What Is a Disposable Syringe?
A Disposable Syringe is a syringe made of resin such as polypropylene or polyethylene, which after use should be disposed of.
Disposable syringes are usually used and sold as a whole syringe product, except for the needle.
Usage of Disposable Syringe
The primary uses of disposable syringes are for injecting and measuring drugs in medicine, and measuring and injecting liquids in laboratory and analytical applications. In addition to liquids, disposable syringes may also be used for extracting gases and pressurizing sealed containers.
Disposable syringes are characterized by a low risk of contamination. For this reason, they are particularly useful in medical and chemical laboratory applications.
Principle of Disposable Syringe
A Disposable Syringe consists of a syringe cylinder, a plunger, and a gasket that ensures an airtight seal when the plunger is in motion. The plunger moves back and forth to change the internal volume, enabling suction and discharge of gases and liquids.
The gasket is often made of rubber or other soft material to make it airtight.
How to Select a Disposable Syringe
1. Material
In most cases, the syringe and plunger parts of a disposable syringe is made of resin, but the gasket that comes in contact with the contents is usually made of rubber to ensure an airtight seal. Since rubber is known as a material that often elutes components, it is necessary to consider the purpose of use and whether the use of rubber material is appropriate.
Recently, there are all-plastic products that do not use rubber materials for gaskets. As for plastic products, in addition to the common polypropylene, there are also fluoroplastic products for chemical experiments.
A wide variety of materials are used, and it is important to confirm that the material is suitable for the purpose of use when selecting a product.
2. Tip Shape
There are two typical types of tip shapes: luer-slip type and luer-lock type.
Luer-slip type
The luer-slip type has a tapered tip and is used by inserting the needle straight into the tip. This type is often used when the needle is replaced or when a tube or the like is connected to the tip of the needle.
Luer-lock type
The luer-lock type has a locking mechanism on the tip and can be firmly fixed by screwing in the injection needle. This type is used when measuring hazardous liquids that could be dangerous if the needle comes off.
Other shapes include the enema type used for connection to enemas and bladder cleansing tools, and the catheter tip type used for connection to a catheter.
3.Tip Position
There are two main types of cylinder tip positions: middle and side.
Middle Tip
The middle mouth is a shape in which the syringe tip extends from the center of the syringe, and is widely used mainly for small volume products.
Side Mouth
The horizontal syringe has a barrel tip extending from the circumference of the syringe, and is mainly used for products with large capacities. This is because it is easy to handle the needle even for large capacity syringes, there is no need to angle the syringe when injecting, and it is easier to vent a thick syringe by collecting the air in one place around the circumference.
4. Sterilization
Disposable Syringes sold for medical use are intended for use in injections and blood collection, and are sold sterilized.
Disposable Syringes for research and laboratory use are not sterilized according to their specifications, and should be selected according to the purpose.
Other Information on Disposable Syringes
Measuring Organic Solvents
When measuring organic solvents, it is necessary to check the solvent resistance of the syringe in advance because the resin may be altered. In addition, the resin component of the syringe and the plasticizer component of the resin may elute.
Therefore, it is preferable to examine in advance whether the use of the resin will interfere with the intended use. For these reasons, prior consideration is necessary when weighing organic solvents. For some types of organic solvents, glass syringes (non-disposable) must be used.