Huber Needle Assembly Safety Lock Mechanism
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing Huber needle assemblies pose a risk of needle-stick injury and exposure to blood-borne pathogens due to the inability to effectively prevent needle rebound and exposure of the needle tip, especially when transitioning to a safety position, which requires two hands and can cause over-extension, leading to accidental needle re-emergence.
Innovation Solution
A Huber needle assembly design featuring an upper body that statically retains the needle, allowing it to move in unison with the upper body away from a lower body, engaging a catch to place the needle in a safety-lock position, preventing re-emergence by biasing the needle away from the needle aperture and enveloping the tip within an enveloping structure.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If two hands are used to extract the needle from the implanted port, then the needle can be removed, but the risk of inadvertent needle-stick injury increases
Solution Approach 1:
The device is divided into an upper body that moves relative to a lower body. The needle is retained by the upper body during extraction, allowing one-handed operation while the lower body remains stationary at the insertion site, reducing the risk of needle-stick injury to the stabilizing hand
Solution Approach 2:
The needle automatically engages a catch on the lower body when the upper body is moved away, placing the assembly in a safety-lock position without requiring manual intervention. This self-activating safety mechanism prevents needle rebound and exposure during the extraction process
2Productivity
If force is applied to withdraw the needle from the self-sealing septum, then the needle can be extracted, but the resilient material causes the needle to rebound
Solution Approach 1:
The needle is pre-positioned within the enveloping structure formed by the lower body before extraction begins. As the upper body moves away, the needle is guided into the catch and locked in place before the extraction force is fully applied, preventing rebound by establishing the safety-lock position in advance
Solution Approach 2:
The catch on the lower body is positioned to engage the needle tip before the needle can rebound. This preliminary engagement creates a counter-action that prevents the resilient material from causing needle rebound, as the needle is already constrained by the catch when extraction force is applied
3Ease of operation
If the needle is allowed to move freely during extraction, then the extraction process is simple, but the needle tip can be exposed to the environment
Solution Approach 1:
The needle is nested within the enveloping structure formed by the lower body during extraction. The upper body contains the needle during the extraction process, and the lower body provides an enveloping structure that receives and constrains the needle tip, preventing exposure while maintaining operational simplicity
Solution Approach 2:
The enveloping structure formed by the lower body acts as an intermediary between the needle and the external environment. This intermediate structure receives and constrains the needle tip during extraction, preventing direct exposure to the environment while allowing the extraction process to proceed smoothly
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed is a Huber needle assembly that may include an upper body connected to a lower body, the assembly being structured to retain a needle for insertion/extraction of the needle into/from an insertion site. The upper body can statically retain the needle while the lower body may slidably receive the needle. The lower body can further include a catch that engages a tip of the needle and/or misaligns the tip of the needle with a needle aperture of the lower body to place the assembly in a safety-lock position, preventing rebound, needle-stick injury, and/or any type of exposure of the needle tip to an environment outside of the lower body. The assembly can further bias the needle in a direction so as to prevent re-emergence of the needle tip after being withdrawn into the lower body.