Vacuum Packaging for Medical Devices
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing medical device packaging does not effectively maintain reduced pressure environments, leading to gas leakage and potential contamination, which is undesirable for devices requiring vacuum conditions.
Innovation Solution
A packaging system that maintains a pressure less than atmospheric pressure, using gas-impermeable materials and techniques such as vacuum pumps to surround the device, thereby reducing gas diffusion into vacuum chambers and minimizing contamination risks.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional packaging is used for vacuum devices, then device simplicity is maintained, but gas leakage and contamination occur
Solution Approach 1:
The device is nested within a packaging system that maintains vacuum conditions. The packaging includes an inner vacuum chamber containing the device and an outer protective layer, creating a nested structure where the inner chamber preserves the vacuum environment needed for device operation while the outer layer provides additional protection.
Solution Approach 2:
The packaging system creates an inert vacuum environment around the device by removing gas molecules from the inner chamber. This vacuum atmosphere prevents gas diffusion into the device and eliminates contamination from external gases, thereby maintaining vacuum integrity without requiring complex active protection systems.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If gas-impermeable packaging materials are used, then contamination is reduced, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of relying solely on complex gas-impermeable materials, the system creates a vacuum environment that naturally prevents gas diffusion. The vacuum state itself acts as the barrier, eliminating the need for sophisticated material science solutions and simplifying manufacturing while effectively preventing contamination.
Solution Approach 2:
The system extracts gas molecules from the inner packaging chamber, removing the harmful factor (gas) rather than relying on materials to block it. By evacuating the chamber and maintaining vacuum, the packaging eliminates contamination without needing complex gas-impermeable barriers.
3Reliability
If vacuum pumps are used to maintain low pressure, then gas leakage is reduced, but energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The vacuum environment is established and maintained in the packaging before the device is activated. By pre-evacuating the inner chamber and sealing it, the system preserves vacuum conditions without requiring continuous active pumping during device operation, thereby reducing energy consumption while maintaining pressure stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The packaging system is designed to maintain vacuum conditions passively through proper sealing and material selection, reducing or eliminating the need for continuous active vacuum pumps. The system serves itself by using the vacuum state as a stable barrier against gas infiltration, minimizing energy requirements for pressure maintenance.
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 system effectively maintains a reduced pressure environment, reducing gas leakage and contamination, ensuring the integrity of medical devices by using gas-impermeable materials and vacuum techniques to prevent external gas influx.
Implementation Method 1
A packaging system that maintains a pressure less than atmospheric pressure, using gas-impermeable materials and techniques such as vacuum pumps to surround the device
Implementation Method 2
thereby reducing gas diffusion into vacuum chambers and minimizing contamination risks
Data Source
Figure 1A~1B
Figure 2A~2C
Figure 3
AI summary
The present application generally relates to devices for withdrawing a substance from the skin and/or from beneath the skin of a subject, and/or for delivering a substance to the skin and/or to a location beneath the skin of a subject. The devices comprise one or more skin insertion objects, such as needles or microneedles and one or more vacuum chambers having an internal pressure less than atmospheric pressure. The device is contained within an environment able to assist with maintenance of such pressures. For example, a package containing such an environment may also have a pressure less than atmospheric pressure, and/or the package may be molded to the device or otherwise have a shape that does not contain substantial gases that can "leak" into the device and alter the pressure of the vacuum chambers.