Medical Needle Safety Device with Resilient Finger Shielding
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current passive protection devices for medical needles are either complex, costly, difficult to use, or do not provide adequate protection against needle-stick injuries, and many require an additional step that leaves the needle unprotected for a longer period, increasing the risk of accidents.
Innovation Solution
A safety device with a radially deformable resilient finger that stores energy to automatically shield the needle tip after use, using a control member to displace the finger and move it into alignment, allowing the sleeve to slide back into a shielding position without requiring user intervention, and is made from plastics materials to avoid resilience loss.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a passive protection device is designed to automatically shield the needle tip after use, then the protection reliability is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The protective device is divided into distinct functional segments: a movable protective sleeve that can slide to expose or cover the needle tip, and a resilient finger mechanism that acts as a spring to automatically return the sleeve to its protective position. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function independently, achieving reliable automatic protection while maintaining reasonable device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The resilient finger is pre-loaded in a compressed state during device assembly, storing elastic potential energy. When the needle is inserted and then withdrawn, this pre-stored energy is released to automatically propel the protective sleeve back to its shielding position, providing automatic protection without requiring additional user actions or complex control systems.
2Ease of manufacture
If a resilient finger is used as a spring in the protective device, then the ease of manufacture is improved, but the reliability deteriorates due to resilience loss over time
Solution Approach 1:
The design changes the operational parameters of the resilient finger by limiting its deflection range and ensuring it operates within its elastic limit. The finger is engineered to deflect only to the extent needed to move the protective sleeve, then return to its original position without experiencing permanent deformation or fatigue, thereby maintaining reliability while enabling easy manufacturing from plastic materials.
3Device complexity
If the protective device requires an additional user step to shield the needle, then the device complexity is reduced, but the protection reliability deteriorates due to extended exposure time
Solution Approach 1:
The protective device is designed to be self-actuating through the resilient finger mechanism. When the needle is inserted into the patient's body, the protective sleeve moves forward with the needle. Upon withdrawal, the resilient finger automatically propels the sleeve back to cover the needle tip, providing self-service protection without requiring any additional user steps. This eliminates extended exposure time while maintaining simple device structure.
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 provides reliable and automatic protection for medical needles, reducing the risk of needle-stick injuries and allowing safe disposal without additional user steps, while being economically viable and easy to use.
Implementation Method 1
a radially deformable resilient finger provided on the other of the sleeve and mount, and serving as a spring, the finger having an inner surface and a part in radial alignment with the abutment surface when the finger is undeformed to block movement of the sleeve from its needle shielding position
Data Source
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AI summary
A passive safety device (20) for a medical needle (21) has a mount (30) for supporting the needle (21) and a needle shielding sleeve (33) co-axial with and arranged for sliding movement relative to the mount (30), from a shielding position to a non-shielding position. An abutment surface is provided on one of the sleeve (33) and mount (30) and is engageable by a radially deformable finger (35), when undeformed. A control member (40) is also slidably arranged with respect to the mount (30) and sleeve (33) and has an initial set position. The control member (40) co-operates with the finger (35) so that on sliding movement of the sleeve (33) from its initial shielding position, the finger (35) is moved radially outwardly, clear of the abutment surface and on to a sliding surface (32). Continued movement of the sleeve (33) increases deformation of the finger (3) and generates a restorative force between the finger and the sliding surface (32) to move the sleeve back to a needle shielding position following the performance of a procedure and return the finger (35) into radial alignment with the abutment surface, the control member (40) remaining displaced from its set position.