Lancing Actuator Nested Drive Element Compact Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing lancing devices are bulky, making them difficult to use for frequent glucose monitoring, and their size reduction often compromises the lancing element's performance and puncture depth consistency.
Innovation Solution
A lancing actuator with a combined compression and torsion element, guided within a housing, that uses a triggering and driving mechanism to efficiently drive a lancing element for sampling body fluids, maintaining puncture depth consistency while reducing device length, and incorporating a return spring for repeated use.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Length of moving object
If the lancing device size is reduced to facilitate frequent use, then the device becomes more portable and easier to use, but the puncture depth consistency and lancing element performance are compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The drive element is nested within the housing, and the lancing element is nested within the drive element assembly. This nested configuration allows the lancing device to maintain a compact overall length while preserving the functional length and performance of the lancing element, thereby resolving the contradiction between device size reduction and puncture depth consistency.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention utilizes the longitudinal dimension of the drive element's movement path within the housing to achieve the lancing action. By optimizing the arrangement along the longitudinal axis rather than increasing lateral dimensions, the device achieves compactness in all directions while maintaining sufficient stroke length for consistent puncture depth.
2Ease of operation
If the device is made compact for frequent monitoring, then portability improves, but the reliability of repeated lancing actions may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The return spring is configured to automatically reset the drive element to its initial position after each lancing action, enabling periodic repetition of the lancing motion. This periodic action mechanism ensures reliable repeatability of the lancing motion while maintaining a compact device structure suitable for frequent monitoring.
Solution Approach 2:
The return spring automatically performs the reset function of the drive element without requiring external intervention or additional power sources. This self-service mechanism ensures reliable operation for repeated lancing actions while keeping the device compact and simple, facilitating frequent monitoring by the user.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution enables a compact lancing device that maintains effective puncture depth and wear resistance, facilitating frequent and reliable glucose monitoring without significant compromise in performance.
Implementation Method 1
a combined compression and torsion element which, by a relaxing movement of the combined compression and torsion element, is adapted to drive the lancing motion
Implementation Method 2
a combined compression and torsion element which, by a relaxing movement of the combined compression and torsion element, is adapted to drive the lancing motion
Implementation Method 3
a return spring which is configured to return the drive element into its initial position prior to a subsequent triggering of the lancing motion
Data Source
AI summary
A lancing actuator (114) includes a drive element (118) for driving a lancing element, the drive element being guided within a housing (112), a combined compression and torsion element (120) which, by a relaxing movement thereof, is adapted to drive the lancing motion, a combined triggering and driving device (122) having an actuating element (124) and a locking device (126), wherein the actuating element has an initial state and an actuated state and is accessible from the outside of the housing, wherein, in the initial state, the drive element is locked in the locking device under a torsional stress exerted by the combined compression and torsion element, wherein the combined triggering and driving device is configured in a manner that, when the actuating element makes a movement along an actuation path from the initial state into the actuated state, a torque is exerted on the drive element which prevails over the torsional stress exerted by the combined compression and torsion element such that the drive element is released from the locking device, which results in a triggering of the lancing motion.