Handheld medical substance dispensing system, apparatus and methods

Abstract

Various handheld medical dispensing configurations and methods including the following: Handheld medical dispensing system comprises a syringe, which has a plunger, releasably mounted to syringe actuation apparatus, the apparatus having an actuator configured such that it can move the plunger more than once to dispense a plurality of amounts of substance from the syringe. A method of dispensing fluid from a syringe comprises holding a medical substance delivery system including a syringe, which has a needle, and which is secured to syringe actuation apparatus configured to dispense predetermined amounts of the substance from the syringe, penetrating the needle at one patient site and using the apparatus to deliver a predetermined amount of the substance, and penetrating the needle at another patient site and using the apparatus to deliver a predetermined amount of the substance.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A dispensing unit for use with a syringe, the syringe having a barrel, and a plunger slidable relative to the barrel to dispense substances located therein, the medical dispensing system comprising:
 a housing assembly being configured to secure the barrel of the plunger such that a distal end of the barrel is adjacent to a distal end of the housing assembly;   a drive mechanism coupled to the housing assembly, the drive mechanism comprising a plunger fitting that engages the plunger;   an actuator; and   a gear drive assembly being coupled between the plunger fitting and the actuator, the gear drive assembly being configured to move in response to movement of the actuator to produce movement of the plunger fitting in a first direction relative to the distal end of the housing and subsequently in a second direction that is opposite to the first direction.