Blood Sequestration Chamber for Contamination-Free Sampling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Blood culture contamination leads to false positive results due to improper sampling techniques, vein collapse, and user variability in disinfection, increasing healthcare costs and patient anxiety.
Innovation Solution
A blood sequestration device with an inlet port, outlet port, and a sequestration chamber featuring an air permeable blood barrier, which passively uses patient blood pressure to sequester the initial aliquot of blood in the chamber, preventing contamination from entering the sample collection tube.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional blood collection methods are used, then the sampling process is simple and quick, but contamination occurs due to improper skin antisepsis, coring of skin by needle, and user variability
Solution Approach 1:
The blood sample collection system is segmented into multiple functional components: a sequestration chamber to capture contaminants, a sampling channel for clean blood retrieval, and an air permeable blood barrier to prevent external contamination. This segmentation allows each component to address specific contamination sources while maintaining overall system reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The sequestration chamber acts as an intermediary element between the needle and the sampling channel. It captures contaminants from the initial blood draw (coring, skin antisepsis residues) and prevents them from reaching the sampling channel, thereby ensuring blood sample purity without requiring complex user actions.
2Productivity
If vacuum is applied to facilitate blood draw, then blood flow is improved, but vein collapse occurs in patients with delicate veins
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts the vacuum application process. The sequestration chamber is initially evacuated to create a pressure gradient for efficient blood draw, but the air permeable blood barrier dynamically responds to blood flow, allowing air to enter and equalize pressure when the vein is at risk of collapse, thereby preventing vein collapse while maintaining draw efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The air permeable blood barrier provides self-regulating pressure equalization. When blood flow increases or vein collapse is detected, the barrier automatically allows air to pass through to equalize pressure, eliminating the need for external monitoring or manual intervention to prevent vein collapse.
3Speed
If forceful aspiration is used to draw blood, then blood flow rate increases, but red blood cell lysis and potassium release occur
Solution Approach 1:
The sequestration chamber serves as an intermediary buffer between the high-speed blood draw and the sampling channel. Contaminants and excess blood from forceful aspiration are captured in this chamber, preventing direct contact with the sampling channel and thereby reducing cell lysis and potassium release in the final sample.
Solution Approach 2:
The sequestration chamber extracts and removes contaminants, excess blood, and potentially lysed cells from the blood flow path. By taking out these harmful elements before the blood reaches the sampling channel, the system maintains high flow rates while preventing cell lysis-related contamination.
4Measurement precision
If multiple blood culture bottles are used to detect pathogens, then detection sensitivity improves, but contamination risk and healthcare costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The air permeable blood barrier acts as a protective intermediary for all blood culture bottles. It prevents external contaminants from entering the blood sample, thereby reducing false positives while maintaining the sensitivity needed to detect true pathogens across multiple bottles.
Solution Approach 2:
The system provides self-protecting blood samples that automatically prevent contamination through the air permeable blood barrier and sequestration chamber design. This self-service approach eliminates the need for additional protective measures or complex sampling procedures, reducing both contamination risk and healthcare costs while maintaining detection sensitivity.
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
Reduces blood culture contamination by eliminating user variability and vein collapse, ensuring uncontaminated samples are collected without additional user steps, thereby reducing false positive results and healthcare costs.
Implementation Method 1
a sequestration chamber connected with the inlet port, the sequestration chamber having a vent comprising an air permeable blood barrier
Data Source
AI summary
Blood sample optimization systems and methods are described that reduce or eliminate contaminates in collected blood samples, which in turn reduces or eliminates false positive readings in blood cultures or other testing of collected blood samples. A blood sample optimization system can include a blood sequestration device located between a patient needle and a sample needle. The blood sequestration device can include a sequestration chamber for sequestering an initial, potentially contaminated aliquot of blood, and may further include a sampling channel that bypasses the sequestration chamber to convey likely uncontaminated blood between the patient needle and the sample needle after the initial aliquot of blood is sequestered in the sequestration chamber.