Evaluating the Effectiveness of Bifid Medical Needles for Protection from Needle-Stick Injuries

Abstract

Most blood-borne pathogen transmissions in the healthcare industry are caused by needle-stick injuries, and protection from sharp invasive instruments is of great concern. Recently, a modified design of medical needles (bifid needles) has been proposed to prevent needle-stick injuries. The bifid needle is designed to provide protection for users by entangling itself with an article of personal protective clothing. The purpose of this research is to study the effectiveness of bifid medical needles for protection against needle-stick injuries. A comparison of bifid and standard needles is conducted by evalu ating the forces experienced by the needle during penetration through Spectra 1000® woven fabric using a force measurement device. A predictive model is derived, expressing resistance to needle penetration in terms of needle and fabric parameters. Our study shows that bifid and standard needles behave differently when penetrating through a fabric. The predictive model indicates that the independent parameters of fabric orientation, needle penetration depth, and needle gap and their interactions significantly affect fabric resis tance to needle penetration.