Disposable Skin Piercing Assembly with Automatic Disabling Mechanism
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current drug delivery and sampling devices, such as needle lancets, often allow for re-use, pose infection risks, require complex operation, and have safety concerns due to exposed lancets and multiple disposal components.
Innovation Solution
A disposable assembly with a skin piercing element for actuator devices that includes a housing and a disabling mechanism to prevent re-use, ensuring the skin piercing element is safely housed and the device is rendered unusable after a single actuation, featuring a primary and secondary skin tensioning surface to reduce discomfort and penetration force.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If needle lancets are designed for re-use, then device complexity is reduced, but infection risk increases and safety concerns arise
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a disposable needle lancet assembly that is discarded after a single use. The housing, needle, and disabling mechanism are all integrated into a single-use unit that prevents re-use through automatic disabling, thereby eliminating infection risks associated with re-use while maintaining simple operation for the user.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the needle from the housing after use through an automatic disabling mechanism. The needle is pushed forward upon actuation and then retracted or locked in a safe position, separating the used needle from the housing for safe disposal, thus eliminating the harmful factor of exposed needles while maintaining operational simplicity.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If needle lancets are made disposable, then infection risk is reduced, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the disabling mechanism with the actuation mechanism itself. The same spring-driven system that propels the needle forward also triggers the disabling action (either retraction or locking) automatically upon completion of the piercing action, eliminating the need for separate disabling components and keeping the disposable assembly simple.
Solution Approach 2:
The disposable assembly performs its own disabling function automatically through the spring mechanism. After the needle is actuated, the spring automatically returns the needle to a retracted or locked position, or engages a disabling feature, without requiring additional user actions or complex control systems, thus maintaining simplicity while ensuring safety.
3Ease of operation
If skin piercing element is exposed for use, then ease of operation is improved, but safety concerns increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent positions the needle in a pre-loaded, ready-to-use state within the housing, but keeps it concealed and inactive until the moment of actuation. The spring is pre-compressed and the needle is positioned at the forward end of its travel, so that upon user activation, the needle is immediately propelled forward to pierce the skin, providing both ease of operation and safety by keeping the needle hidden until needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The needle is extracted from the housing only when needed for the piercing action, and then automatically returned or secured in a safe position. This temporary extraction provides the necessary ease of operation for skin penetration while the automatic retraction or locking mechanism eliminates the safety concern of exposed needles during handling and disposal.
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to devices used in the fields of drag delivery or sampling. More particularly, it relates to a disposable assembly which is fitted to an actuator device which causes the skin piercing element to enter the skin to deliver a drug (or other substance) or take a sample. Preferably the assembly is “made safe” after actuation, such that the disposable assembly can't be reused and more preferably still the skin piercing element is safely housed in the assembly such that it does not constitute a “sharps” risk.