Disposable Endoscope Cleaning Valve With Integrated Seals
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Solution Overview
Problem
Reusable medical cleaning valves for endoscopes are complex and costly due to numerous removable components, requiring reprocessing that increases costs and complexity, and poses risks of infection from improper cleaning.
Innovation Solution
A disposable medical cleaning valve with a monolithic stem and integrated seals, formed as a unitary structure from polymer materials, simplifying manufacturing and reducing components, which eliminates the need for reprocessing and minimizes the risk of infection by ensuring all components are single-use.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of repair
If reusable cleaning valve components are made removable and replaceable, then ease of repair is improved, but device complexity and manufacturing cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple separate components (valve stem, seals, spring, boot, interface member) into a single integrated monolithic structure formed from one piece of polymer material. This merging eliminates the complexity of assembling and disassembling multiple replaceable parts while maintaining the functional capabilities of each component, thereby resolving the contradiction between ease of repair and device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs a disposable single-use cleaning valve constructed from polymer materials that can be discarded after one use. This eliminates the need for complex repair mechanisms and multiple replaceable parts, as the entire device is replaced rather than repaired. The monolithic design simplifies manufacturing while enabling the disposable approach that resolves the contradiction between repairability and complexity.
2Ease of manufacture
If reusable cleaning valve components are made removable and replaceable, then ease of manufacture is improved, but manufacturing cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple components into a single monolithic structure that can be manufactured in one piece using polymer forming processes. This eliminates the need for separate manufacturing of individual components and their subsequent assembly, simplifying the overall manufacturing process while reducing the number of parts that need to be tracked, inventoried, and assembled, thereby resolving the contradiction between ease of manufacture and device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The disposable nature of the cleaning valve allows for simplified manufacturing using cost-effective polymer forming techniques. The monolithic design eliminates the need for precision machining and assembly of multiple metal components, making the manufacturing process simpler and potentially more cost-effective despite the single-use nature of the device.
3Device complexity
If reusable cleaning valve is used, then cost is reduced, but reprocessing cost and infection risk increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a disposable single-use cleaning valve that is discarded after one use, eliminating the need for reprocessing and sterilization. This resolves the contradiction by accepting the slightly higher per-unit cost of disposable items in exchange for eliminating reprocessing costs and infection risks associated with reusable devices. The monolithic polymer construction enables this disposable approach while maintaining functional reliability during the single use.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the cleaning valve from the reusable category and creates a dedicated single-use device. By taking the valve out of the reusable/reprocessing cycle entirely, the design eliminates infection risks and reprocessing costs. The monolithic structure enables this extraction by providing a complete, self-contained device that functions reliably for one use and then is discarded, resolving the reliability concern.
Data Source
AI summary
A medical cleaning valve (or cleaning valve) may be configured to provide cleaning functionality to fluid (e.g., air and water) channels of an endoscope. Many embodiments described herein may include a cleaning valve (or valve) that is appropriate for single-use and therefore may be disposable. Accordingly, the valve may be made from a limited number of parts and materials, e.g., to limit its cost and/or manufacturing complexity. For example, multiple seals may be integrally formed with a valve stem. In another example, the valve may have an interface member, which may combine and simplify the functionality of a number of components, such as by connecting the valve stem to a valve well, sealing an opening to a lumen in the valve stem, and/or biasing the valve stem into a position relative to the valve well.