Flashback Chamber Needle Assembly with Air Vent Filter
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing blood collection needles face challenges in providing a quick and cost-effective flashback indication, often requiring large amounts of blood and having complex, expensive structures.
Innovation Solution
A needle assembly with a hollow flashback chamber connected to the atmosphere via a filter, allowing air to escape quickly and preventing blood leakage, featuring a transparent housing and a small flashback chamber design for minimal blood usage and easy manufacturing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a flashback chamber is provided in existing blood collection needles, then vein entry detection is enabled, but the structure becomes complicated and manufacturing cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the flashback chamber with the housing structure itself, where the housing forms both the protective casing and the flashback chamber walls. This integration eliminates separate components and simplifies the overall structure while maintaining the vein entry detection function.
Solution Approach 2:
The housing serves multiple functions: it protects the needle, provides structural support, and forms the flashback chamber. By making the housing multi-functional, the patent reduces the number of separate components needed, thereby simplifying the device structure and reducing manufacturing complexity.
2Reliability
If air is included within the flashback chamber in existing designs, then the chamber is sealed, but blood cannot pour out quickly enough for quick flashback indication
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a porous plug that allows air to pass through while blocking blood. The porous structure enables selective permeability based on surface tension differences between air and blood, allowing quick air evacuation without requiring complex mechanical valves or seals.
Solution Approach 2:
The porous plug acts as an intermediary element between the flashback chamber and the atmosphere. It mediates the passage of air while preventing blood leakage, replacing the need for complex sealing mechanisms with a simple passive filter that exploits physical properties of the materials involved.
3Loss of substance
If a large lumen flashback chamber is provided in existing designs, then the chamber is easy to manufacture, but undesired large amount of patient's blood is collected
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies different qualities to different regions: the flashback chamber has a small lumen to minimize blood collection, while the housing maintains sufficient strength and rigidity. This local optimization allows the chamber to be small without compromising overall structural integrity, reducing blood loss while keeping manufacturing feasible.
4Ease of operation
If the housing is formed from transparent material, then the flashback chamber is visible, but manufacturing cost may increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies transparency only to the specific region where flashback visibility is needed (the flashback chamber area), rather than making the entire housing transparent. This localized application of transparent material reduces material costs while maintaining the essential visibility function for vein entry detection.
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 solution provides a quick and reliable flashback indication with minimal blood loss, reducing manufacturing costs and complexity while ensuring easy vein entry detection for medical practitioners.
Implementation Method 1
the filter is designed such that it is permeable for air to pour out of the flashback chamber into the atmosphere but prevents blood or other liquid samples contained in the flashback chamber from pouring out through an opening into the atmosphere
Data Source
AI summary
A needle assembly comprising a housing, a first needle hub provided by the housing, a first hollow needle portion mounted to the first needle hub and extending from the first needle hub in a distal direction. A second needle hub is provided by the housing. A second hollow needle portion is mounted to the second needle hub and extends from the second needle hub in a proximal direction, opposite to the distal direction, wherein a hollow flashback chamber is arranged within the housing between the first needle portion and the second needle portion. The flashback chamber communicates with the inner lumen provided within the first and second hollow needle portion and is connected to the atmosphere by a passage and wherein a filter is provided within the passage, which is designed such that it is permeable for air to pour out of the flashback chamber into the atmosphere.