Form-Fitting Catheter Packaging for Sterilization and Space Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current packaging systems for terminally sterilized medical devices, particularly long catheters, suffer from significant wasted space due to non-form-fitting designs, leading to increased shipping and storage requirements.
Innovation Solution
The development of form-fitting packaging containers with a hollow body and supports that closely conform to the shape of the catheter, providing stability and protection during transport and storage, using materials compatible with sterilization processes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If traditional backer cards, trays, and Tyvek-backed pouches are used for packaging catheters, then the packaging provides basic protection and sterilization capability, but significant wasted space occurs leading to increased shipping and storage requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The catheter is inserted through the central opening of the support structure, allowing the support to be nested within the hollow body while the catheter occupies the central space. This nested arrangement ensures the catheter is securely positioned within the form-fitting container, eliminating wasted space while maintaining protection and sterilization capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The packaging design transitions from traditional rigid backer card structures to a form-fitting hollow body with integrated supports. This parameter change in structural geometry allows the packaging to conform precisely to the catheter's shape and size, significantly reducing wasted packaging volume while maintaining protective functions.
2Volume of moving object
If form-fitting packaging containers with supports are used to reduce packaging volume, then shipping and storage space is reduced, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The support structure is merged with the hollow body as an integrated component rather than separate elements. The supports are positioned within the hollow body to define the central opening, combining structural support and form-fitting functions into a unified packaging assembly that reduces volume without proportionally increasing complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The hollow body with integrated supports serves multiple functions simultaneously: it provides structural containment, defines the central opening for catheter insertion, offers protection during transport, and maintains sterilization capability. This multi-functionality reduces the need for additional separate packaging components.
3Volume of moving object
If the packaging container is designed to closely conform to the catheter shape, then packaging volume is reduced and protection is improved, but manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The packaging structure is segmented into distinct functional elements: the hollow body providing external containment and the supports providing internal structural definition. This segmentation allows each component to be manufactured with appropriate precision for its specific function, reducing the overall manufacturing precision burden compared to a monolithic form-fitting design.
Solution Approach 2:
The packaging design applies local quality by providing form-fitting precision only where necessary - in the hollow body's external contours and the supports' central opening geometry - while allowing simpler construction in other areas. This localized approach to precision reduces overall manufacturing difficulty while achieving volume reduction and protection goals.
Data Source
AI summary
In one aspect, a form-fitting packaging container for a catheter includes a hollow body and a plurality of supports disposed in the hollow body. The plurality of supports define a central opening configured to receive the catheter. The central opening is concentric with the hollow body. In another aspect, method of assembling a form-fitting packaging container for a catheter includes providing a hollow body, providing a plurality of supports in the hollow body, where each support defines a central opening; and inserting a catheter through the central openings of the plurality of supports.