Divergent Fluid Injector Prevents Adhesive Clogging
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional fluid injectors are prone to obstruction due to upstream mixing and premature coagulation of adhesive reagents, leading to potential 'bottle neck' blockages and the risk of expelling a projectile during medical procedures.
Innovation Solution
A fluid mixing and delivery system featuring a fluid injector with a divergent common canal and angled fluid intake channels, creating a Per de Lavel nozzle and Venturi effect to prevent backflow and ensure free expulsion of the adhesive mixture without clogging.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If a relatively large or wide mixing chamber is joined to a smaller diameter canal or catheter, then mixing of adhesive components occurs in the chamber, but coagulated or semi-coagulated adhesive reagents clog the narrow canal or catheter causing a 'bottle neck' obstruction
Solution Approach 1:
The patent inverts the conventional design by making the common canal wider than the individual canals. This reversal prevents the 'bottle neck' effect by ensuring that the mixing chamber has adequate width relative to the canals, allowing coagulated adhesive to flow freely without obstruction while maintaining reliable delivery
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the dimensional parameters of the canals, specifically making the common canal diameter larger than the individual canal diameters. This parameter adjustment resolves the contradiction by providing sufficient space for mixed adhesive flow while preventing clogging in the delivery path
2Productivity
If increased pressure is applied to push viscous semi-coagulated or coagulated adhesive mixture through the narrow exit tip, then obstruction is cleared, but a hard projectile is ejected which is dangerous in medical environments
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary action by designing the canal dimensions to prevent obstruction formation in the first place. The wider common canal and appropriately sized exit tip are configured to maintain free flow of coagulated adhesive without requiring high pressure, thereby preventing projectile ejection before it can occur
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the exit tip diameter parameter to be appropriately sized relative to the common canal, preventing the formation of dangerous pressure conditions that would lead to projectile ejection while still enabling effective adhesive delivery
3Device complexity
If the common canal has a constant diameter, then structural simplicity is maintained, but resistance to out flow and retrograde back flow causes upstream coagulation and obstruction of the injector
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the dynamics principle by making the common canal diameter variable rather than constant. The canal transitions from a narrower section near the individual canals to a wider section at the exit tip, creating a tapered geometry that dynamically adapts to the flow characteristics of the coagulating adhesive mixture, preventing both outflow resistance and backflow
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 prevents upstream coagulation and injector obstruction, allowing for the free expulsion of the adhesive mixture without the risk of 'bottle neck' blockages or projectile ejection, thereby ensuring safe and reliable delivery of biomedical glue in medical procedures.
Implementation Method 1
The common canal has a continuously expanding diameter from narrow to wide in the direction of the fluid flowing therethrough towards the exit tip to create a Per de Lavel nozzle and a Venturi effect so as to avoid clogging and enable the free flow of the glue therefrom
Data Source
AI summary
A fluid mixing and delivery system including a fluid injector to receive first and second fluids to be mixed together so that the resultant mixture can be delivered to a target site. The injector has particular application for introducing two fluid adhesive reagents to one another to produce a biomedical glue suitable to seal or plug a skin graft, wound, tear or minor break in the tissue or bone of a patient. The injector has a proximal end at which to receive the first and second fluids under pressure and a distal end at which the first and second fluids are mixed together within a common canal and expulsed therefrom by way of an exit tip. The common canal has a diameter that expands from narrow to wide in the direction of the mixture flowing therethrough to create a Per de Lavel anti-clogging nozzle and a Venturi effect at the exit tip so as to avoid a bottle neck blockage.