Grip Accessory for Manual Injection Device with Depth-Limiting Skin Contact
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current needle safety devices are complex to use, require two hands, and can cause anxiety for patients and caregivers due to exposed needles, with inconsistent needle insertion depth and potential for accidental needle sticks.
Innovation Solution
A grip accessory for manual injection devices that limits needle depth, is easy to use with one hand, and reduces anxiety by providing a controlled skin contact surface and a retractable sheath to shield the needle, featuring a housing with a distal and proximal portion and an intermediate section for secure needle positioning and safety.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a needle safety device is used to protect against accidental needle sticks, then safety is improved, but device complexity increases and ease of operation deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The grip accessory is a housing structure that receives and contains the entire syringe assembly within it. The syringe, needle, and safety mechanism are nested inside the grip accessory housing, creating a integrated unit that simplifies the overall device structure while maintaining safety functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The grip accessory serves as an intermediary device between the user and the needle. It provides a skin-contacting surface that mediates the injection process, controlling needle depth and shielding the needle from view and accidental contact, thereby improving safety without requiring complex activation mechanisms.
2Reliability
If a needle safety device requires additional activation steps, then safety is improved, but ease of operation worsens and loss of time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The grip accessory is designed to be self-contained and self-explanatory. The skin-contacting surface automatically limits needle depth without requiring user knowledge or activation steps. The device serves itself by its very structure, eliminating the need for additional user actions beyond simple placement against the skin.
3Ease of operation
If the needle is exposed for injection, then ease of operation is improved, but object-affected harmful factors increase due to patient anxiety and accidental needle sticks
Solution Approach 1:
The grip accessory provides localized shielding - the skin-contacting surface covers and shields the needle at the injection site while leaving the needle tip exposed only where necessary for injection. This local quality approach reduces patient anxiety and prevents accidental sticks in non-injection areas while maintaining ease of injection operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The skin-contacting surface acts as an intermediary barrier between the exposed needle and the patient's body. It provides a controlled interface that shields the needle from accidental contact while allowing controlled insertion, thereby reducing harmful factors without compromising operational ease.
4Ease of operation
If needle insertion depth is not controlled, then ease of operation is improved, but manufacturing precision of injection depth deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The grip accessory replaces the need for complex mechanical depth control mechanisms with a simple geometric constraint. The skin-contacting surface provides a fixed reference plane that mechanically limits needle insertion depth through its physical structure, ensuring consistent depth without requiring adjustable mechanisms or complex controls.
Data Source
AI summary
A grip accessory for a manual injection device comprises a housing having a generally hollow body for supporting a manual injection device therein. The housing comprises a distal portion comprising a first opening into which a manual injection device can be inserted, a proximal portion comprising a second opening through which a needle of the manual injection device is extendable, the proximal portion comprising a skin contacting surface at a proximal end of the device. An intermediate portion extends between the proximal and distal portions and guide means is provided on an interior surface of the distal portion for guiding a plunger rod of an injection device during delivery of an injection.