Subcutaneous implant kit

Claim 2

Apparatus for subcutaneously placing a medicinal implant beneath the skin through an incision made through the skin, comprising: an implanter for inserting the implant through the incision and for locating the implant beneath the surface of the skin and having a bore within which the implant is initially contained, including: a hollow main body portion forming a first part of the bore; and insertion means, connected to the main body portion to form a second part of the bore, and adapted to be inserted through the incision and beneath the skin, including: means for blunt dissecting cutaneous tissues when inserted beneath the skin through said incision; and a long, hollow, needle-like means, which is flexible along its entire length, for flexibly connecting the hollow main body portion to the blunt dissecting means so that the insertion means may flex along its entire length when inserted through said incision; and manually-activated means, located within the bore and operable when the insertion means has been inserted through an incision, for ejecting an implant out from the main body portion through said insertion means and into a location under the surface of the person's skin.

Claim 3

The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the first end of the insertion means includes a diagonally-cut, smoothly-polished end without a cutting.

Claim 4

The apparatus of claim 2 wherein the insertion means further includes means for determining the orientation of the diagonally-cut end.

Claim 5

The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the orientation-determining means is constructed so that the diagonally-cut end of the insertion means is inserted through the incision with the slant edge thereof facing towards the skin.

Claim 6

The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the means for ejecting includes a manually-operable plunger which is adapted to slide within said body portion and insertion means.

Claim 7

The apparatus of claim 5 wherein the implanter bore is long enough to contain a plurality of implants in and end-to-end relationship; and wherein the plunger has a portion which extends proximally beyond the main body portion, the plunger including one or more notches and an equal number of associated tabs which are engagable with the notches, the notches being located on the plunger so that said tabs when engaged with the associated notches will contact the body portion to prevent further distal movement of the plunger after one of the plurality of implants is located beneath the skin, the tabs being disengagable from the notch to allow a next implant to be located beneath the skin.

Claim 8

The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the insertion means is made of plastic.

Claim 9

A kit for subcutaneously placing a medicinal implant beneath the skin, comprising: cutter means for making an incision of a controlled length and depth in the skin; an implanter for inserting the implant through the incision and for locating the implant beneath the surface of the skin and having a bore within which the implant is initially contained, including; a hollow main body portion forming a first part of the bore; and insertion means, connected to the main body portion to form a second part of the bore and adapted to be inserted through the incision and beneath the skin, including: means for blunt dissecting cutaneous tissues when inserted beneath the skin through said incision: and a long, hollow, needle-like means which is flexible along its entire length, for flexibly connecting the hollow main body portion to the blunt dissecting means so that the insertion means may flex along its entire length when inserted through said incision; and manually-activated means, located within the bore and operable when the insertion means has been inserted through an incision, for ejecting an implant out from the main body portion through said insertion means and into a location under the surface of the person's skin.

Claim 10

A kit for subcutaneously placing a medicinal implant beneath the skin, comprising: cutter means for making an incision of a controlled length and depth in the skin; an implanter for inserting the implant through the incision and for locating the implant beneath the surface of the skin and having a bore within which the implant is initially contained, including; a hollow main body portion forming a first part of the bore; and insertion means, connected to the main body portion to form a second part of the bore and adapted to be inserted through the incision and beneath the skin, including: means for blunt dissecting cutaneous tissues when inserted beneath the skin through said incision: and a long, hollow, needle-like means which is flexible along its entire length, for flexibly connecting the hollow main body portion to the blunt dissecting means so that the insertion means may flex along its entire length when inserted through said incision; and manually-activated means, located within the bore and operable when the insertion means has been inserted through an incision, for ejecting an implant out from the main body portion through said insertion means and into a location under the surface of the person's skin.

Claim 11

The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the cutter means further includes means for limiting the incision to five millimeters or less.

Claim 12

The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the main body portion further includes means for containing within the hollow part thereof a plurality of elongate implants located in line with one another; and wherein the means for ejecting includes means for determining when each one of the plurality of implants has been completely ejected from the insertion means.

Claim 15

The method of claim 11 wherein said first end of the instrument has a diagonally-cut, smoothly polished end forming a bevel, and further including the step of: inserting the instrument into the incision with an orientation wherein the bevel faces the skin as it is inserted, and maintaining that orientation as the instrument blunt dissects the tissue beneath the skin surface.

Claim 16

The method of claim 11 further including the steps of; after the instrument has been retracted sufficiently far so that it no longer surrounds the implant, moving the instrument while maintaining it within the incision; blunt dissecting the tissue beneath the skin surface by again pushing the instrument through the cutaneous tissues as aforeside so as to locate the first end of the instrument at a second position generally alongside said first position; repeating the aforesaid steps of inserting an implant and retracting the instrument to locate a second implant at said second position.

Claim 17

The method of claim 13 wherein said step of moving the instrument after it has been retracted the first time includes the step of pivoting it about an axis perpendicular to the surface of the skin so that the implants at said first and second position are inserted in a fan-like pattern.