Lancing Device Levered Priming Arm
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current lancing devices are painful and inconvenient for users with physical impairments, such as arthritis, due to their complex priming mechanisms, leading to inadequate wound size and frequent repeat lancing, which discourages regular blood sampling.
Innovation Solution
A user-friendly lancing device with a levered priming arm system that allows for easy priming, featuring a first arm portion parallel to the internal channel and a second arm portion perpendicular to it, connected to the lancet carrier, enabling efficient energy storage and release for precise skin penetration.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a spring loaded lancet driver is used to propel the lancet carrier, then the lancet can penetrate the skin to create a wound for blood sampling, but the complex priming mechanism becomes difficult for users with physical impairments to manipulate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the traditional spring-loaded mechanical priming system with a disposable pre-loaded lancet carrier system. The lancet carrier is pre-loaded with the lancet and spring mechanism in a sterile state, eliminating the need for users to manually prime complex mechanical systems. Users simply attach the pre-loaded carrier to the device and activate it with a simple button press or automatic mechanism, transforming a complex manual priming task into a simple attachment and activation process.
Solution Approach 2:
The lancet carrier is pre-loaded with the lancet and energy-storing spring mechanism before use in a controlled manufacturing environment. This preliminary action ensures that when the user receives the device, the priming function is already prepared and tested, eliminating the need for users to perform complex priming operations. The pre-loaded carrier is ready to fire immediately upon activation.
2Ease of operation
If the priming mechanism is simplified for ease of use, then users with physical impairments can operate it more easily, but the energy storage and lancet propulsion may become insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The system is segmented into a reusable housing containing only the control and guidance mechanisms, and a disposable lancet carrier containing the lancet and spring energy storage system. This segmentation allows the high-force spring mechanism to be pre-loaded in a controlled environment where optimal spring tension can be established, while the user interface remains simple. The disposable carrier encapsulates the complex force-generating components, separating them from the user interaction portion of the device.
Solution Approach 2:
The disposable lancet carrier is self-contained with its own pre-loaded spring and lancet, requiring no manual priming or energy input from the user. The carrier automatically stores energy during attachment and releases it during activation, making the force generation process self-service rather than user-dependent. This eliminates the trade-off between simplicity and force, as the force-generating components serve themselves without user intervention.
3Productivity
If manual priming is required to load the lancet carrier, then the device can be reused, but improper priming results in inadequate wound size and requires repeat lancing
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs disposable lancet carriers that are discarded after a single use. Each carrier is pre-loaded with a sterile lancet and pre-tensioned spring in a controlled manufacturing process that ensures consistent wound size and depth. The disposable nature eliminates the variability introduced by manual priming, as each new carrier starts with factory-set parameters. While this increases consumable usage, it ensures consistent clinical outcomes and eliminates the need for repeat lancing due to improper priming.
Solution Approach 2:
The lancet carrier is pre-loaded and pre-tensioned in a controlled manufacturing environment before reaching the user. This preliminary action ensures that the spring is correctly tensioned and the lancet is properly positioned, eliminating the variability and errors associated with manual priming. The pre-loaded carrier guarantees consistent wound characteristics on first use, removing the trial-and-error nature of manual priming systems.
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 device simplifies the priming process, reducing pain and improving wound consistency, allowing users with physical impairments to perform blood sampling more effectively and frequently, enhancing monitoring of physiological functions.
Implementation Method 1
a lancet driver for storing energy and then driving the lancet carrier along the strike path from the primed position to the lanced position
Implementation Method 2
a first levered priming arm comprising a first arm portion that is generally parallel to the internal channel and a second arm portion that is generally perpendicular to the internal channel
Data Source
Figure 1A
Figure 1B
Figure 1C
AI summary
A lancing device is used with a lancet for lancing body tissue to result in a wound for bleeding. The lancing device has a cantilevered priming arm having a first arm portion that is generally parallel to an internal channel of the device and a second arm portion that is generally perpendicular to the internal channel. The second arm portion is connected to a lancet carrier and movement of the first arm portion toward the internal channel draws the lancet carrier to a primed position and stores energy in a lancet driver.