Oral Dosage Dispensing Device with Segmented Chambers
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing dispensing devices for oral dosage forms, particularly pellets and powders, face challenges in accurately dispensing specific volumes, leading to clogging and inefficiencies, especially with smaller particle sizes and irregular shapes.
Innovation Solution
A dispensing device with a movable member that can hold and dispense specific volumes of oral dosage forms, featuring multiple chambers and a mechanism that allows for precise control over the dispensing of solid, semisolid, or liquid medications, using a combination of sliding or rotating parts to isolate and align chambers for controlled dispensing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If conventional single-unit dispensing mechanisms are used, then device simplicity is maintained, but manufacturing precision and reliability of volume-based dosing deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The dispensing device is divided into multiple independent chambers (first chamber, second chamber, third chamber) that can be selectively aligned with the dispensing outlet. Each chamber can hold a specific volume of dosage forms, and the segmented structure allows precise control over the volume dispensed by selecting which chamber is aligned with the outlet.
Solution Approach 2:
The device employs a movable member that can shift between different positions to align different chambers with the dispensing outlet. This dynamic reconfiguration allows the same device to dispense different volumes (first volume, second volume, third volume) by changing the alignment, thereby achieving variable volume-based dosing without requiring multiple fixed devices.
2Adaptability or versatility
If smaller particle sizes are used, then dose flexibility and adaptability are improved, but clogging and reliability worsen
Solution Approach 1:
By dividing the dispensing system into multiple chambers with different volumes, the device can accommodate different particle sizes and dosing requirements. Smaller particles can be dispensed in larger total volumes using multiple chambers, while larger particles can be dispensed in smaller volumes, providing flexibility without clogging issues in any single chamber.
Solution Approach 2:
The device combines the contents of multiple chambers (first chamber, second chamber, third chamber) to achieve the desired total dose. This merging approach allows flexible dosing by combining smaller particle dispenses from multiple chambers, maintaining reliability while achieving the required dose flexibility.
3Adaptability or versatility
If multiple medication types are dispensed, then adaptability is improved, but device complexity and loss of substance worsen
Solution Approach 1:
Different medication types can be stored in separate chambers (first chamber, second chamber, third chamber), preventing cross-contamination. The movable member allows selective alignment of the required chamber with the dispensing outlet, ensuring that only the intended medication is dispensed and reducing loss of substance through cross-contamination or premature dispensing.
Solution Approach 2:
The movable member acts as an intermediary mechanism that selectively connects different chambers to the dispensing outlet. This intermediary structure ensures that medications remain isolated in their respective chambers until the correct chamber is aligned for dispensing, preventing cross-contamination while maintaining the ability to dispense multiple medication types.
Data Source
AI summary
The present application provides a device for dispensing an oral dosage form. The device includes a cartridge including one or more chambers for containing an oral dosage form, wherein each of the one or more chambers includes at least one outlet for dispensing the oral dosage form from the chamber. The device further includes a member that is movable between first and second positions, wherein in the first position the member is configured to receive and hold a specific volume of the oral dosage form from one of the chambers of the cartridge via one of the outlets, wherein the member is movable to one or more intermediate positions in which the specific volume of the oral dosage form is held and retained within the movable member such that the oral dosage form cannot be dispensed therefrom, and the member is movable from the intermediate position(s) to a second position in which the oral dosage form held within the movable member can be dispensed therefrom.