Multi-cell sealed container with hermetic folds for cryogenic preservation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional sealed containers for specimens and medicines are prone to contamination during filling and withdrawal, and they are not suitable for cryogenic preservation due to potential leaks and rupture risks when exposed to extreme cold.
Innovation Solution
A multi-cell container with hermetically sealed chambers created by folding the wall of an elongate body to form multiple seals, allowing for sterile filling and puncture sites, and made from needle-penetrable materials like Ethylene-Vinyl Acetate (EVA) to maintain sterility and prevent contamination, which can be refrigerated or cryogenically preserved without risk of leakage or explosion.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a conventional sealed container with removable cap is used, then the container can be filled and emptied, but the container is prone to contamination during opening and closing operations
Solution Approach 1:
The container is divided into multiple sealed cells within a single body. Each cell can be independently accessed through its own puncture site, allowing selective filling or withdrawal without exposing other cells to contamination. The container body itself is segmented into hermetically sealed compartments.
Solution Approach 2:
Puncture sites are pre-formed in the container wall at specific locations. These pre-prepared access points allow for sterile insertion of needles or catheters without requiring opening of a cap, enabling content introduction or withdrawal while maintaining the hermetic seal of the container body.
2Temperature
If a capped container is submerged in liquid nitrogen for cryopreservation, then the contents can be preserved, but the seal may fail and liquid nitrogen may leak into the container causing rupture or explosion
Solution Approach 1:
The container is divided into multiple hermetically sealed cells by internal seals, creating independent compartments. This segmentation ensures that even if one area experiences stress, the failure is contained to that specific cell rather than compromising the entire container, preventing catastrophic rupture during cryogenic exposure.
Solution Approach 2:
The container utilizes flexible sealing structures including folds in the container wall that create hermetic seals. These flexible sealing portions can accommodate thermal contraction and expansion during temperature cycling without breaking the seal, maintaining integrity during transitions between cryogenic and ambient temperatures.
3Reliability
If the container wall is folded to create hermetic seals, then sterility is maintained and cryogenic safety is improved, but the manufacturing process becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The container employs folds in the wall structure to create hermetic seals. These folds are formed by compressing the container wall inwardly, creating sealing portions that join together to form continuous hermetic barriers. This approach uses the flexibility of the container material itself rather than adding separate rigid sealing components.
Solution Approach 2:
The sealing function is merged with the container wall structure itself. The folds and sealing portions are integral to the container body, formed from the same material and process, rather than being separate attached components. This integration reduces the number of discrete parts while achieving hermetic sealing.
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 container effectively prevents contamination during handling and storage, maintains sterility, and safely withstands cryogenic temperatures without leakage or rupture, ensuring the integrity of contents throughout transportation and preservation.
Implementation Method 1
compressing the wall of an elongate body to form at least three folds. The folds may be transverse to the elongate body from different directions into an interior lumen defined by the elongate body to create a narrowing region in the elongate body
Implementation Method 2
applying heat to the wall of the container as either the first or second seals (or both seals) are formed. The heat may be useful in fusing the sealing portions together into a single unitary structure
Implementation Method 3
the wall of the elongate member may include a needle penetrable material making it possible to access the contents of one or more of the cells or voids using a needle such as a hypodermic needle
Data Source
AI summary
Described in one aspect is a multi-cell or multi-chambered container for sealing various materials such as therapeutic or diagnostic agents, animal or human tissue, tissue samples, specimens, blood, genetic material, or any other material. The container includes seals formed by folding the wall of the elongate body transverse to the interior of the elongate body and maintaining the folded wall portions adjacent one another or joining them together. In another aspect, the container disclosed may be made according to a method involving creating multiple seals at various locations along the elongate body thus creating sealed voids or cells between the seals within the elongate body.