Optical Insert Fixation for Photoacoustic Measurement Device
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing puncture needles with inclined leading end openings face challenges in securely fixing a light guide member due to the risk of protrusion when the inclined surface faces upward, making it difficult to maintain the light guide member close to the needle tube's leading end.
Innovation Solution
A puncture needle design with a hollow needle tube and a long needle base, featuring a light introduction portion with an obliquely extending insertion path that constrains the light guide member at specific points, allowing it to be bent and inserted into the needle tube, ensuring it is pressed against the inner surface opposite the leading end opening, thus securely fixing it.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If the light guide member is pressed against the upper inner surface when the inclined surface faces upward, then the light guide member can be positioned at the leading end, but the light guide member will protrude from the leading end opening
Solution Approach 1:
The patent inverts the pressing surface from the upper inner surface to the lower inner surface by rotating the inclined surface orientation. This inversion allows the light guide member to be pressed against a surface that provides sufficient contact length for reliable fixation without protruding from the leading end opening.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes the asymmetric geometry of the inclined surface to create different inner surface configurations. By orienting the inclined surface appropriately, the lower inner surface becomes the pressing surface, providing an asymmetric solution that simultaneously achieves secure fixation and prevents protrusion.
2Reliability
If the light guide member is pressed against the long inner surface, then the light guide member can be securely fixed, but it is difficult to maintain the leading end close to the leading end of the needle tube
Solution Approach 1:
The patent inverts which inner surface is used for pressing. Instead of pressing against the upper inner surface (which would be the long surface in conventional orientation), the light guide member is pressed against the lower inner surface. This inversion allows the light guide member to be securely fixed while maintaining its leading end close to the needle tube's leading end.
3Reliability
If the light guide member is pressed against the short inner surface, then the light guide member does not protrude, but it is difficult to fix the light guide member securely
Solution Approach 1:
The patent inverts the orientation to press the light guide member against the lower inner surface instead of the upper inner surface. This provides sufficient contact length for secure fixation while preventing protrusion, making the fixation operation both reliable and easy to perform.
Solution Approach 2:
The asymmetric design of the inclined surface allows the lower inner surface to serve as the pressing surface, providing an optimal balance between fixation reliability and ease of operation. The asymmetric geometry ensures the light guide member is securely fixed without protruding.
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 design effectively prevents the light guide member from protruding and allows for easy fixation to the inner surface of the needle tube, ensuring reliable positioning and preventing dislodgment during use.
Implementation Method 1
a light guide member that is inserted into the insertion path, is constrained at a first constraint point Y, becomes free, is bent, is constrained at a second constraint point X, and is inserted into the needle tube
Implementation Method 2
photoacoustic imaging (PAI) has been known which captures an image of the inside of a living body using a photoacoustic effect... light is incident on the light absorber from the leading end of the light guide member to generate photoacoustic waves from the light absorber
Data Source
AI summary
An insert according to the invention includes a needle tube that has an inclined surface having a leading end opening, a needle base that has a chamber communicating with an inside of the needle tube and holds the needle tube, and a light introduction portion that communicates with the chamber and has an insertion path into which a light guide member is inserted. In a case in which the light guide member is inserted into the insertion path, is constrained at a first constraint point, becomes free, is bent, is constrained at a second constraint point, and is inserted into the needle tube and a point where an extension line in an insertion direction of the light guide member in the vicinity of a chamber-side opening in the insertion path intersects a line which passes through the second constraint point and is parallel to an axial direction of the needle tube is an intersection point, a distance between the intersection point and the second constraint point is longer than a distance between the first constraint point and the intersection point.