Irreversible Plug Socket Mechanism for Dialysis Fluid Safety
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current medical fluid supply systems for extracorporeal and peritoneal dialysis lack effective mechanisms to prevent reuse of medical devices, potentially leading to the recirculation of used medical fluids, which compromises patient safety.
Innovation Solution
The system incorporates a plug unit with means for signaling two operating states, which are damaged or destroyed upon connection to a socket unit, ensuring that used medical fluid devices cannot be refilled or reused by rendering their information carriers unreadable, thus preventing re-use through a secure and irreversible mechanism.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a conventional plug unit and socket unit connection is used for medical fluid devices, then the device can be easily connected and disconnected for refilling, but the device can be reused which compromises patient safety
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-destroying the information carrier on the plug unit before the device is actually used. The information carrier is damaged during the connection process itself, preventing any future reuse detection. This ensures that the device can never be reused while maintaining easy connection operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements the disposable principle by making the information carrier on the plug unit a single-use component. The information carrier is intentionally designed to be destroyed during the first connection, rendering the plug unit unusable for any subsequent connections. This ensures patient safety by preventing reuse while keeping the overall device structure simple and cost-effective.
2Reliability
If an information carrier is used to track device usage, then reuse can be detected, but the information carrier can be damaged or lost before detection
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-destroying the information carrier during the connection process itself, rather than relying on detection after the fact. The information carrier is damaged as part of the normal connection operation, ensuring that reuse is prevented before any opportunity for contamination or damage can occur.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent converts the potential harm of information carrier damage into a benefit by intentionally designing the connection process to destroy the information carrier. This deliberate destruction prevents any future reuse, transforming what could be a failure mode (damage to tracking mechanism) into a safety feature (irreversible prevention of reuse).
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a medical treatment device (2), in particular an extracorporeal blood treatment device, comprising a socket unit (B) for connecting a plug unit (A) of a device (1) for providing a medical liquid for the medical treatment device, and to a device (3) for filling a device (1) for providing a medical liquid, comprising a socket unit (B') for the connection of a plug unit (A) of the device (1) for providing a medical fluid. The invention further relates to a device (1) for providing a medical liquid. The plug unit (A) of the device (1) for providing a medical liquid comprises means (86) for signaling two operating states, while the socket unit (B) of the treatment device (2) comprises means (88) for destroying the means (86) for signaling two operating states. When the plug unit (A) is connected to the socket unit (A), the means for signaling two operating states are destroyed in order to exclude the reuse of the device (1) for providing a medical liquid. The reuse of the device is prevented in that the device cannot be refilled with liquid.