Acupuncture Needle Delivery System with Removable Stabilization Sleeve
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing acupuncture needle delivery systems fail to adequately stabilize needles during insertion and manipulation, especially in horizontal or below orientations, and often interfere with post-insertion procedures like moxibustion and electrical stimulation, while also compromising sterility and increasing infection risk.
Innovation Solution
An acupuncture needle delivery system comprising a filiform shaft, an insertion tube, a stabilization sleeve slidably engaging the outer surface of the insertion tube, and retainer means for securing the needle, allowing optional stabilization and easy removal of the sleeve during treatment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If a grip element is added to stabilize the needle during insertion and manipulation, then needle stabilization is improved, but the device complexity increases and post-insertion procedures like moxibustion and electrical stimulation are interfered with
Solution Approach 1:
The delivery system is divided into distinct functional segments: an insertion tube for initial sterile insertion, a grip element for stabilization during manipulation, and a needle shaft for treatment. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function without interfering with others, resolving the contradiction between stabilization and procedural interference.
Solution Approach 2:
The grip element is designed to be dynamically removable or detachable from the insertion tube after the needle is set. This dynamic characteristic allows the system to transition from a stabilized insertion phase to an unrestricted manipulation phase, enabling both needle stabilization during insertion and unimpeded post-insertion procedures like moxibustion and electrical stimulation.
2Stability of the object's composition
If the practitioner stabilizes the needle shaft using fingers or cotton swab, then needle stabilization is improved, but sterility is compromised and infection risk increases
Solution Approach 1:
The grip element serves as an intermediary component between the practitioner's fingers and the sterile needle shaft. The practitioner grasps the non-sterile grip element rather than directly touching the needle, thereby maintaining sterility while achieving the necessary stabilization during insertion and manipulation.
3Reliability
If the insertion tube axial length is equal to or greater than the needle axial length, then sterility protection is improved, but the needle cannot be fully inserted or manipulated at target depth
Solution Approach 1:
The system separates the sterility protection function (insertion tube) from the full-length manipulation function (needle shaft). The insertion tube is intentionally shorter than the needle, allowing it to protect the proximal portion during insertion while leaving the distal portion of the needle exposed for full-depth manipulation and treatment at the target site.
4Measurement precision
If the needle thickness is reduced to 0.22 mm or less for delicate treatments, then treatment precision is improved, but needle bowing or bending increases during insertion and manipulation
Solution Approach 1:
The grip element acts as a stabilizing intermediary that the practitioner can grasp to control and stabilize thin, delicate needles during manipulation. This external support mechanism compensates for the reduced inherent stiffness of thin needles, enabling precise treatment with 0.22 mm or less needles without excessive bowing or bending.
Data Source
AI summary
An acupuncture needle and delivery system that facilitates the sanitary insertion and handling of the acupuncture needle in all orientations, and that does not impede the performance of the various post-insertion procedures of the sort commonly used by acupuncture practitioners. In a fully assembled pre-use state, the device includes an acupuncture needle having a filiform shaft and an enlarged head portion, an insertion tube accommodating at least the filiform shaft of the acupuncture needle to protect the filiform shaft from contamination, a stabilization sleeve slidably engaging the outer surface of the insertion tube, and retainer means for releasably securing the acupuncture needle within the insertion tube.