Urine Specimen Container With Self-Closing Check-Valve
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional urine specimen collection devices, such as generic plastic specimen cups with screw-on lids, face challenges including difficulty for patients, especially females and elderly individuals, in handling without spillage or contamination, and pose risks of specimen contamination and mis-matching during testing.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a urine specimen container with a self-closing check-valve and attachable urine collection and test-strip containers that maintain the specimen isolated from human contact, reducing spillage and contamination risks, and ensuring proper matching of test strips with specimens.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a screw-on lid is used for the specimen cup, then the specimen can be sealed for storage and transport, but the patient has difficulty handling it without spillage or contamination
Solution Approach 1:
The invention removes the screw-on lid from the specimen cup design. Instead, a separate collection device with its own cap is used for collection, which then attaches to the specimen cup. This extracts the problematic sealing mechanism from the patient-handled portion, allowing the cup itself to remain simple and easy to handle while still providing secure sealing through the attached collection device.
Solution Approach 2:
The collection device serves as an intermediary between the patient and the specimen cup. It provides the sealing function through its own cap while being easier for patients to handle during collection. The collection device attaches to the specimen cup, mediating the transfer of the specimen while maintaining both security and ease of use.
2Ease of operation
If the patient must unscrew and re-screw the lid, then the cup can be opened for collection and closed for storage, but the specimen contamination risk increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The system is segmented into separate functional components: the specimen cup for storage and the collection device with cap for collection. The cap remains on the collection device during the entire process, eliminating the need to open/close the specimen cup itself. This segmentation prevents contamination by keeping the cup's opening protected while still allowing easy access for collection through the separate collection device.
Solution Approach 2:
The collection device cap is pre-attached to the collection device before the patient begins collection. This preliminary action ensures the sealing mechanism is already in place and eliminates the need for the patient to manipulate the cup's closure during the collection process, thereby preventing contamination from the start.
3Ease of manufacture
If a traditional specimen cup is used, then manufacturing cost is low, but the device complexity increases when adding self-closing valve and attachable components
Solution Approach 1:
The system is divided into separate, simple components: a basic specimen cup, a collection device, and a cap. Each component can be manufactured using simple, cost-effective processes. The complexity is distributed across separate pieces rather than requiring a single complex integrated structure, maintaining ease of manufacture while providing advanced functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The collection device and cap are designed as disposable components that can be manufactured cheaply and discarded after single use. This allows the system to incorporate more sophisticated features in the collection device without significantly increasing overall cost, as these components are replaced rather than reused.
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
The solution effectively prevents specimen contamination and spillage, simplifies the collection process for patients, and ensures accurate specimen analysis by maintaining the urine specimen isolated from human contact and contamination throughout the process.
Implementation Method 1
The container (1) includes a self-closing check-valve component (3) incorporating an access-portal (2) which regulates all access to said hollow-interior
Data Source
AI summary
A female urinary device including a urine stream collection container having a discharge opening and a stream collection opening, the stream collection opening being configured to surround and isolate a urethral opening, an internal baffle that cooperates with at least a urine sample container to provide a spillway to the discharge opening, where the spillway provides urine passage to a collection tank, and a probe configured for interior engagement with a vaginal opening for placement of the stream collection opening relative to the urethra opening.