferably, the animal to be treated with medicament or nutritional supplements by the present invention are larger animals, such, as horses, sheep, goats or cows, although those skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention may be used with smaller animals such as cats and dogs.

The orifice of the animal to be treated is preferably the mouth cavity, although those skilled in the art will appreciate that administration of a medicament to other orifices of the animal may be appropriate in certain cases, such as the vaginal or rectal orifices. . ^; .

The area into which the medicament is to be released in the animal may be the gastrointestinal tract including the bowel and intestines. Preferably, the area into which the medicament is to be released is the stomach or rumen of the animal.

The gun may be configured with a passage, hereinafter referred to as a barrel. The barrel may be configured with an inlet for receipt of a tablet and an outlet for passing of the tablet from the gun into the animal.

The barrel may be of a fixed length, or may be variable in length to accommodate different sizes of animals to be treated, for example bulls and calves. Different species of animals may also vary in size, which may require the gun to be adjusted to suit the species being treated.

This allows the user to direct the tablet more accurately to the desired site of administration, without, in the case of oral administration, the risk of trapping their hands in the mouth of the animal, or the animal ejecting the tablet prematurely.

Unlike the prior art, the length of the barrel is not dependent on the delivery action of the tablet to the animal. This allows the overall size of the delivery device to be smaller than conventional delivery systems. This allows the present invention to be used in confined spaces such as stables and stock races. The size of the delivery device also allows the device to be used on a variety of animals.

The chamber of the delivery device may be any aperture or compartment configured to hold at least one solid treatment. Preferably, the chamber may be provided with an outlet for the solid treatment to pass into the barrel.

The gun may be configured with an actuator, hereinafter referred to as the trigger. The trigger may have a relatively small range of movement, and can be actuated by individual finger movement only, rather than the whole hand of the user as is the case with the prior art. The small range of movement of the trigger reduces potential fatigue in the hand of the user.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the gun may be configured with a handle for ease of use. The trigger may or may not be incorporated into the handle.

The gun may be configured with a displacement means, which upon actuation of the trigger, applies a delivery force to displace the tablet from the chamber of the gun into the barrel to the outlet of the barrel and into the desired site of administration. The displacement means may be a piston, cylinder or plate.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the displacement member may be a burst of compressed gas.

In other embodiments of the present invention, the displacement member may be a hammer or similar impact member.

The gun may be configured to directly act upon the displacement member applying the delivery force to the solid treatment by actuation of the trigger. For example, the actuation of the trigger may release compressed gas directly onto the displacement member.

In other embodiments, the gun may be configured to indirectly act upon the displacement member via a linkage. For example, actuation of the trigger causes movement of the linkage thus releasing a coiled expansion or compression spring, or a synthetic resilient member, such as a rubber elastomer bung which displaces the tablet out of the chamber into the barrel.

In preferred embodiments, the delivery force is provided by a cylinder of gas which may be under pressure, and the actuation of the delivery force is achieved by a release of a burst of gas from said cylinder.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the linkage may be armed independently of the trigger. For example, the gun may include a lever on its housing to tension an expansion spring, which is released upon actuation by the trigger.

The rearming mechanism may be any mechanism by which the linkage is returned to an armed and primed state. When armed and primed, the delivery device is loaded and primed so that actuation of the trigger will cause displacement of the tablet from the chamber.

For example, the rearming mechanism may be a lever activated by the user following discharge of the table from the chamber to tension the linkage and return the displacement member to its armed state.

Alternatively, the rearming mechanism may be a cylinder of gas held under pressure which when released acts either directly upon the displacement member, or indirectly via the linkage, to return the displacement member to its armed state.

Following the rearming of the mechanism, a replacement tablet can be inserted into the chamber by the user or by other means. The delivery device is now ready for the user to treat another animal.

Preferably, the rearming mechanism is separate to and greater than the force applied to the trigger to the deliver the solid treatment. This is desirable as tablets should be delivered to the animal at low velocities, to ensure the animal is not harmed by the tablet.

However, the force required to return the displacement member to its pre-delivery state may be greater than is required to deliver the tablet. The prior art uses the recoil of the displacement member to rearm the delivery device. 14

As the energy of the displacement member is lost through sound, impact, and friction, the remaining energy may insufficient to rearm the delivery device. This is particularly problematic if minimal force was applied to the tablet in order to minimise the risk of injury to the animal during treatment. An independent source of energy to apply force to the linkage or displacement member after the tablet has been delivered overcomes this problem.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the trigger may have two separate ranges of movement. Actuation of the trigger to its first range of movement delivers the tablet to the animal. Further actuating of the trigger through its second range of movement rearms the delivery mechanism.

In other embodiments of the present invention, there may be two triggers, one for the delivery of the tablet and one for the rearming mechanism.

