Medical Probe Connector Cover for Contamination Protection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing imaging apparatus connectors for diagnosis, such as OCT and OFDI, are prone to contamination and electrical issues due to exposure to liquids and foreign matter, leading to potential electrical shock, contamination, rust, and signal attenuation.
Innovation Solution
The connector is designed with a covered structure that prevents direct contact and exposure, using a combination of a side surface cover and connection-end surface cover made of flexible materials like PE, PP, or silicone rubber, which contracts to protect the connector during insertion and prevents contamination and wetting.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the connector is exposed for connection purposes, then ease of operation is improved, but reliability deteriorates due to contamination and wetting
Solution Approach 1:
The cover is provided in advance to protect the connector before connection. The cover预先 covers the connector surface, preventing contamination from blood, saline, or other fluids before the connection is made, thus maintaining reliability while allowing easy operation when needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The cover acts as an intermediary element between the connector and the contaminated environment. It mediates by providing a protective barrier that can be temporarily removed for connection and then replaced to restore protection, resolving the contradiction between needing access for operation and needing protection for reliability.
2Reliability
If the connector is covered to prevent contamination, then reliability is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates due to additional handling steps
Solution Approach 1:
The cover is prepared in advance and automatically engages with the connector. This preliminary preparation ensures protection is already in place before the user needs to access the connector, minimizing the additional handling steps required while maintaining continuous protection.
Solution Approach 2:
The cover is designed to automatically engage with and protect the connector without requiring separate manual installation steps. The self-service design allows the cover to snap into place or retract automatically, reducing the operational burden on the user while maintaining reliable protection.
3Loss of energy
If the connector surface is exposed, then signal transmission is maintained, but harmful factors increase due to electrical shock and corrosion risks
Solution Approach 1:
The cover serves as an intermediary barrier between the connector and harmful environmental factors. It allows optical signal transmission while blocking electrical shock, corrosion, and fluid contamination, thus maintaining signal integrity while eliminating harmful effects through the mediating protective layer.
Solution Approach 2:
The cover is designed as a flexible or thin-film structure that allows optical signals to pass through while providing effective protection against electrical shock and corrosion. The thin-film nature ensures minimal interference with signal transmission while the material properties block harmful factors.
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
This design effectively prevents the connector from becoming dirty or wet, enhancing safety and signal integrity by maintaining a sterile and dry environment during operation.
Implementation Method 1
a cover (51) having a tubular shape and movable in a second direction opposite to the first direction; and an elastic member (52) provided on the inner wall of the cover (51)
Data Source
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AI summary
There is provided a probe including a connector whose end portion constitutes a connection end surface, a first cover for covering the side of the connection end surface of the connector, which is constituted by a surface perpendicular to a first direction expressing the direction toward which the aforementioned probe is inserted, and a second cover which is constituted movably toward a second direction expressing the direction opposite to the first direction and which covers the connector by being stretched from the outer circumference of the first cover toward the second direction. Here, the second cover moves toward the second direction by receiving a press force directed toward the second direction from a wall surface formed with an opening of the adapter unit at the time of insertion of the connector into the adapter unit. In addition, the first cover is constituted so as to be broken by the connector' s press force directed toward the first direction in a case in which the second cover moves toward the second direction.