Garment Clip With Resilient Channel for Catheter Stability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Catheters and flexible tubes often cause discomfort and pose tripping hazards due to uncontrolled movement, and their exposure can lead to infection and fluid leakage when not properly secured.
Innovation Solution
A garment clip with resiliently deformable channels and a high friction surface to securely attach flexible cables or tubes to clothing, allowing for adjustable fit and resistance to longitudinal movement, formed from materials like Santoprene or polypropylene with optional liners for enhanced friction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the catheter or flexible tube is left loose and unrestrained, then the patient can move freely, but the catheter causes discomfort, tripping hazards, and potential infection
Solution Approach 1:
The catheter management system is segmented into distinct functional components: the garment clip with resilient channel for securing, the catheter itself, and the medical equipment. This segmentation allows the catheter to be restrained at specific intervals along its length, providing stability where needed while maintaining overall patient mobility.
Solution Approach 2:
The garment clip incorporates a resiliently deformable channel made from elastomeric material that flexibly accommodates the catheter. This flexible structure restrains the catheter through elastic deformation rather than rigid confinement, reducing discomfort while preventing tripping hazards and maintaining patient movement capability.
2Reliability
If the catheter is restrained tightly to prevent movement, then tripping hazards and infection risk are reduced, but patient comfort decreases due to restricted movement
Solution Approach 1:
The resiliently deformable channel provides dynamic restraint that adapts to patient movement. As the patient moves, the elastomeric material deforms elastically to accommodate position changes while maintaining continuous gentle restraint. This dynamic behavior maintains catheter stability without imposing rigid constraints that would limit patient mobility.
Solution Approach 2:
The restraint force is optimized by selecting elastomeric materials with appropriate durometer values and channel dimensions. The resilient channel provides sufficient friction and elastic resistance to prevent excessive catheter movement and tripping hazards, while the material properties ensure the restraint force remains within comfortable limits for continuous patient wear.
3Reliability
If a rigid structure is used to secure the catheter, then position stability is improved, but comfort and ease of insertion are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The resiliently deformable channel is formed from elastomeric material that provides flexible containment rather than rigid confinement. The channel deforms elastically to accommodate catheter insertion and maintains stable restraint through elastic recovery, eliminating the discomfort associated with rigid structures while ensuring reliable position stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The garment clip is constructed from elastomeric materials that combine flexibility with sufficient structural integrity. The resilient channel material provides both the compliance needed for easy insertion and the frictional resistance required for stable catheter retention, eliminating the need to choose between rigid stability and flexible comfort.
4Reliability
If friction is increased to prevent longitudinal movement, then catheter stability is improved, but insertion difficulty increases
Solution Approach 1:
The elastomeric material properties are selected to provide optimal friction characteristics. The durometer and surface properties of the resilient channel material generate sufficient friction to prevent unwanted longitudinal catheter movement and tripping hazards, while the material compliance allows smooth insertion without excessive resistance.
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 garment clip effectively reduces discomfort and tripping hazards by securing catheters and tubes, preventing infection by maintaining a controlled position and resisting movement, while allowing for easy insertion and removal.
Implementation Method 1
At least one of the two parallel longitudinal channels may comprise a high friction surface, whereby longitudinal movement of the flexible cable or tube is resisted.
Implementation Method 2
the at least one receiving formation comprises a resiliently deformable channel for receiving a flexible cable or tube
Data Source
AI summary
A clip for attaching a flexible cable or tube to clothing. The clip comprises a body and a clasp for attaching the body of the clip to clothing. The body comprises at least one receiving formation in the form of a resiliently deformable channel for receiving a flexible cable or tube.