1. A syringe disposal device for a single syringe, the syringe having an elongate body with a needle at one end and a finger engageable flange at its other end, said device comprising:
an elongate enclosed sheath having a closed tip at one end and a syringe body receiving opening at the other end; and
a syringe retaining means located adjacent said syringe body receiving opening; wherein said sheath has a wall thickness, said wall thickness increasing from said syringe body receiving opening towards said closed tip.
2. The device as defined in claim 1 wherein the interior of said sheath is smooth and unstepped.
3. The device as defined in claim 2 wherein the tip of said sheath interior is substantially hemispherical.
4. A method of disposing of an individual syringe having a needle tip, said method comprising the steps of:
(i) inserting the needle tip of said syringe into an opening of a syringe disposal device for a single syringe, the syringe also having a finger engageable flange at its other end opposing the needle tip, the syringe disposal device also having an elongate enclosed sheath having a closed tip at the end opposing the opening and a syringe retaining means located adjacent said opening, wherein said elongate enclosed sheath has a wall thickness, said wall thickness increasing from said opening towards said closed tip;
(ii) continuing said insertion until said needle tip engages said sheath closed tip and is permanently deflected thereby; and
(iii) continuing said insertion until said finger engageable flange is engaged with said syringe retaining means.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A system for delivering one or more pulses of pressure to the larynx of a subject to elicit a laryngeal adductor reflex (LAR) in the subject, the subject having a larynx comprising left and right vocal folds (VFs), said system comprising:
a pressure pulsing component configured to provide a stable and adjustable pulse of pressure to the larynx,
a control system component in functional communication with the pressure pulsing component configured to control or regulate one or more of timing, magnitude and number of pulses of pressure delivered by the pressure pulsing component in one or more respiratory cycles, and,
a respiratory sensor component configured to detect or determine one or more physiological characteristics of the subject’s LAR response to the one or more pulses of pressure delivered.
2. The system of claim 1 wherein the control system component is in functional communication with the respiratory sensor unit and controls or regulates the detection or determination of the one or more physiological characteristics of the subject’s LAR response.
3. The system of claim 1 wherein the system is configured to provide the respiratory sensor unit the capacity to detect closing and opening activities of the VFs during the complete respiratory cycle.
4. The system of claim 1 wherein one or more of the pressure pulsing, control system and respiratory sensor components is automated.
5. The system of claim 1 further comprising an air catheter unit in communication with the pressure pulsing component configured to assist in delivering pressure pulses to the larynx of the subject.
6. The system of claim 1 wherein the control system component is configured to adjust for temporal variation in the subject’s LAR response.
7. The system of claim 4 wherein the control system component is configured to provide for automated delivery of pressure pulses in synchrony with one or more phases of the subject’s respiratory cycle.
8. The system of claim 1 wherein the pressure pulsing component comprises an air pressure source in the form of an air cylinder, air cartridge, or mini air cartridge.
9. A method for performing an LAR test on a subject, wherein the subject has a larynx comprising left and right vocal folds which undergo closure along the medial edge of the vocal folds or incomplete medialization along the edge (adduction), and re-opening of the vocals folds (abduction), the method comprising evoking an LAR response in the subject and determining one or more physiological measurements of duration, velocity, and angles of motion of the subject’s VFs during the LAR.
10. The method of claim 9 wherein the method further comprises determining the pressure threshold to evoke VF medialization (adduction).
11. The method of claim 9 wherein the method comprises determining one or more of adduction phase duration, glottic closure duration, VF abduction duration, total LAR duration, and LAR onset latency.
12. The method of claim 11 wherein the method comprises determining the subject’s VF adduction phase duration by establishing the time interval between the subject’s rest frame immediately preceding VF adduction through an end frame defined by either the vocal folds approximating along the entire medial edge or in case of incomplete VF medialization, the moment wherein maximal medialization occurs.
13. The method of claim 11 wherein the method comprises determining the subject’s complete glottic closure duration by determining the time interval that the VFs remain approximated along the entire medial edge during a LAR response or, in case of incomplete VF medialization, the time interval of the smallest glottal gap.
14. The method of claim 11 wherein the method comprises determining the subject’s VF abduction duration by determining the time interval between one frame preceding the emergence of a glottal gap between the medial edges of the VFs and a frame wherein the VFs reach maximum abduction prior to resuming a next rest breathing cycle, or in cases of VF abduction phase hesitation, in which a predetermined number of consecutive frames defining a hesitation is followed by additional abduction, the time interval through a predetermined frame of the VF abduction hesitation.
15. The method of claim 11 wherein the method comprises determining the subject’s LAR onset latency by determining the time interval from pressure pulse delivery to the start of the LAR response.
16. The method of claim 11 wherein the method comprises determining the subject’s total LAR duration by determining the duration of time between the VF adduction phase start frame and VF abduction phase end frame.
17. The method of claim 9 wherein the method further comprises eliciting a laryngeal adductor reflex (LAR) response in the subject by providing the subject with one or more stable and adjustable pulses of pressure from a pressure system component in functional communication with a control system component, detecting the subject’s LAR response using a respiratory sensor unit, and determining the one or more physiological characteristics of the subject’s LAR response to the pressure delivered.
18. The method of claim 9 wherein one or more of the pressure pulsing component, respiratory sensor component, and the control component is automated.
19. The method of claim 9 wherein the subject’s larynx comprises an arytenoid mucosa, aryepiglottic fold, or other mucosal target at the entrance of the larynx, and the method comprises:
delivering a series of air pulses by an air pulse system to the arytenoid mucosa, aryepiglottic fold, or other mucosal target at the laryngeal entrance of the subject through a working channel of an endoscope having a tip,
adjusting the tip of the endoscope to ensure an adequate viewing field, and
determining one or more LAR metrics selected from the group consisting of VF adduction phase duration, glottic closure duration, VF abduction duration, total LAR duration, and LAR onset latency.
20. The method of claim 9 wherein the method comprises determining the velocity or angles of motion of the subject’s VFs during the LAR.