Dental Impression Shipping Container with Imaging-Compatible Support
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for shipping dental impressions often result in distortion and damage due to inadequate packaging, require harsh chemical disinfection, and pose biohazard handling risks, leading to labor-intensive and costly processes.
Innovation Solution
A shipping container with internal supports that maintain a standardized orientation of dental impressions, allowing for non-invasive imaging without opening the container, using materials that do not interfere with imaging technologies and reducing the need for chemical disinfection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional wrapping materials and small shipping containers are used, then the packaging is simple and easy to manufacture, but the dental impression is distorted and damaged during transit
Solution Approach 1:
The packaging system is divided into multiple functional components: an outer shipping container, an inner impression tray, cushioning materials, and a support structure with positioning elements. Each component serves a specific protective function, collectively ensuring the dental impression arrives undamaged while maintaining manageable complexity through modular design
Solution Approach 2:
Cushioning materials are pre-positioned between the dental impression and the shipping container walls before shipping. This beforehand cushioning prevents direct contact and potential damage during transit, addressing the reliability concern while the cushioning materials themselves remain simple to implement
2Productivity
If the shipping container is made small to reduce shipping costs, then shipping efficiency improves, but the impression is compressed and distorted
Solution Approach 1:
The support structure with positioning elements is pre-configured in the shipping container before the dental impression is placed inside. This preliminary action ensures that the impression is held in the correct orientation and spacing from the container walls, preventing compression and distortion while allowing the use of compact shipping containers for improved shipping efficiency
Solution Approach 2:
The support structure provides localized support and positioning at critical areas of the dental impression, such as the heel area, rather than requiring uniform spacing throughout the entire container. This allows the shipping container to be optimally sized for efficiency while maintaining impression accuracy through targeted local support
3Object-affected harmful factors
If the impression is disinfected with harsh chemicals at the laboratory, then biohazard risks are reduced, but technician labor and exposure to harmful chemicals increase
Solution Approach 1:
The dental impression is disinfected with chemical disinfectant before being placed in the shipping container, rather than after receipt at the laboratory. This preliminary disinfection action eliminates biohazards before shipping, reducing the need for harsh chemical treatment at the laboratory and thereby reducing technician labor and chemical exposure while still achieving effective biohazard reduction
Solution Approach 2:
The shipping container serves as an intermediary that transports not only the dental impression but also the disinfectant residue that provides ongoing protection during transit. This intermediary approach maintains biohazard reduction without requiring additional chemical treatment at the receiving laboratory
4Measurement precision
If the impression is imaged after opening the shipping container and handling, then imaging quality can be ensured, but the process requires substantial technician labor and time
Solution Approach 1:
The support structure with positioning elements is pre-configured in the shipping container to hold the dental impression in the optimal orientation for imaging. This preliminary positioning action eliminates the need for manual repositioning and handling at the laboratory, maintaining imaging quality while significantly reducing technician labor and processing time
Solution Approach 2:
The shipping container, support structure, and positioning elements are combined into an integrated system that maintains the dental impression in the correct imaging orientation throughout transit. This merging of functions allows the impression to be imaged directly upon receipt without separate handling and repositioning steps, reducing time loss while ensuring imaging quality
Data Source
AI summary
A shipping container that is configured to store, protect, and transport a dental impression is disclosed. The shipping container includes an exterior surface that encloses an interior area; a support located within the interior area that is configured to receive an impression tray that includes a patient's dental impression; and a means attached to or integrally formed with the support that is configured to hold the impression tray in place on the support and to position the impression tray in a standardized orientation. The shipping container, including its exterior surface and internal support(s), are made of a material that will not interfere with a selected non-invasive imaging scan. The shipping container is configured and used to obtain a digital scan of the dental impression, without the need to open the shipping container or directly handle the dental impression.