In yet another embodiment of the present invention, the rearming mechanism is activated automatically following the displacement of the tablet pass the outlet of the barrel of the delivery device. For example, the trigger may be depressed to release the tablet, held down as the gun is withdrawn from the animal's mouth and then released. The release of the trigger automatically rearms the gun.

The internal tracts of animals, such as the throat, is formed mostly from soft, delicate tissue. Care is required to ensure the force applied to the tablet is not excessive, otherwise the animal may be injured by the impact of the tablet in the area to be treated.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the gun may be fitted with a moderator to act against the displacement member. The moderator may be a spring, or a resilient member of a synthetic material, such as a rubber bung or o- rings along the interior of the length of the gun barrel. The moderator may also be a gas valve or similar member. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that other forms of moderators may be used.

The moderator reduces the force applied by the displacement member, if the force is higher than a preset parameter. This minimises the risk of possible internal injuries to the animal being treated, if the tablet is delivered with high amounts of force.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the gun may be configured with a container, hereinafter referred to as a magazine, which holds a reservoir of tablets. The magazine may be positioned above the chamber of the gun with a gravity feed, akin to a paintball gun.

Alternatively, the magazine may be positioned beneath or to the side of the inlet of the barrel, and utilise a spring or similar biasing member to feed tablets to the chamber. The use of a magazine greatly speeds up the administration of medicaments to a herd of animals, as the user does not need to halt between individual animals to reload the gun.

In yet another embodiment of the present invention, the gun may be configured with an aperture in the body or handle of the gun, to retain a clip of solid tablets akin to a pistol clip or revolver magazine.

The use of the present invention speeds up the treatment of animals.

After the tablet is administered to the animal, the rearming mechanism is activated by the user to apply force to the displacement member.

Following application of the rearming force, the displacement member is rearmed, ready to apply a delivery force to the displacement member to displace the tablet from the chamber of the gun to the animal to be treated.

The present invention allows the user to focus on the animals being treated, rather than the reloading and rearming of the delivery device.

The user can also ensure that the tablets are more accurately placed into the area being treated, for example, placing the tablet proximate to, or even into, the oesophagus, thus delivering the tablet to the rumen. This reduces the time the tablet spends in the mouth of the animal, and therefore minimizing the chance of the animal ejecting the tablet during dosage.

The force applied to the tablet is not excessive, and reduces the potential for the animal to be injured during delivery of the tablet.

Further minimizing the risk of injury to the animal while being treated, the tablet is configured with rounded edges that will not cause injury to the internals of the animal when being treated.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

Further aspects of the present invention will become apparent from the following description which is given by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a side view of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a side view of the interior of the present invention, and

Figure 3 is side views of two variants of a magazine for the present invention, and

Figure 4 is a side view of another variant of the present invention.

BEST MODES FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

With reference to the drawings there is provided in figure 1, a delivery device (generally indicated by arrow 1). The delivery device includes a body (2) with a handle (3) contoured to the hand of the user descending from the body (2).

The delivery device (1) is activated by depression of the trigger (4). To prevent accidental activation of the device, the trigger (4) is protected by a trigger, guard (5).

The delivery device (1) is provided with a magazine (6), which holds the tablets of medication or nutritional supplements (not shown), descending to the body (2). When activated by the trigger (4), the tablets pass from within the body (2) of the delivery device (1) out the barrel (7) and into the mouth of the animal (not shown) being treated.

A gas cylinder (8) provides a source of gas to rearm the delivery device following treatment of the animal. The gas cylinder (7) is secured to the rear of the body (2) by a screw fit mounting (9). Activation of the rearming mechanism is via a button (10) on the housing.

Turning now to figure 2, the interior of the body (generally indicated by arrow 2) of the delivery device is shown.

The trigger (4) is linked to an articulated arm (11), the terminus of which is a catch (12) extending into the chamber (13) of the gun. Displacement of the trigger (4) causes the arm (11) to release the catch (12).

Release of the catch allows the displacement member (14) to move into the chamber, thus moving the tablet (not shown) out of the chamber into the barrel (not shown). The displacement member is assisted by a tensioned expansion spring (15).

Depression of the button (10) results in gas exiting the gas cylinder (7) via the conduit (16) where it enters the chamber (13) holding the tablet (not shown). The resulting influx of gas into the chamber (12) forces the displacement member (13) back to its starting position, where it is held in place by the catch (11).

The next tablet can then drop into the chamber (13) via the magazine feed (16).

Figure 3 shows possible variations of the magazine. In 3A, the magazine (17) is mounted substantially vertically of the body (18) of the delivery device.

Gravity acts on the tablets (19) retained in the magazine, so they drop vertically into the chamber (not shown) of the delivery device. The magazine (17) is fitted with a lid (20) to retain the tablets (19) and to keep out moisture and detritus when in use.

