Closed Sterile Medication Mixing System with Integrated Disinfection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional methods for mixing and administering medication agents often expose components to non-sterile environments, risking contamination and adverse reactions due to incompatibility or incorrect dosing, posing risks to both practitioners and patients.
Innovation Solution
A closed-system mixing and administration system that combines components within a sealed environment, using a syringe housing with a piston and valve configuration, and packaging that maintains sterility and prevents exposure to external contaminants, allowing for safe mixing and administration of medication agents.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional open mixing methods are used, then ease of operation is improved, but sterility and safety are compromised due to exposure to non-sterile environments
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a closed-system packaging that creates a sterile, controlled environment for mixing medication components. The system includes a syringe assembly with medication components sealed within a package, preventing exposure to non-sterile external environments while maintaining ease of use through straightforward assembly and mixing procedures designed to occur within the closed sterile package.
2Reliability
If closed-system packaging is used, then sterility and safety are improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent integrates multiple functions into a unified closed-system package: the syringe housing, medication components, mixing chamber, and sterile barrier are combined into a single integrated assembly. This merging reduces the number of separate components and assembly steps while maintaining the sterile environment, thereby improving reliability without excessively increasing complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system divides the medication delivery function into separate sterile components (first medication component, second medication component, diluent) that are independently packaged and then combined within the closed system. This segmentation allows each component to be sterilized and sealed separately, ensuring sterility while maintaining manageable complexity through modular design.
3Reliability
If multiple components are extracted and transferred separately, then compatibility and dosing accuracy can be verified, but exposure to non-sterile environments increases contamination risk
Solution Approach 1:
The patent pre-assembles and pre-verifies compatibility of medication components within the closed sterile package before use. The syringe housing, piston, valve assembly, and medication components are manufactured and configured together in a controlled environment, with compatibility checks performed during assembly. This preliminary action ensures dosing accuracy and compatibility verification while maintaining sterility, eliminating the need for separate extraction and transfer steps that would expose components to non-sterile environments.
Data Source
AI summary
A mixing and/or administration system may include a syringe housing, a piston coupled to the syringe housing and including a valve (e.g., a push-push valve), an extension housing coupled to the piston, a vial positioned within or coupled to an open end of the extension housing, and a flexible packaging surrounding at least a portion of the mixing and/or administration system. In examples, the packaging may be sealed to one or more portions of the mixing and/or administration system such as the syringe housing, the piston, the push-push valve, the extension housing, and/or the vial. In examples, the mixing and/or administration system may include a separate pouch coupled to the packaging containing at least one cap or cleaning device. A tear strip may be included to open the separate pouch.