Lancet Non-Circular Profile Alignment and Safety
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing lancing devices face challenges in ensuring consistent and safe lancet placement, penetration depth, and alignment, leading to potential pain and safety issues due to the use of non-proprietary or low-quality lancets.
Innovation Solution
A proprietary lancet design with a non-circular periphery and engagement features that ensure only authorized lancets are used, featuring a fine gauge needle, relief channels in the endcap to reduce bending forces during molding, and a removable endcap for safety and hygiene, maintaining consistent penetration and alignment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If a proprietary lancet design with engagement features is used, then consistent placement and penetration depth are maintained, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The lancet body incorporates a non-circular periphery with specific engagement features (protrusions or recesses) that are asymmetric in design. This asymmetric geometry ensures proper alignment and consistent penetration depth by preventing rotation and ensuring the lancet is inserted correctly into the lancing device receiver, thereby resolving the contradiction between placement consistency and device complexity.
2Reliability
If a non-circular periphery with engagement features is implemented, then unauthorized lancet use is prevented, but ease of manufacture decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The non-circular periphery with engagement features is molded as an integrated part of the lancet body using injection molding. The asymmetric geometry is built into the mold tooling, allowing the engagement features to be formed in a single manufacturing step without requiring additional assembly operations, thus maintaining ease of manufacture while ensuring reliability.
3Manufacturing precision
If relief channels are added to the endcap, then bending forces on the needle tip are reduced during molding, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Relief channels are strategically positioned in specific locations on the endcap structure. These localized modifications direct the flow of molten plastic during injection molding away from the needle tip area, reducing bending forces and improving needle alignment precision. The relief channels are confined to specific regions rather than affecting the entire structure, thus balancing manufacturing precision with acceptable device complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A lancet for use with a lancing device, the lancet having a body with releasable engagement features for engagement with a cooperating portion of a lancing device, a sharp needle, and a removable endcap. A coupling portion of the lancet has a non-circular profile. The endcap includes a receptacle for covering the sharp lancet tip after use, and a sheath portion with relief openings to reduce bending of the needle during manufacture or during removal of the endcap.