Safety Needle Shield Apertures for Visibility and Dose Accuracy
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing safety pen needle assemblies obstruct visibility during injection, and medication expelled during priming often collects within the assembly, leading to confusion about proper dose administration due to unwanted transfer to the patient's skin.
Innovation Solution
A safety needle assembly with a shield featuring through apertures that allow medication to pass during priming and a design with a reduced outer diameter for less obtrusiveness during injection, along with a shield that covers the needle after use, indicating usage visually.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a shield is provided to cover the needle after use, then safety is improved by preventing needle sticks, but visibility during injection is reduced making it obtrusive
Solution Approach 1:
The shield is segmented with through-apertures that allow visual observation of the needle and injection site while maintaining the protective covering function. This segmentation enables simultaneous achievement of safety and visibility requirements.
2Reliability
If a shield completely covers the needle, then safety is improved by preventing needle sticks, but medication expelled during priming collects within the assembly causing confusion
Solution Approach 1:
The shield is divided with through-apertures that allow expelled medication to pass through during priming rather than collecting within the assembly. This maintains safety while preventing medication accumulation that causes user confusion.
Solution Approach 2:
The potential harmful effect of medication expulsion during priming is converted into a beneficial outcome by designing the shield with through-apertures that channel the expelled medication away from the assembly, preventing confusion about proper dose administration.
3Strength
If the shield has a larger outer diameter for structural integrity, then strength is improved, but it becomes more obtrusive during injection
Solution Approach 1:
The shield employs varying wall thicknesses or localized reinforcement at critical areas to maintain structural integrity only where needed, allowing the overall outer diameter to be reduced for less obtrusiveness during injection while preserving necessary strength.
Data Source
AI summary
A safety needle assembly for an injector is provided herein which, in a first aspect of the subject invention, includes a needle having a distal end formed for injection, a carrier for supporting the needle, and a shield for selectively covering the distal end of the needle. The shield includes at least one through aperture formed therein, wherein the at least one through aperture is superimposed over the distal end of the needle in an initial state prior to the injection. In a further aspect of the subject invention, a safety needle assembly is provided which includes a needle having a distal end formed for injection, a carrier for supporting the needle, and a shield for selectively covering the distal end of the needle. The shield includes a proximal and, a distal end and a sidewall extending therebetween. The sidewall defines a first outer diameter at or adjacent to the distal end of the shield, and the sidewall defines at least one outer diameter greater than the first outer diameter at one or more locations located proximally of the first outer diameter.