Finger Inserts With Deformable Pads for Stable Nailfold Imaging
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current nailfold imaging devices face challenges with finger movement due to gaps between the finger and the device housing, leading to involuntary movement and poor imaging quality, and existing solutions either compromise on finger size compatibility or stability.
Innovation Solution
A finger insert with a deformable pad and variable geometry to accommodate different finger sizes, featuring a deformable pad to fill gaps and reduce trapped air, ensuring stable finger positioning and clear imaging.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the finger well is sized to accommodate different finger sizes, then adaptability is improved, but finger movement increases due to gaps between the finger and housing
Solution Approach 1:
A deformable pad is positioned on the first wall of the finger insert to flexibly fill the gap between the housing and the finger. The pad's flexibility allows it to adapt to different finger sizes while maintaining contact pressure to stabilize the finger during imaging, resolving the contradiction between adaptability and stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The deformable pad is configured to reduce trapped air in the liquid medium. By using a porous or air-releasing structure, the pad eliminates air bubbles that would otherwise interfere with optical imaging, while still maintaining the flexible gap-filling function for different finger sizes.
2Stability of the object's composition
If the finger well is under-sized to reduce finger movement, then finger stability is improved, but the range of finger sizes that can be accommodated is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The finger insert employs a dynamic deformable pad that can change its shape and volume to accommodate different finger sizes. The pad deforms under finger pressure to fill gaps and provide stabilization, allowing a single insert design to adapt to various finger dimensions while maintaining stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The deformable pad changes its physical parameters (shape, volume, density) in response to finger insertion. This parameter change allows the pad to optimize its gap-filling and stabilizing function for each specific finger size, resolving the contradiction between stability and adaptability.
3Manufacturing precision
If a rigid housing is used to provide structural support, then manufacturing precision is improved, but trapped air in the liquid medium increases due to gaps
Solution Approach 1:
The deformable pad acts as an intermediary element between the rigid housing and the finger. It fills the gaps created by the precision housing, preventing air entrapment in the liquid medium while preserving the manufacturing precision benefits of the rigid structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The deformable pad's porous or air-permeable structure allows it to absorb or release trapped air during finger insertion and movement, eliminating air bubbles that would interfere with optical imaging while maintaining the rigid housing's structural integrity.
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
The finger insert stabilizes the finger during imaging, reducing involuntary movement and improving imaging quality by minimizing air bubbles, thus enhancing the accuracy of nailfold analysis.
Implementation Method 1
a deformable pad positioned on at least a portion of the first wall, to form an open-pore structure that fills a gap between the first wall and the finger of the user when the finger is inserted into the finger insert, and to reduce trapped air in the liquid
Implementation Method 2
The housing includes a first wall and a second wall, with the second wall being optically transparent to facilitate imaging of the nailfold of the finger
Implementation Method 3
The housing holds a liquid to facilitate imaging of a nailfold of the finger of the subject, such that at least the distal phalange of the finger is immersed in the liquid when the liquid is present in the finger insert
Data Source
AI summary
A finger insert for use with a nailfold imaging device includes a housing to receive the user's finger and an immersion substance (e.g., immersion oil), and a deformable pad that holds the user's finger in place during imaging, as well as prevent bubble formation in the substance. The housing includes a transparent wall to facilitate imaging of the finger. The transparent wall includes multiple angled portions that prevent or reduce contact between the nailfold and the wall, to ensure sufficient blood flow through the nailfold region for imaging.