Twist-and-Tear Cap for Biological Sample Preservation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current biological sample collection systems require specialized personnel and equipment, making it difficult for untrained individuals to collect and preserve samples effectively, especially in remote or geographically diverse areas, and often result in sample degradation due to lack of controlled environments for processing.
Innovation Solution
A self-contained biological sample collection kit with a sample collection vessel and a reagent chamber that includes a sealing cap with a connection mechanism, featuring elongate ridges and a breakable tip or twist-and-tear mechanism to release preservation reagents into the sample collection chamber, allowing unskilled users to collect and preserve samples with reduced error and infrastructure needs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If specialized equipment and controlled laboratory conditions are used for sample collection, then sample integrity is improved, but device complexity and infrastructure requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The collection system is divided into separate functional components: a collection device for obtaining the sample, a vial for containment, and a preservation reagent system. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently and simplifies the overall system, enabling use in field conditions without complex laboratory equipment.
Solution Approach 2:
Preservation reagents are pre-loaded into the vial before sample collection. The reagent is contained in a breakable inner container that releases upon assembly, ensuring preservation conditions are established immediately upon sample collection without requiring subsequent laboratory processing steps.
2Reliability
If trained personnel process samples immediately, then sample quality is improved, but loss of time and accessibility worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables untrained individuals to collect and preserve samples independently. The self-contained vial with pre-loaded reagents and simple assembly instructions allows anyone to properly preserve a sample without requiring trained personnel, eliminating the time delay associated with scheduling and transporting samples to laboratories.
Solution Approach 2:
All preservation reagents and instructions are prepared in advance within the vial system. When the sample is collected, preservation automatically begins through the simple act of assembling the vial, eliminating the need for subsequent complex processing steps that would require trained personnel and time.
3Ease of operation
If preservation reagents are pre-loaded, then ease of operation is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The preservation reagent is contained within an inner container that is nested inside the outer vial. This nested structure allows the reagent to be pre-loaded and protected during shipping, then automatically released into the sample chamber through a simple breaking action when the user assembles the device, combining simplicity of use with effective preservation.
4Reliability
If breakable tip mechanism is used, then reliability of reagent release is improved, but manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The tip of the inner reagent container is manufactured with locally varied properties - specifically, the tip region has reduced wall thickness or incorporated stress concentration features that make it selectively weaker than the rest of the container. This localized weakness ensures reliable breaking at the tip upon assembly while the rest of the container maintains sufficient strength to contain the reagent during shipping and handling.
Data Source
AI summary
A biological sample collection device can include a sample collection vessel having a sample collection chamber with an opening configured to receive a biological sample into the sample collection chamber. The sample collection chamber can also include elongate ridges disposed along and projecting inwardly from an interior portion thereof. The sample collection vessel can also include a connection member disposed on an exterior portion and a fluid reservoir. The fluid reservoir can include a reagent chamber having an open end and a closed end with an elongate member disposed at the closed end that is sized and shaped to engage the elongate ridges of the sample collection vessel when arranged within the fluid reservoir. The sample collection vessel can also include a sealing cap having internal threads for engaging external threads of the fluid reservoir and a complementary connection member to couple the sample collection vessel and the sealing cap.