Retractable Needle Assembly With Flexible Fluid Connector
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional injection devices face challenges in maintaining needle sterility and ensuring safe, efficient drug administration without medical professional presence, particularly for self-administration, and address patient discomfort with needles.
Innovation Solution
A needle assembly with extendable and retractable needles fluidly coupled by a flexible connector, allowing one needle to pierce the skin and another to access a drug container, retracting within a housing after use, integrated into a drug delivery device with motor-driven mechanisms for controlled needle movement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If a separate needle assembly is used for each fluid, then fluid compatibility and precision are improved, but device complexity and time consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies universality by designing a single needle assembly that can accommodate multiple different fluids through a universal hub structure. The hub receives multiple catheters with different tip configurations (e.g., single lumen, multi-lumen, micro-catheters) and allows them to be coupled together, enabling one needle assembly to serve multiple functions for different fluid deliveries without requiring separate specialized assemblies for each fluid type.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements nesting by allowing multiple catheters to be coupled together in sequence within the same needle assembly. The first catheter is inserted through the hub, followed by a second catheter that couples to the first, and potentially a third catheter that couples to the second. This nested arrangement enables multiple fluid delivery pathways to be contained within a single needle assembly structure, reducing the number of separate assemblies needed while maintaining precision for each fluid type.
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple catheters are coupled together, then versatility and fluid compatibility are improved, but the risk of introducing contaminants increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the extraction principle by isolating the coupling interface between catheters within the protected environment of the hub structure. The hub receives the first catheter and the second catheter couples to the first catheter at a location that is extracted from or protected within the hub's structural envelope. This separation and protection of the coupling interface reduces exposure to external contaminants while still allowing multiple catheters to be connected for versatile fluid delivery.
Solution Approach 2:
The hub acts as an intermediary structure that mediates between multiple catheters. The hub provides a controlled interface where catheters can be coupled together, protecting the connection points from direct exposure to the external environment. The hub's structure serves as a barrier that reduces the risk of contaminants entering the system at the coupling interfaces while still enabling multiple fluid types to be delivered through the nested catheter arrangement.
3Device complexity
If a single needle assembly is used for multiple fluids, then device complexity is reduced, but manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies segmentation by dividing the needle assembly into distinct functional segments: a hub structure that receives the first catheter, and a second catheter that couples to the first. This segmentation allows each component to be manufactured and assembled separately with controlled precision requirements. The hub can be precision-manufactured to receive the first catheter accurately, while the second catheter's coupling interface can be precision-manufactured to connect to the first catheter, thereby achieving overall precision without requiring the entire multi-catheter assembly to be manufactured as one monolithic precision component.
Data Source
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AI summary
A needle assembly configured to be part of a drug delivery device comprises a plurality of extendable and retractable needles. The needles are fluidly coupled by a flexible connector, which is configured to maintain fluid connection between the needles throughout their movement. When the needles are extended, a first needle pierces a patients skin, and a second needle pierces a septum of a drug cartridge to deliver a medication. Once the medication has been delivered, the needles may then retract within a needle assembly housing. The needle assembly may also be part of a partially disposable drug delivery device and may be used with multiple different drug cartridges. Multiple embodiments of the needle assembly are disclosed.