Medication Holder with Sealing Strip for Patient ID
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Solution Overview
Problem
In nursing homes and aged-care facilities, there is a risk of incorrect medication administration due to the destruction of patient name print when opening sachets and the potential for nurses to confuse or mix medications between patients with the same name, especially when multiple sachets are handled simultaneously.
Innovation Solution
A string of individually detachable medication holders with a hermetically sealed cup design, featuring a stiff rim and integrally-moulded flange, where a sealing strip adheres to both the rim and flange, displaying patient information, and a manually-operable device allows for air-tight opening without detaching the strip, ensuring patient identity verification before and after medication administration.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a nurse breaks open a sachet to administer medication, then the medication can be accessed, but the patient name print is destroyed and becomes illegible
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing strip is divided into two distinct portions: a first portion that hermetically seals the cup and can be removed, and a second portion that remains attached to the holder and displays the patient identification information. This segmentation allows the sealing function to be separated from the information display function, enabling medication access while preserving the patient name.
2Productivity
If a nurse takes multiple sachets from different dispensers to save time, then medication administration efficiency increases, but the risk of confusing sachets and administering incorrect medication increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patient identification information is displayed on the holder itself (on the second portion of the sealing strip or on the flange), providing immediate visual feedback to the nurse. This allows the nurse to verify the correct sachet selection before leaving the storage area, ensuring accuracy even when handling multiple sachets simultaneously.
3Reliability
If a hermetically sealed holder is designed to be securely closed, then medication protection is improved, but the ease of opening may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The severance line is pre-formed within the sealing strip, creating a predetermined path for opening. The manually-operable device (such as a tab or lever) is positioned to engage with this pre-formed line, allowing the user to easily initiate opening by applying minimal force at the correct location, thus maintaining hermetic sealing while enabling easy opening.
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 ensures accurate patient identification before and after medication administration, reducing the risk of incorrect medication dispensing and providing a permanent record of administered medication, even when multiple patients share the same name.
Implementation Method 1
a sealing strip which adheres to both the rim and flange
Implementation Method 2
leakage of air into the cup by way of the line or lines of severance is avoided
Data Source
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AI summary
A holder (100) for storing prescribed medication doses in a sealed cup (112) is provided with a sealing strip (117) a first portion (110) of which covers the mouth of the cup and a second portion (120) carries a picture of the face of the patient for whom the medication has been prescribed. The holder (100) is provided with a rim (113) extending outwardly from the mouth of the cup and with an extension flange (114) having a flat upper surface (111) which is coplanar with the upper surface of the rim (113). The sealing strip adheres to the coplanar surfaces of the rim (113) and the flange (114) and is provided with lines of severance (130 and 131) extending from a pull-tab (151) and along opposite sides of the cup. These lines of severance (130 and 131) are arranged within the confines of the path of the seal between the sealing strip (117) and the rim (113) so that air cannot leak through the lines of severance and into the cup when 15storing medication doses within the holder. The pull-tab enables the first portion (110) of the sealing strip (117) to be peeled back from covering the cup so that its contents can be accessed by inverting the cup over the palm of the hand of the user.