Self-Powered Infusion Kit for Emergency Medication Delivery
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current intravenous medication infusion systems are complex, expensive, and often require power and trained personnel, making them unsuitable for prehospital settings where portability, simplicity, and rapid setup are essential, especially for medications like Progestins that require early administration after traumatic brain injury or stroke.
Innovation Solution
A self-contained, portable, and self-powered infusion kit that includes a prepackaged system with specific medication dosages and a variety of force applicators to drive medication into the patient's system, allowing for rapid and safe infusion without the need for AC power, and enabling inspection and replacement of medications without opening the entire kit.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional infusion pumps are used, then medication delivery is reliable and controllable, but the system becomes too complex and expensive for prehospital settings
Solution Approach 1:
The infusion system is divided into separate modular components: a reusable pump unit and disposable infusion kits. Each kit contains pre-measured medication vials, tubing, and connectors that can be quickly assembled and discarded after use. This segmentation allows the complex pump to be simplified while maintaining reliability through standardized interfaces and pre-prepared components.
Solution Approach 2:
Medications are pre-packaged in sterile vials with exact dosages already prepared and labeled. The infusion kits are pre-assembled with all necessary components (tubing, connectors, filters) in the correct configuration. This preliminary preparation eliminates the need for complex dosing calculations and assembly procedures during emergency situations, maintaining reliability while reducing operational complexity.
2Measurement precision
If electronic infusion pumps are used, then precise dosing is achieved, but power source requirements and maintenance needs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The disposable infusion kits are designed to be self-contained and self-powered. Pre-measured medication vials eliminate the need for electronic dosing calculations, and the mechanical connection systems automatically ensure proper flow rates through gravity and pressure differential. The kits require no batteries, motors, or electronic components, making them completely independent of power sources while maintaining dosing precision through physical design.
3Loss of time
If medications are pre-packaged in sealed kits, then setup time is reduced, but the entire kit must be discarded when medication expires
Solution Approach 1:
The infusion system separates the reusable pump infrastructure from the disposable medication-containing components. The pump unit can be used repeatedly with different infusion kits, while only the medication vials and associated tubing are discarded after a single use. This segmentation allows rapid setup with pre-packaged kits while minimizing waste by reusing the expensive pump hardware.
Solution Approach 2:
The infusion kits are designed as disposable single-use components that are inexpensive to manufacture and replace. By making the medication-containing components disposable rather than the entire system, the design enables rapid replacement of expired medications without discarding the expensive pump hardware, thus reducing both setup time and overall waste.
4Adaptability or versatility
If traditional kits are used, then all components are readily available, but the kit cannot be opened to replace medications without exposing the entire contents
Solution Approach 1:
The infusion kit is divided into separable modules: medication vials, tubing sections, connectors, and disposal containers. Each component can be independently accessed, removed, or replaced without exposing or contaminating the entire kit. This modular segmentation enables flexible medication replacement while maintaining a relatively simple overall structure that is easy to assemble and dispose of.
Data Source
AI summary
Embodiments of the present invention include a self-powered infuser with a medicament containing vessel coupled to the infuser capable of exerting sufficient pressure to cause a medicament to flow from the containing vessel, through intravenous tubing, and into a patient's circulatory system. The infuser and vessel may be contained within a sealable kit which may have a separate container for perishable medications such that the medications may be inspected and changed without exposing the remainder of the kit's contents. The infuser may be recyclable or disposable.