Vial Coupling Member for Extending Medicine Beyond-Use-Date
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Solution Overview
Problem
The issue of drug waste due to the inability to maintain sterility and extend the beyond-use-date of medicine from single-use vials after partial use, leading to excess medication being discarded, resulting in significant financial loss and inefficiency in healthcare.
Innovation Solution
A system and method utilizing a vial coupling member with a flexible membrane that forms a sealed environment around the vial, allowing for safe and sterile extraction of remaining medicine from the vial, extending its usable life beyond the initial puncture and reducing waste by enabling subsequent use without compromising sterility.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a single-use vial is punctured and partially used, then the medicine can be administered to a patient, but the remaining medicine cannot maintain sterility and must be discarded
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the vial access process into distinct sterile and non-sterile zones. The vial coupling member creates a sealed interface that divides the internal vial environment from the external environment, allowing the medicine to be accessed without compromising the sterile seal. This enables multiple extraction operations while maintaining the integrity of the sterile field.
Solution Approach 2:
The vial coupling member acts as an intermediary device between the vial and the extraction system. It provides a sterile barrier that mediates the connection between the non-sterile external environment and the sterile internal vial environment, allowing fluid transfer while preventing contamination. This intermediary structure enables repeated access without direct penetration of the vial seal.
2Productivity
If the vial membrane is re-penetrated for subsequent use, then remaining medicine can be accessed, but sterility cannot be ensured
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary sealing by creating a sterile barrier at the vial coupling member before any extraction occurs. This pre-established sterile environment allows for multiple subsequent extractions without requiring re-penetration of the original vial membrane. The sterile field is prepared in advance and maintained throughout the extended usage period.
Solution Approach 2:
The vial coupling member utilizes flexible membrane technology to create a seal that conforms to the vial opening. This flexible barrier maintains sterility while allowing for repeated access operations. The thin film structure provides an effective sterile barrier that can be engaged and disengaged multiple times without compromising integrity or allowing contamination.
3Reliability
If excess medicine is discarded to maintain sterility, then contamination is prevented, but significant financial loss occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables recovery of medicine that would otherwise be discarded. By maintaining a sterile environment through the vial coupling member, the system allows remaining medicine to be extracted and used for additional patients or purposes. This recovery function eliminates the need to discard excess medicine while ensuring sterility is maintained throughout the extended usage period.
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 extends the beyond-use-date of medicine, reducing drug waste and healthcare costs by allowing safe and sterile reuse of remaining medication from single-use vials, while minimizing exposure risks for healthcare workers and preventing contamination.
Implementation Method 1
a vial coupling member with a flexible membrane that forms a sealed environment around the vial
Implementation Method 2
allowing for safe and sterile extraction of remaining medicine from the vial
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus to preserve a first fluid of a medicine vial is provided. The apparatus may include a vial coupling member comprising a housing and a flexible membrane. The housing and the flexible membrane form a vial coupling member cavity within the vial coupling member. The apparatus may also include a first fluid pathway forming a first lumen that is in fluid communication with the vial coupling member cavity. The apparatus may further include a second fluid pathway forming a second lumen that is in fluid communication with the vial coupling member cavity. When the flexible membrane engages the medicine vial, the flexible membrane forms a sealed environment over a medicine vial septum. When the flexible membrane engages the medicine vial, the flexible membrane permits the first lumen and the second lumen to establish fluid communication with an interior space of the medicine vial.