A syringe (10) for drawing blood from a patient, the syringe having a barrel (12) with a restricted free end (12a) and a needle assembly (14) releasably secured to the restricted free end. A plunger (16) is inserted into the barrel through an opposed end (12b), and retraction of the plunger within the barrel, away from the restricted free end, is effective to withdraw blood from the patient when a needle (14a) with a sharpened free end of the needle assembly is appropriately inserted into the patient. The syringe 10 is also provided with an annular needle guard (18) that surrounds the barrel and is slidable with respect thereto between a first position, in which the needle guard does not surround the needle, and a second position, in which the needle guard does surround the needle, to prevent the tip of the needle from injuring a person handling the syringe during times when the syringe is not being used to withdraw blood from a patient. The needle guard is made from a semi-rigid, transparent organic material, and has a diametrically opposed pair of inwardly extending projections (18a) that engage a diametrically opposed pair of outwardly facing recesses (14a) in the needle assembly when the needle guard is in its first position to prevent it from inadvertently moving to its second position. Hand squeezing of the needle guard along an axis extending perpendicularly to an axis between the projections is effective to disengage the projections and recesses, whereupon relative motion can occur between the barrel and the needle guard.

A method of prefilling and terminally sterilizing a syringe including providing a syringe barrel having first and second opposite ends where the first end includes a port therethrough with a connector member formed about an exterior of the port and the second end being open. Particulate matter is removed from the interior of the syringe barrel and a cap and stopper are sterilized, the stopper including first and second opposite longitudinal ends. The first end of the stopper is inserted into the second open end of the syringe barrel until the first end of the stopper reaches the first end of the syringe barrel. The syringe barrel then is filled with a desired liquid, such as a medicament or imaging agent, through the port of the first end of the syringe barrel so that substantially no air enters the syringe barrel and where the stopper moves within the syringe barrel from the first to the second ends thereof upon filling. The cap then is connected to the connector member of the first end of the syringe barrel to seal the port and then the syringe barrel, stopper, luer cap and liquid within the syringe barrel are terminally sterilized in a autoclave having a spray over-pressure cycle which maintains pressure about the exterior of the syringe barrel at least equal to the pressure within the interior of the syringe barrel.

A lockable safety shield for a prefillable syringe is provided. The design of the lockable safety shield enhances pharmaceutical manufacturers' ease of assembling the various components as part of its filling or processing of the prefillable syringes in normal practice. A collar is attachable to the distal hub of the prefillable syringe. A safety shield is axially slidable over the collar between a retracted position, wherein the distal end of the piercing element associated with the prefillable syringe is exposed, and an extended position, wherein the safety shield is locked to the collar to protectively cover the distal end of the piercing element. The safety shield includes locking structure configured so that the shield, as supplied to the pharmaceutical manufacturer, can be easily fitted to the syringe. The locking structure includes at least one deflectable arm provided on the body of the shield. The deflectable arm includes a proximal end deflectable towards the interior of the shield. A stop member is provided on the interior of a shield in spaced relation to the proximal end of the deflectable arm. A ring is axially slidable over the shield to deflect the arm towards the interior of the shield to activate the locking structure. The safety shield is slid distally by an end user such that the collar is lockingly retained between the stop member and the proximal end of the deflectable arm. The collar, the stop member, and the deflectable arm may be configured to provide tactile as well as audible indication of locking to the end user.

An injection-type needle unit and injection needle protector that comprises an injection needle unit body; an injection needle carried by the body and having a tip to penetrate flesh; a tip protector carried by the needle to move between a relatively retracted position spaced from the tip, and a relatively extended position shielding the tip; and restrictor structure carried by the body to prevent relative displacement of the protector from extended position to a position that would expose the tip.

A flash chamber having a self-closing valve for use with a catheter is described. The flash chamber, which is connected to the catheter, precludes blood leakage as a needle is removed from the catheter and an IV unit is coupled to the catheter. The flash chamber permits the practitioner to visually verify that a blood vessel has been punctured and includes a self-sealing valve that prevents blood from flowing out of the flash chamber as the needle is removed and the IV unit is attached.