Catheter Midstream Sample Collection Device
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Collecting uncontaminated urine samples, especially from female patients, is challenging due to vaginal secretions and bacterial contamination, which often renders the samples unusable for medical tests, particularly in pediatric, elderly, and obese populations.
Innovation Solution
A catheter device with a fluid conduit, waste channel, and flow control valve allows for the separation and discard of the initial contaminated flow, redirecting the subsequent urine into a sterile collection receptacle, thereby minimizing contamination and ensuring a clean sample collection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If urine is collected via catheterization, then sample collection is achieved, but contamination with vaginal secretions and bacteria occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The catheter is divided into separate functional segments: a first lumen for initial flow and a second lumen for sample collection. This segmentation allows the initial contaminated flow to be separated from the subsequent clean urine sample, resolving the contradiction between achieving sample collection and preventing contamination.
Solution Approach 2:
The initial flow of urine containing vaginal secretions and bacteria is extracted and discarded through the first lumen before the clean sample is collected through the second lumen. This extraction of the harmful initial flow eliminates contamination while maintaining reliable sample collection.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If washing/sterilization is performed on the urethral opening, then contamination is minimized, but the initial stream remains contaminated
Solution Approach 1:
The device performs preliminary action by directing the initial flow through a first lumen that is separate from the collection path. This preliminary flow carries away contaminants that remain despite washing, ensuring that the subsequent sample collected through the second lumen is clean and reliable.
3Reliability
If the initial flow is discarded, then contamination is removed, but sample collection volume is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The catheter's dual-lumen structure segments the urine flow into an initial discard portion and a collection portion. This segmentation enables complete separation of contaminants from the sample, ensuring adequate clean sample volume is collected in the second lumen while the first lumen handles only the initial flow.
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed herein are devices and methods for collecting samples of bodily fluid that may be substantially free of contamination, even where an initial amount of contamination may be present in a collection device, such as a urethral catheter. In the disclosed device and methods, the sample may be collected mid-stream, after an initial amount of fluid has flushed away the initial contamination. The disclosed devices may include a diverter device comprising a fluid control valve that may manually be moved between a first position and a second position that, respectively, direct fluid to two different channels and/or receptacles.