Prick Test Kit Segmented Vials Sterile Access
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current prick test kits face issues with antigen sterility after initial use, as the sterile barrier is broken when accessing the antigen, leading to potential contamination and reduced sterility for subsequent uses, limiting the kit's effectiveness for multiple tests.
Innovation Solution
A prick test kit design featuring a bottom tray with vials of antigens and a penetrating plate with piercing needles, where each vial has a rubber cap for sterile access, ensuring each use maintains sterility and allowing for multiple antigen applications without re-contamination.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a single sterile bottle of antigen is accessed multiple times with a needle, then the antigen can be used for multiple tests, but the sterile barrier is broken and contamination risk increases
Solution Approach 1:
The antigen is divided into multiple separate sterile vials, each containing a portion of the total antigen. Each vial can be independently accessed once, eliminating cross-contamination between uses. The penetrating plate with multiple needles allows simultaneous access to multiple vials, maintaining productivity while ensuring each antigen portion remains sterile until use.
Solution Approach 2:
The vials are pre-filled and sealed with rubber caps before use. The penetrating plate with needles is prepared in advance but remains separated from the vials until the moment of testing. This preliminary preparation allows the system to maintain sterility while being ready for immediate use, as the barrier is only broken when actually needed.
2Ease of operation
If a needle penetrates the rubber cap to access antigen, then the antigen can be extracted, but the rubber cap sterility is compromised for subsequent uses
Solution Approach 1:
Each vial is designed for single-use with a disposable rubber cap that is pierced by the needle. After one penetration, the vial is discarded, ensuring no re-contamination occurs. This approach treats each vial-cap-needle combination as a disposable unit, eliminating the need to preserve sterility of the same cap for multiple uses while maintaining ease of antigen extraction.
Solution Approach 2:
The total antigen supply is segmented into multiple single-use vials. Each vial with its rubber cap is designed to be accessed only once, converting the problem of maintaining sterility in a reusable cap into a series of single-use sealed units. This segmentation allows easy extraction while guaranteeing sterility for each individual use.
3Reliability
If multiple antigens are stored in separate vials, then cross-contamination is prevented, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple separate vials and multiple needles are merged into a single integrated assembly. The penetrating plate holds all needles in fixed positions, and all vials are arranged in a coordinated manner. This merging reduces the complexity of handling multiple separate components, as the entire system operates as one unified device where needles automatically align with their corresponding vials.
Solution Approach 2:
The penetrating plate serves multiple functions: it holds multiple needles, positions them accurately over corresponding vials, and can be pressed simultaneously against the skin for multiple antigen applications. This multi-functional design handles the complexity of multiple vials and needles through a single versatile component that coordinates all elements.
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 kit ensures sterile delivery of antigens for each test, maintaining the integrity of the prick test process and extending the usable life of the antigen by preventing cross-contamination, thereby enhancing the reliability and efficiency of allergy testing.
Implementation Method 1
each of the vials having a rubber cap disposed thereon that is sterile and able to be pricked by a needle
Data Source
AI summary
A prick test kit comprises a bottom tray containing a plurality of wells disposed in an array, wherein each of the wells contains a vial of a small amount of a specific well associated antigen, with each well and associated vial having a different antigen disposed therein, each of the vials having a rubber cap disposed thereon that is sterile and able to be pricked by a needle such that the small amount of antigen can be removed therefrom. A penetrating plate is disposed above the wells and having on the lower surface thereof diametrically opposite from the vials in the wells a plurality of piercing needles, one associated with each of the wells and directed downward there to but not touching any of the files. A separating plate is disposed between the bottom tray and the penetrating plate. A sterile covering is provided for containing the entire assembly.