Angled Needle Fluid Dispenser for Compact Wearable Injection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing fluid dispensers for injecting medications into living organisms are cumbersome, bulky, lack accuracy, and are not suitable for long-term use, as they require significant space and are often too costly or unattractive for widespread use.
Innovation Solution
A compact fluid dispensing device with a needle that can be inserted at a non-orthogonal angle, housed in a flexible reservoir and triggered by a mechanism that allows for automatic injection, enabling minimal space usage and prolonged wear, with options for manual, automatic, or remote actuation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a conventional auto-injector is used with needle extending perpendicularly from skin, then injection function is achieved, but device becomes bulky and unattractive
Solution Approach 1:
The needle is configured to enter the skin at an angle between 10 to 80 degrees relative to the skin surface, rather than perpendicularly. This angular injection approach allows the device profile to be decoupled from the needle length, enabling a compact device design while maintaining effective subcutaneous injection capability
Solution Approach 2:
A flexible adhesive pad is used to secure the device to the patient's skin, allowing the device to maintain a low profile against the body surface while remaining stable during injection. The flexible nature of the adhesive pad accommodates the angled needle configuration without requiring a bulky housing
2Manufacturing precision
If needle enters orthogonally to skin surface, then injection depth is achieved, but device profile height must be at least needle length
Solution Approach 1:
By changing the needle entry angle from orthogonal to an angled configuration (10-80 degrees relative to skin surface), the device profile height is reduced to less than the needle length. The guide structure ensures precise angular orientation to achieve accurate subcutaneous injection depth while maintaining a compact device profile
Solution Approach 2:
A guide structure is introduced as an intermediary component that directs the needle at the specified angle relative to the skin surface. This guide ensures accurate injection depth and orientation without requiring the device housing to extend the full length of the needle, thus reducing overall device profile height
3Reliability
If conventional infusion set is used with perpendicular needle extension, then injection function is provided, but device becomes cumbersome and requires dedicated space
Solution Approach 1:
The device integrates the fluid reservoir, needle assembly, and actuation mechanism into a single compact unit with profile height less than the needle length. The angled needle configuration allows these components to be merged in a space-efficient arrangement while maintaining reliable automatic injection functionality
Solution Approach 2:
The angled needle entry configuration (10-80 degrees to skin surface) enables a compact device design by separating the injection function from the device profile height. This dimensional change allows the device to be worn on the body without requiring significant dedicated space
Data Source
AI summary
A fluid dispensing device is provided for dispensing a measured amount of fluid into a living organism. The device has a needle having a first end and a second end. The needle is adapted for interfacing, on the first end, with a septum of a flexible hollow membrane, and at a second end thereof, for subcutaneously inserting into a living organism. The needle is guided by a guide to permit an injection into the living organism at a substantially non-orthogonal angle with respect to a surface of the living organism. The first and second ends of the needle pierce their respective piercing surface while translating together in a common direction. In other embodiments, the dispensing device includes a main housing, a flexible fluid reservoir, an injection assembly and a trigger mechanism. The main housing houses the operative components of the device.