Sharps Passing Tray Segmented Recesses for Safe Instrument Handling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Medical trays for storing instruments like scalpel, needles, and syringes lack efficient design features for safe handling and storage, particularly in preventing accidental contact with sharp edges and ensuring easy access for reuse during medical procedures.
Innovation Solution
A medical tray with longitudinally extending primary instrument receiving recesses, a finger recess, and instrument support members, featuring angled ramps and guide members to facilitate safe storage and retrieval of medical instruments, while preventing accidental contact with sharp edges and ensuring easy access for instrument reuse.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If medical instruments are stored in a simple tray without specialized recesses, then the tray structure remains simple, but safe handling and prevention of accidental contact with sharp edges is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The tray is segmented into multiple specialized recesses including a first recess for receiving the distal end of the instrument with the sharp edge, a second recess for the proximal end, and a finger recess for finger placement. This segmentation isolates the sharp edge in a dedicated receptacle, preventing accidental contact while maintaining overall tray functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The first recess acts as an intermediary structure between the sharp edge and the user's fingers. By placing the sharp edge in this intermediate receptacle rather than directly in the user's hand or on the tray surface, accidental contact is prevented while still allowing the instrument to be held and manipulated safely.
2Reliability
If the tray design includes multiple specialized recesses for instrument storage, then safe handling is improved, but the complexity of the tray structure increases
Solution Approach 1:
The tray is divided into functionally distinct segments: a first recess specifically for the distal end containing the sharp edge, a second recess for the proximal end, and a finger recess. This segmentation allows each area to serve its specific safety function while maintaining a relatively simple overall tray structure that can be manufactured as a single piece.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the tray are given different local qualities and functions. The first recess is designed with specific geometry to securely hold the sharp edge, the second recess accommodates the proximal end, and the finger recess provides a safe zone for finger placement. This local differentiation achieves comprehensive safety without requiring a completely complex overall structure.
3Ease of operation
If instruments are stored with cutting edges accessible, then easy access for reuse is improved, but the risk of accidental contact with sharp edges increases
Solution Approach 1:
The instrument is segmented into two parts for storage purposes: the distal end with the sharp edge is placed in the first recess, while the proximal end is placed in the second recess. The finger recess is positioned between these two recesses, creating a natural barrier that guides fingers away from the sharp edge while still allowing easy retrieval of the instrument for reuse.
Solution Approach 2:
The finger recess serves as an intermediary zone between the user's fingers and the sharp edge in the first recess. This intermediate structure allows the user to comfortably hold and retrieve the instrument while the geometry of the first recess ensures the sharp edge remains protected and inaccessible to fingers.
Data Source
AI summary
A medical tray (10) is adapted to receive a medical instrument (90) and has one or more longitudinally extending instrument receiving recesses (22) adapted to receive at least a part of the medical instrument (90), one or more instrument support members (30, 32, 36, 38, 40, 82) and at least one instrument access opening, slot or recess (86) at a longitudinal end of a peripheral wall, whereby the instrument (90) may be located longitudinally in the tray (10) with at least part (92) of the instrument supported on one or more instrument support members (30, 32, 36, 38, 40, 82), another part (94) may extend out of the tray via the instrument access opening (86) with a cutting edge or point of the medical instrument located in at least one instrument receiving recess (22).