Sensor-Enabled Sharps Container for Medication Data Capture
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Used medical devices, particularly those with needles, lose valuable medication and patient information when disposed of in sharps containers, hindering analytics and research efforts.
Innovation Solution
A medical device disposal container equipped with sensors, such as optical or RFID readers, that capture and transmit data from used medical devices before disposal, allowing for data aggregation and analysis.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If used medical devices are disposed of in sharps containers, then safe disposal is achieved, but medication and patient information is lost and destroyed
Solution Approach 1:
The sensor captures data from the identifier on the used medical device before the device is fully disposed of in the sharps container. This preliminary data capture action prevents information loss while maintaining safe disposal, as the sensor reads the identifier when the device is first inserted into the container opening
Solution Approach 2:
An identifier (such as a barcode, RFID tag, or other data storage element) is placed on the used medical device as an intermediary carrier of information. The sensor reads this identifier to capture medication and patient information without requiring direct access to the medical device itself, thus preserving information while enabling safe disposal
2Loss of information
If data is captured from used medical devices using sensors, then information availability for analytics is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The data capture functionality is extracted from the sharps container system and implemented as a separate, removable sensor component. This allows the container to maintain its simple, standardized design while adding sophisticated data capture capabilities through an external sensor that can be attached or removed as needed
Solution Approach 2:
The sensor is designed with multi-functionality to capture various types of identifiers (barcodes, RFID tags, QR codes, or other data storage formats) on different types of medical devices. This universal approach allows a single sensor design to handle diverse medical devices without increasing overall system complexity
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
Enables the collection and analysis of medication and patient information, facilitating research, tracking of medical device usage, and addressing drug diversion, while maintaining data integrity.
Implementation Method 1
The at least one sensor may be an optical sensor
Implementation Method 2
The at least one sensor may be an RFID reader
Data Source
AI summary
A medical device disposal container includes a container body defining an opening and at least one sensor proximate the opening, the at least one sensor in communication with a computing device.