Automated Blood Viscosity Measurement via Robotic Injection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing blood viscosity measurement devices are inefficient due to manual operation, which leads to inconsistent measurements, prolonged work time, and increased risk of blood-borne infections. Additionally, these devices often have single gripper and measurement modules, making them prone to complete failure if one component malfunctions.
Innovation Solution
An automatic blood viscosity measurement device is designed with multiple modules for transferring and measuring blood samples, utilizing an automated robot system to perform the entire process from blood sample injection to mixing, suction, dispensing, and disposal. This device includes a housing with multiple units for blood sample mounting, preprocessing, transfer, viscosity measurement, kit mounting, and postprocessing, ensuring continuous operation even if a gripper or injection device fails.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If manual blood injection is performed through syringe, then the operator can control the injection process, but it is difficult to supply blood at a constant pressure and flow rate, resulting in inconsistent measurement conditions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the manual mechanical injection system with an automated injection system that uses a syringe mounted on a robotic arm. The robotic arm automatically positions and injects the syringe into the measurement tube, eliminating manual operation variability and ensuring consistent injection conditions for accurate viscosity measurements.
Solution Approach 2:
The injection system is designed to be self-regulating, where the syringe injection process is automatically controlled by the robotic system to maintain constant pressure and flow rate without requiring operator intervention. The system self-adjusts to provide consistent measurement conditions across multiple samples.
2Productivity
If manual blood injection is performed, then the operator can perform the measurement, but the work time is lengthened
Solution Approach 1:
The robotic system enables continuous measurement operations by automatically performing injection, measurement, and sample replacement without interruption. The robotic arm can continuously inject multiple syringes into measurement tubes and replace samples without the delays associated with manual operation, significantly reducing total work time while maintaining measurement speed.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If manual blood injection is performed, then the operator can perform the measurement, but the risk of blood-borne infection increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the operator from direct contact with blood samples by implementing an automated robotic injection system. The robotic arm performs all injection and sample handling operations, completely eliminating the operator's exposure to blood-borne pathogens while maintaining full measurement capability.
4Reliability
If only one gripper and measurement module is used, then the device structure is simple, but when the gripper module breaks down, the entire measurement device stops operating
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the measurement system into multiple independent modules, each with its own gripper and measurement capabilities. This modular architecture allows individual modules to operate independently, so if one module fails, others continue functioning. The robotic system can switch between multiple syringes and measurement tubes, ensuring continuous operation and improved reliability.
Data Source
AI summary
An automatic blood viscosity measurement device includes a housing having an open door; a blood sample mounting unit on which multiple blood collection tubes are mounted; a blood sample preprocessing unit that grips each of the multiple blood collection tubes, scans a gripped blood collection tube, and separates a blood collection tube cover mounted on the gripped blood collection tube; a blood sample transfer unit that moves the blood collection tube gripped by the blood sample preprocessing unit; and a blood viscosity measurement unit on which a blood viscosity measurement kit is mounted and which includes one or more channels for measuring viscosity of a blood sample injected into the blood viscosity measurement kit, and thus, there is an advantage of being able to measure viscosity of one or more blood samples simultaneously, resulting in reduced working time and improved ease of use.