Displaceable Plug Blood Sampling Device for Contaminant Sequestration
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current blood culture collection methods suffer from high contamination rates due to improper sampling techniques, leading to false positive results and increased healthcare costs, with existing solutions either causing hemolysis or extending fill times, and requiring complex mechanical parts that can be difficult to manage.
Innovation Solution
A non-venting bodily fluid sample optimization device with a fluid sample optimization system that includes a contaminant containment reservoir with an air-permeable fluid resistor and a displaceable plug, allowing initial contaminants to be sequestered while subsequent blood samples are collected without mechanical moving parts, ensuring reduced contamination and efficient sampling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If forceful aspiration or very small hypodermic needle is used to collect blood sample, then blood flow rate is improved, but hemolysis occurs and potassium is released rendering blood samples abnormal
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a displaceable plug that dynamically adjusts the fluid pathway based on pressure differential. When blood pressure exceeds a predetermined threshold, the plug automatically displaces to redirect flow, preventing excessive suction force that would cause hemolysis while maintaining adequate flow rate during normal conditions.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces complex mechanical valves or pumps with a passive pressure-responsive displaceable plug system. The plug responds automatically to pressure differentials without requiring external control mechanisms, simplifying the system while preventing hemolysis through inherent pressure regulation.
2Loss of time
If vacuum pressure is applied to draw blood sample quickly, then sampling time is reduced, but vein collapse occurs in patients with delicate veins
Solution Approach 1:
The displaceable plug creates a dynamic flow control system that adapts to varying blood pressures. In patients with delicate veins, the plug prevents excessive vacuum transmission by redirecting flow when pressure thresholds are exceeded, maintaining vein integrity while still enabling efficient sampling in patients with robust circulation.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the effective vacuum pressure parameter transmitted to the vein based on real-time pressure conditions. The displaceable plug modulates the vacuum pressure dynamically, allowing high flow rates when veins can withstand it, while automatically reducing pressure transmission when veins are delicate, thus preventing collapse.
3Adaptability or versatility
If complex mechanical parts are used in blood collection device, then functionality is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates and devices are difficult to manage
Solution Approach 1:
The displaceable plug system is self-regulating and requires no external control or complex mechanical actuation. The plug automatically responds to pressure differentials, enabling the device to manage its own flow control without requiring the operator to manipulate multiple components, thus maintaining high functionality while simplifying operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the complex valve control mechanism and replaces it with a simple displaceable plug that passively responds to pressure. This removal of unnecessary mechanical complexity maintains the essential flow control functionality while dramatically improving ease of operation and reducing the learning curve for healthcare providers.
4Productivity
If initial blood sample is collected without filtration, then collection speed is maintained, but contamination rate increases leading to false positive results
Solution Approach 1:
The device performs preliminary filtration of the initial blood sample through the displaceable plug mechanism before the sample enters the culture bottle. The plug redirects the initial portion of blood flow through a filtration pathway, removing contaminants while maintaining overall collection speed, thus preventing false positives without significantly delaying diagnosis.
Solution Approach 2:
The blood collection process is segmented into different pathways: an initial filtration pathway through the displaceable plug for the first portion of blood, and a direct pathway for subsequent blood. This segmentation allows contamination removal during the critical initial collection phase while maintaining efficient overall sampling throughput.
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 system effectively reduces contamination in blood samples, minimizing false positive results and improving the efficiency of blood culture collection by using a simple, reliable mechanism that does not require complex mechanical parts, thereby enhancing patient care and reducing healthcare costs.
Implementation Method 1
The contaminant containment reservoir has an air permeable fluid resistor proximate the outlet
Implementation Method 2
subsequent portions of the fluid sample can be conveyed by the sample path from the inlet to the outlet when subsequent pressure differentials are applied between the inlet and the outlet
Data Source
AI summary
A fluid sample optimization device for optimizing a fluid sample collected by a fluid collection device from a fluid source, where a first portion of the fluid sample potentially has contaminants. The device includes an inlet configured to connect with the fluid source, an outlet configured to connect with the fluid collection device, a sample path connected between the inlet and the outlet, and a contaminant containment reservoir connected between the inlet and the outlet. The contaminant containment reservoir has an air permeable fluid resistor proximate the outlet, and is arranged to receive the first portion of the fluid sample from the fluid source to displace air therein, such that upon receipt of the first portion of the fluid sample and containment of the contaminants in the contaminant containment reservoir, subsequent portions of the fluid sample are conveyed by the sample path from the inlet to the outlet when subsequent pressure differentials are applied between the inlet and the outlet. The fluid sample optimization device can further include a displaceable plug between the inlet and the sample path, that can be displaced by the subsequent pressure differentials to allow the subsequent portions of the fluid to be conveyed through the sample path.