Non-Venting Blood Sample Device With Contaminant Containment

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

Conventional blood culture collection methods suffer from high contamination rates due to improper sampling techniques, leading to false positive results, increased healthcare costs, and unnecessary antibiotic use, with existing strategies failing to consistently reduce contamination without increasing needle stick injuries.

Innovation Solution

A non-venting fluid sample optimization device with an inlet, outlet, and a contaminant containment reservoir featuring an air permeable fluid resistor, which traps contaminants in the reservoir while allowing subsequent fluid samples to bypass, using passive fluidic control without moving parts or valves, ensuring clean samples are collected.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If conventional blood culture collection methods are used, then blood samples can be collected, but contamination rates are high leading to false positive results

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveblood culture accuracyVSAvoidcontamination rate

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The blood collection system is segmented into two separate pathways: a first pathway that directs initial blood flow (contaminated with skin flora) into a contaminant containment reservoir, and a second pathway that allows subsequent blood flow (clean sample) to bypass the reservoir and proceed to the culture bottle. This segmentation physically separates contaminated from clean blood samples.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The invention extracts and isolates the contaminated initial blood sample into a separate contaminant containment reservoir, removing it from the main blood sample stream. This extraction prevents the contaminated sample from reaching the culture bottle, thereby eliminating false positives while preserving the integrity of the subsequent clean sample.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

2Object-affected harmful factors

If skin antisepsis is performed to reduce contamination, then some contamination is reduced, but 20% or more of skin organisms remain deep within the dermis unaffected

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecontamination reductionVSAvoidcontamination elimination

Core Design Contradiction:

Object-affected harmful factorsVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The device performs preliminary action by capturing and containing the contaminated initial blood sample in a reservoir before it can contaminate the culture bottle. This preliminary containment of contaminants occurs automatically as blood flows through the system, ensuring that even organisms deep within the dermis that survive antisepsis are trapped in the first pathway and do not reach the culture medium.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

3Productivity

If forceful aspiration or very small hypodermic needle is used to draw blood, then blood flow is achieved, but lysis and potassium release occur rendering samples abnormal

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveblood draw efficiencyVSAvoidsample integrity

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSManufacturing precision

Solution Approach 1:

The contaminant containment reservoir acts as an intermediary chamber that receives and holds the initial blood sample. This intermediary structure allows blood to be drawn at normal pressure without forceful aspiration, preventing red blood cell lysis and potassium release, while still achieving effective sample collection through the two-pathway diversion mechanism.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

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 significantly reduces blood culture contamination by isolating contaminants in the reservoir, providing accurate sample collection, reducing false positives, and minimizing healthcare costs through improved sampling efficiency.

Implementation Method 1

an air permeable fluid resistor positioned and secured within the contaminant containment reservoir

Methodology Applied

Scientific EffectAir permeable membrane filtration: Filter (physical)

Implementation Method 2

A drawing or pulling force applied to the outlet port, such as a vacuum pressure or the pulling of a plunger of a syringe, draws a first amount fluid such as venous blood into the inlet port

Methodology Applied

Scientific EffectPressure differential: Pressure Gradient

Data Source

PatentUS12383174B2Non-venting bodily fluid sample optimization device and system

Publication Date: 2025.08.12 KURIN INC

AI summary

A fluid sample optimization device for optimizing a fluid sample includes an inlet, an outlet, a sample path connected between the inlet and the outlet, and a contaminant containment reservoir connected between the inlet and the outlet. The contaminant containment reservoir includes an air permeable fluid resistor proximate the outlet, and is arranged to receive, when a pressure differential is applied between the inlet and the outlet, a first portion of the fluid sample to displace air therein through the air permeable fluid resistor and the outlet, such that upon receipt of the first portion of the fluid sample and containment of the contaminants in the contaminant containment reservoir, subsequent portions of the fluid sample can be conveyed by the sample path from the inlet to the outlet when subsequent pressure differentials are applied between the inlet and the outlet.