Design of foam applicator which transforms ExEm®-Gel into ExEm®-Foam

Design of foam applicator which transforms ExEm®-Gel into ExEm®-Foam

Waars, H.

Goossens, R.H.M. (mentor)
Kuipers, H. (mentor)

Industrial Design Engineering

Design for Interaction

Medisign

2013-05-31

HyFoSy (Hysterosalpingo Foam Sonography) is a gynaecological procedure to test the tubal patency of infertile females. The procedure is performed with a transvaginal ultrasound probe and an intrauterine foam, ExEm©-Foam. The foam distends the walls of the fallopian tubes and has echogenic properties. The ultrasound waves excite the air bubbles inside the foam, which in turn reflect and emit harmonic vibrations. The pulse inversion mode on the ultrasound instrument processes the returned vibrations into high contrast and sharp images. The graduation project describes the exploration of disposable mixers for the creation of ExEm©-Foam. Several foaming principles are evaluated on suitability, efficiency and feasibility. The concepts are divided in continuous and batch process categories. IQ Medical Ventures, the manufacturer of the ExEm©-Foam kit, was interested in a continuous solution, but the study shows that batch processes are more efficient, feasible and attractive. The final design is an optimization of the existing ExEm©-Foam kit. The new foam kit exists of two 10 ml Farco-Pharma syringes, one filled with 5 ml of ExEm©-Gel and the other with 5 ml of purified water. The syringes are attached to a custom connector, the LinQ. This allows the transfer of the fluids from one syringe to the other. The Venturi effect occurs due to the narrow nozzles of the syringes and causes cavitational forces to split the air bubble inside the syringe. The foam is prepared after ten repetitions of fluid transfer from one syringe to the other. The LinQ is an addition to the foam kit and is an inexpensive, disposable connector for the two syringes. The mixing setup has been redesigned to prevent disconnection problems, which caused entire ExEm©-Foam kits to be spilled. The LinQ simplifies and strengthens the fixation of the syringes, stabilizes the mixing setup, optimizes mixing efficiency and gives the foam kit a mature appearance. The LinQ is made of ABS with injection moulding and reduces the production costs of the ExEm©-Foam kit.

foam
medisign
gynaecology
ultrasound
hyfosy
contrast
bubbles
iq
medical

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:12edfd30-b207-4455-887b-2367fdc54d18

Campus only

Student theses

master thesis

(c) 2013 Waars, H.