In 3B, the magazine (21 ) is also mounted substantially vertically of the body (18) of the delivery device.

An expansion spring (22) acts on a plate (23) thus loading the tablets (24) retained within the magazine under tension.

As each tablet leaves the chamber (not shown), the spring (22) ensures the replacement of the tablet (24) in the chamber regardless of the orientation of the delivery device.

A variant of the present invention is depicted in figure 4. This variant of the delivery device (generally indicated by arrow 25) is intended for use with smaller animals.

The device is moulded with gripping portions for the user's fingers (26) and thumb (27). The device is activated by a button trigger (28) operable by the user's thumb.

The tablets to be dispensed (not shown) are retained in the magazine (29), which is positioned vertically above the chamber (not shown). Adjacent to the magazine is a gas cylinder (30) which when activated by button (31 ) allows passage of gas to the chamber (not shown) to return the displacement member (not shown) to its original position.

The interior (not shown) of the barrel (31) is threaded to allow fittings to be added, such as a taper barrel for use with small animals. The barrel is also threaded at its other end (36), to allow easy replacement of the barrel, and to permit access to the chamber (not shown).

Aspects of the present invention have been described by way of example only and it should be appreciated that modifications and additions may be made thereto without departing from the scope thereof as defined in the appended claims.

Claims

WHAT I/WE CLAIM IS

1. A delivery device for delivering a solid treatment into an orifice of an animal, the delivery device including:

a chamber for the solid treatment, and

an outlet for the solid treatment, and

a displacement means for the solid treatment, and

an actuator for activating a delivery force to be applied to the solid treatment via the displacement means to cause the solid treatment to exit the chamber through the outlet, and

a rearming mechanism configured to apply a rearming force to the displacement member, and

characterised in that

the delivery device is configured such that a rearming force applied to the rearming mechanism is separate to and greater than the delivery force.

2. A delivery device as claimed in claim 1 wherein the displacement means is a burst of compressed gas.

3. A delivery device as claimed in claim 2 wherein the delivery device includes a reservoir of compressed gas.

4. A delivery device as claimed in claim 1 wherein the displacement means is a piston.

5. A delivery device as claimed in claim 1 wherein the displacement means is a hammer.

6. A delivery device as claimed in claim 1 wherein the displacement means is a spring.

7. A delivery device as claimed any one of claims 1 to 6 wherein the rearming mechanism is activated by an actuator.

8. A delivery device as claimed in claim 7 wherein the displacement means and the rearming mechanism is activated by the same actuator.

9. A delivery device as claimed any one of claims 1 to 7 wherein the rearming mechanism is separate from the actuator.

10. A delivery device as claimed in any one of claims 7 to 9 wherein the actuator is configured with two ranges of movement.

11. A delivery device as claimed in claim 10 wherein a first range of movement of the actuator activates the displacement means, and a second range of movement of the actuator activates the rearming mechanism.

12. A delivery device as claimed in any one of claims 7 to 11 wherein the actuator is a trigger.

13. A delivery device as claimed any one of claims 1 to 12 wherein the rearming mechanism is a burst of compressed gas.

14. A delivery device as claimed in claim 13 wherein the delivery device includes a reservoir of compressed gas.

15. A delivery device as claimed any one of claims 1 to 12 wherein the rearming mechanism is a spring.

16. A delivery device as claimed any one of claims 1 to 15 wherein the delivery device includes a moderator.

17. A delivery device as claimed in claim 16 wherein the moderator is configured to act against the displacement member.

18. A delivery device as claimed in claim 16 or claim 17 wherein the moderator is a spring.

19. A delivery device as claimed in claim 16 or claim 17 wherein the moderator is an O-ring.

20. A delivery device as claimed any one of claims 1 to 19 wherein the delivery device includes a container for solid treatments.

21. A delivery device as claimed any one of claims 1 to 20 wherein the delivery device is a gun.

22. A method of delivering a solid treatment to a non-human animal, the method including the steps of:

(a) preparing a delivery device, wherein the delivery device includes a displacement member, by placing the displacement member into a predelivery position, and

(b) loading a delivery device with a solid treatment, and

(c) placing the outlet of the delivery device approximate to an orifice of the animal to be treated, and

(d) activating the delivery device to deliver the treatment through an orifice into the area to be treated by applying a delivery force to the displacement member to deliver the treatment into the orifice, and

(e) rearming the delivery device by applying a rearming force to the displacement member such that the displacement member returns to the pre-delivery position

(f) reloading the delivery device with a solid treatment,

wherein the rearming force is separate to and greater than the delivery force.

23. A delivery device substantially as described herein and with reference to the drawings.

24. A method of delivering a solid treatment to an animal substantially as described herein and with reference to the drawings.