Medical Needle Protector with Blood Receiving Recess

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Solution Overview

Problem

Medical needles with protectors often experience blood spatter when retracting the needle body, leading to contamination risks and hygiene issues due to the blood being released from the protector's leading end opening.

Innovation Solution

A medical needle design with a protector featuring a blood receiving portion on its inner face, which accumulates blood separated from the needle body during retraction, and a sealing mechanism to prevent further spatter, including a blood reservoir and an elastic member for flexible sealing.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of operation

If the leading end opening of the protector is formed with a relatively large diameter to allow the needle body with blood to pass through without touching, then the needle body can be retracted smoothly, but blood may spatter from the leading end opening when separated from the needle body

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveneedle body retractionVSAvoidblood spatter
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces a blood receiving portion as an intermediary structure within the protector. This recessed portion acts as a mediator that captures blood separating from the needle body, preventing it from reaching the leading end opening. The blood receiving portion with its rough inner face serves as an intermediate zone between the needle body and the external environment, absorbing the harmful spatter effect.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent applies preliminary anti-action by pre-equipping the protector with a blood receiving portion before blood spatter occurs. The rough inner face structure is预先 designed to intercept and retain blood droplets as they separate from the needle body, preventing the spatter action from occurring in the first place. This preventive structure counteracts the potential harmful effect before it can manifest.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #9Preliminary anti-action

2Ease of operation

If the leading end opening is made large for smooth needle retraction, then the needle body can pass through easily, but the protector cannot effectively contain blood

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveneedle body passageVSAvoidblood contamination
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSObject-generated harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies local quality by creating a specific region (blood receiving portion) within the protector with different properties from the rest of the structure. The rough inner face is localized to the blood receiving portion, providing blood-retaining functionality only where needed. This localized treatment allows the leading end opening to remain large for easy needle passage while containing blood containment capability in a specific zone.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #3Local quality

Solution Approach 2:

The patent segments the protector's internal space by introducing a blood receiving portion as a distinct functional zone. This segmentation divides the protector into regions with different functions: the blood receiving portion for blood containment and the leading end opening for needle passage. The segmentation allows each region to be optimized for its specific purpose without compromising the other.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

3Volume of moving object

If the protector housing space has a large diameter to accommodate the needle body, then the needle can be housed properly, but blood can spatter from the opening

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvehousing space capacityVSAvoidblood spatter risk
Core Design Contradiction:
Volume of moving objectVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The blood receiving portion serves as an intermediary structure that decouples the housing space capacity from the spatter risk. It provides a transition zone where blood can be captured before reaching the opening, allowing the housing space to maintain large volume for proper needle accommodation while preventing harmful spatter through the intermediate blood receiving structure.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Data Source

PatentEP3275486B1Medical needle, and method for closing protector of medical needle
Publication Date: 2023.09.06 TERUMO KK
  • EP3275486B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3275486B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP3275486B1 patent drawingFigure 3A~3C

AI summary

A medical needle (10) is provided with a needle body (12) and a protector (16) including a housing space (60) which houses the needle body (12) after puncture of the needle body (12) by relative movement of the needle body (12) in an axial direction. The protector (16) has an annular recess (96) in the entire circumference in the circumferential direction of an inner face in the housing space (60) so as to accumulate blood that spatters from the needle body (12).