Implantable Device Grooves Guide Needle to Refill Port
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Solution Overview
Problem
Percutaneously accessing the septum of an implantable therapeutic substance delivery device with a hypodermic needle can be difficult due to the challenge of accurately locating the port opening, often requiring multiple attempts and potentially causing discomfort to the patient.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a housing with a plurality of grooves on the exterior face, which guide the needle tip from a spaced position to the port opening, providing a tactile feedback mechanism for the clinician to accurately direct the needle into the septum.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a hypodermic needle is used to percutaneously access the septum, then the device can be refilled without surgery, but accurately locating the port opening becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary structure (the grooves or channels on the device surface) that mediates between the needle and the port opening. These grooves act as a physical guide that the needle can follow, making the port location detectable and accessible without requiring precise visual or tactile localization through thick skin.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the manual tactile search method (clinician fingers palpating through skin) with a mechanical guidance system (grooves or channels). Instead of relying on the clinician's ability to locate the port through tactile feedback alone, the mechanical grooves provide a predetermined path that guides the needle directly to the port opening.
2Difficulty of detecting and measuring
If the clinician searches for the port by palpating through the skin, then the device location can be found, but the port opening location cannot be accurately determined
Solution Approach 1:
The grooves serve as an intermediary structure that bridges the gap between the clinician's needle and the port opening. The needle can be inserted at a broader area and will be mechanically guided by the grooves to the precise port location, eliminating the need for precise initial palpation of the port itself.
Solution Approach 2:
The grooves are pre-formed on the device surface during manufacturing, creating a predetermined guidance path before the needle insertion procedure. This preliminary structural feature ensures that regardless of the initial needle placement accuracy, the needle will be directed to the correct port opening.
3Reliability
If multiple needle insertion attempts are made to locate the port, then the needle may eventually enter the septum, but patient discomfort increases and procedure time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the trial-and-error needle insertion method with a mechanical guidance system. The grooves provide a predetermined path that guides the needle directly to the port opening, eliminating the need for multiple insertion attempts and significantly reducing procedure time and patient discomfort.
Solution Approach 2:
The grooves provide tactile feedback to the clinician during needle insertion. As the needle follows the groove path, the clinician can feel the guidance structure, confirming proper needle orientation and progression toward the port opening, which reduces uncertainty and the need for repeated attempts.
Data Source
AI summary
An implantable delivery device including a housing, a port assembly, and a plurality of grooves. The housing includes an outer wall defining an exterior face. The port assembly includes a septum and a port opening that is exteriorly open relative to the housing face. The plurality of grooves are formed in the exterior face proximate the port opening, and are sized to receive a needle tip to guide the needle tip toward the port opening. In one embodiment, the port assembly is fluidly connected to a reservoir, such that the port assembly constitutes a reservoir refill port.