Allergy Test Device with Compressible Pricking Tool
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing allergy testing devices cannot optimize the penetration depth of the needle to match the concentration of different allergens, leading to uneven skin contact and increased manufacturing complexity and cost.
Innovation Solution
A device with a container unit and pricking tool where the pricking tool is secured within a supporting material, allowing the penetration depth to be controlled by the properties of the supporting material, enabling easy optimization for various allergen concentrations without altering the device's structure, maintaining a flat skin contact surface and simplifying manufacturing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If the height of the ring shaped wall structure and/or the depth of the bottom wall of the allergen container are adjusted to optimize penetration depth for different allergen concentrations, then the penetration depth can be matched to allergen concentration, but the skin contact surface becomes highly uneven and the manufacturing process becomes complex and expensive
Solution Approach 1:
The device separates the penetration depth optimization function from the container structure by introducing a dedicated pricking tool with adjustable penetration depth. This allows each allergen container to use a standardized flat-bottomed structure while achieving different penetration depths through the removable pricking tool, thus resolving the contradiction between manufacturing precision and device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The pricking tool is designed to be removable and replaceable, allowing dynamic adjustment of penetration depth based on allergen concentration requirements. This dynamic configuration enables precise penetration depth matching without permanently modifying the container structure, maintaining manufacturing simplicity while achieving the desired precision.
2Manufacturing precision
If the height of the ring shaped wall structure and/or the depth of the bottom wall are adjusted for each allergen concentration, then the penetration depth is optimized, but the manufacturing cost increases due to the need to adapt device parameters for each concentration
Solution Approach 1:
A single standardized container design with a universal flat bottom serves multiple allergen concentrations. The pricking tool, which is removable and replaceable, provides the concentration-specific penetration depth adjustment. This universal container design simplifies manufacturing while the multi-functional pricking tool system maintains the ability to optimize for different concentrations.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of changing the physical dimensions of the container bottom for each concentration, the invention changes the parameter of the pricking tool (its length or angle) to achieve different penetration depths. This parameter change in the removable tool rather than the permanent container structure maintains manufacturing simplicity while achieving optimization.
3Ease of manufacture
If a standardized container structure is used for all allergen containers, then the manufacturing process is simplified and costs are reduced, but the penetration depth cannot be optimized to match different allergen concentrations
Solution Approach 1:
The pricking tool acts as an intermediary element between the standardized allergen container and the patient's skin. It mediates the interaction by providing the concentration-specific penetration depth function that the standardized container cannot provide alone, thus enabling both manufacturing simplicity and penetration depth optimization.
Solution Approach 2:
The penetration depth optimization function is extracted from the container structure itself and placed into a separate, removable pricking tool. This extraction allows the container to remain standardized for simple manufacturing while the extracted function is implemented in the flexible pricking tool that can be adapted to different concentration requirements.
4Device complexity
If the penetration depth is set to be identical for all allergen containers, then the device structure remains simple, but the skin response is not optimized for different allergen concentrations
Solution Approach 1:
The pricking tool is designed with dynamic adjustability, allowing the penetration depth to be changed based on the allergen concentration being tested. This dynamic capability enables the device to maintain simple structure when using a single pricking tool while achieving optimized skin response when different pricking tools are used for different concentrations.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables precise optimization of penetration depth for each allergen concentration, enhancing skin response and reducing manufacturing complexity and costs by allowing the use of generic container units with adaptable allergen containers.
Implementation Method 1
The supporting material is arranged, when a pressure force is applied on the second surface of the device, for being compressed thereby causing the pricking tool for being displaced from a first position, wherein at said first position the at least one pricking tip is at a first distance from the first surface, to a second position, wherein at said second position the at least one pricking tip is at a second distance from the first surface
Data Source
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AI summary
A device (10) for performing an allergy test comprising a container unit (11) having a first surface (12) and a second surface (13). The container unit (11) comprising a plurality of cavities (22) each arranged for receiving an allergen container (14) comprising a supporting material (18) and a pricking tool, which is secured at a location of the supporting material (18). The supporting material (18) is arranged, when a pressure force is applied on the second surface (13), for being compressed thereby causing the pricking tool (19) for being displaced from a first position (25), wherein at said first position the at least one pricking tip (24) is at a first distance from the first surface (12), to a second position (26), wherein at said second position (26) the at least one pricking tip (24) is at a second distance from the first surface (12).