Needle Safety Sleeve Lockout for Automatic Post-Use Sheathing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Needlestick injuries in healthcare settings, particularly in non-hospital environments, pose a risk of transmitting blood-borne viruses due to the exposure of contaminated needles, and existing safety devices may not adequately prevent re-exposure after use.
Innovation Solution
A tamper-evident needle safety system featuring a sleeve with guide tracks and a collar mechanism, where a torqueable compression spring advances a guide pin through the guide tracks to automatically cover the needle after use, preventing re-exposure and providing tactile feedback to ensure sterility.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a safety device automatically deploys a sheath around the needle after injection, then the risk of needlestick injuries is reduced, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The guide pin is nested within the collar structure, and the spring is contained within the sleeve assembly. The guide track is formed directly in the sleeve wall, integrating multiple functions into a compact nested arrangement that reduces overall device complexity while maintaining safety functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The guide track combines multiple functional portions (retention, travel, and lockout) into a single integrated feature formed in the sleeve. The collar integrates the guide pin, spring mounting, and accordion portion into one component, merging multiple elements to reduce the total number of parts.
2Reliability
If the sheath is deployed automatically, then the needle is never exposed or exposed only for a negligible period, but the ease of operation decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The spring is pre-loaded in the compressed state during assembly, with the guide pin initially held in the retention portion by the cap. When the cap is removed, the preliminary stored energy in the spring automatically drives the guide pin through the travel portion to the lockout portion, eliminating the need for manual intervention during the sheathing action.
Solution Approach 2:
The spring-powered mechanism enables the sleeve to automatically perform the sheathing function without requiring user activation. The system serves itself by using the pre-loaded spring energy to drive the guide pin and accomplish the needle coverage automatically after cap removal.
3Reliability
If a cap is used to retain the guide pin in the pin retention portion, then the needle remains covered and sterility is maintained, but the ease of operation decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The cap is pre-assembled on the syringe with the guide pin retention member positioned to hold the guide pin in the retention portion. This preliminary configuration maintains needle sterility and coverage until the cap is intentionally removed to initiate the automatic sheathing sequence.
Solution Approach 2:
The guide track provides tactile feedback through its three distinct portions (retention, travel, lockout) that guide the user through the operation. The accordion portion of the collar provides visual feedback through expansion and contraction, and tactile feedback through clicking sensations, confirming the needle is properly sheathed and the device is safe.
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 system effectively reduces the risk of needlestick injuries by ensuring the needle is always covered after use, providing a secure mechanism to prevent re-exposure and offering clear indication of tampering, thus enhancing user safety and infection prevention.
Implementation Method 1
A spring may couple to the collar and the sleeve. In some embodiments, the spring may be a torqueable compression spring
Implementation Method 2
The outer collar may also have an accordion portion configured to flex under rotational stress. The accordion portions may relieve stresses imparted to the outer collar by the spring
Data Source
AI summary
A syringe safety system may include a sleeve. The sleeve may include a guide track formed in the sleeve. The guide track may have a guide pin retention portion, a travel portion, and a lockout portion. The syringe safety system may include a collar having a guide from an exterior surface of the collar. A spring may extend between and be coupled to the collar and the sleeve. A cap may engage the sleeve. The cap may be configured to retain the guide pin in the guide pin retention portion of the guide tack. When the cap is removed, the spring advances the guide pin into the travel portion of the guide track.