Injector Guard Assembly for Custom Needle Lengths and Shield Removal
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing injectors lack effective mechanisms for protecting healthcare workers and patients from needlestick injuries and ensuring needle integrity during storage and use, while also allowing for customizable and safe medicament delivery protocols.
Innovation Solution
An injector with a guard assembly featuring a needle guard extension that is removably coupled to a guard holder, allowing for customizable needle lengths and providing protection against needlestick injuries by retracting and exposing the needle as needed, with a deformable engagement feature for safe needle shield removal.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a needle guard is integrated into the injector housing, then needlestick injury protection is improved, but the ability to customize needle lengths and adapt to different delivery protocols is worsened
Solution Approach 1:
The needle guard assembly is divided into separate components: a guard holder with engagement features and a removable needle guard extension. This segmentation allows the needle guard to be customized for different needle lengths while maintaining the protection function, resolving the contradiction between fixed protection and customizable adaptability.
Solution Approach 2:
The needle guard extension is designed to be movable between extended and retracted positions relative to the housing. This dynamic capability allows the same guard assembly to accommodate different needle lengths and delivery protocols, providing both protection and adaptability.
2Reliability
If a retractable needle guard is used, then safety against needlestick injuries is improved, but the complexity of the device increases
Solution Approach 1:
The retractable needle guard is implemented as a separate extension component that can be independently moved relative to the housing, rather than integrating the retraction mechanism into the main housing structure. This segmentation reduces overall device complexity while maintaining the safety function.
Solution Approach 2:
The needle guard extension acts as an intermediary component between the housing and the needle, providing the retraction function without requiring complex integrated mechanisms. The extension can be moved independently to extend or retract from the housing, simplifying the overall device architecture.
3Ease of operation
If a deformable engagement feature is used for needle shield removal, then ease of operation is improved, but the precision of needle shield coupling is worsened
Solution Approach 1:
The engagement features are pre-configured on the guard holder to work with the needle shield geometry. The deformable features are designed to engage precisely with corresponding features on the needle shield, providing both easy removal through controlled deformation and precise coupling through the pre-engineered engagement geometry.
Data Source
AI summary
An injector includes a housing, a needle, and a needle shield removably coupled to the needle. A guard assembly is coupled to the housing and includes a guard holder coupled to the needle shield and having at least one engagement feature extending radially inward and a needle guard extension removably coupled to the guard holder. The needle guard extension is coupled to the guard holder and separated from the housing in an initial position, coupled to the guard holder and coupled to the housing in an engaged position, and separated from the guard holder and coupled to the housing in an active position. The guard holder couples to the needle shield to remove the needle shield from the needle when the needle shield extension is moved from the engaged position to the active position.