Blood Cuvette with Segmented Chambers and Capillary Intake
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing cuvettes for fluid sample collection and analysis, particularly for blood samples, are not easily handled by users with reduced dexterity or coordination, and they often fail to gather and analyze the entire sample reliably.
Innovation Solution
A cuvette design featuring a collection chamber with a planar interface to a retention chamber, where blood is drawn in by capillary action and stops at the interface due to surface tension, with communication passages and an analysis chamber for efficient sample transfer and analysis, and protrusions for improved handling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the cuvette uses a conventional single-chamber design, then the structure is simple, but the sample collection and analysis reliability is poor
Solution Approach 1:
The cuvette is divided into three distinct chambers: collection chamber (for sample intake via capillary action), retention chamber (for holding the sample), and analysis chamber (for optical analysis). This segmentation allows each chamber to perform its specific function optimally, improving sample collection and analysis reliability while maintaining a manageable structure through clear functional division.
2Ease of operation
If the cuvette is designed without handling features, then the manufacturing is simple, but the ease of operation is poor for users with reduced dexterity
Solution Approach 1:
The cuvette includes pre-formed handling features such as protrusions or grip areas on the body. These features are built into the cuvette structure during manufacturing, providing ergonomic grip points that assist users with reduced dexterity. The features are positioned to naturally guide the user's fingers, making the cuvette easier to pick up, hold, and insert into the analysis device without requiring complex external accessories.
3Quantity of substance
If the collection chamber has variable depth, then the sample gathering capacity is improved, but the manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The collection chamber features a planar bottom surface with a specific depth designed to hold the appropriate sample volume. The retention chamber has a greater depth than the collection chamber, and the analysis chamber has controlled dimensions. This localized depth variation in specific regions achieves optimal sample gathering capacity while maintaining manufacturability, as the depth changes are confined to specific chambers rather than requiring complex variable depth throughout the entire cuvette.
4Extent of automation
If the cuvette uses capillary action for sample intake, then the automation is improved, but the control over sample volume precision is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The cuvette utilizes capillary action, a natural physical phenomenon, to automatically draw the blood sample into the collection chamber through the ingress aperture. The collection chamber is designed with specific dimensions and surface properties that replicate the capillary effect, allowing automatic sample intake without mechanical pumps or valves. The planar bottom and controlled chamber dimensions ensure that the capillary action fills the chamber to the appropriate volume, achieving both automation and volume control.
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
The cuvette design allows for easy and reliable collection and analysis of blood samples, even by users with reduced dexterity, ensuring the entire sample is processed without leakage or loss, and facilitates accurate optical analysis.
Implementation Method 1
when the ingress aperture is touched to a blood sample, blood is drawn into the collection chamber through capillary action
Implementation Method 2
blood is drawn in by capillary action and stops at the interface due to surface tension
Data Source
AI summary
A cuvette for collecting a blood sample, the cuvette comprising: a main body; a collection aperture formed within the main body; an ingress aperture, allowing communication between a first end of the collection aperture and an exterior of the cuvette; and a retention chamber formed within the main body and adjacent a second end of the collection chamber, which is generally opposite the first end thereof, wherein: the collection chamber has a first depth, which is the same or substantially the same across the collection chamber, from the first end to the second end thereof; and the retention chamber has a second, greater depth.