Patent Application
20070080093
Test strips for medical diagnostic purposes are typically supplied and carried in vials from which they are removed as required by a user, for example, when a diagnostic test is to be carried out. Typical types of test strips include those used for measuring analyte concentrations, such as glucose, in a human fluid, such as blood. Test strip vials should be user-friendly and inexpensive to make.
The present invention provides a vial that has a generally annular open mouthed container that is cut at an oblique angle. At the open mouth, the wall of the generally annular container has a high side and a low side, formed by the oblique cut, where the low side is shorter in length than a diagnostic test strip allowing a user to easily manipulate individual test strips contained in the container. In one embodiment, the present invention provides a diagnostic test strip vial having a container, a lid, and a plurality of diagnostic test strips: (i) wherein the container comprises a generally annular wall terminating at a base and at an open mouth at an end opposite the base, wherein the annular wall is cut at an oblique angle whereby the wall has a high side and a low side at the open mouth, wherein the low side is shorter in length than a diagnostic test strip, (ii) wherein the test strips are disposed in the container, and (iii) wherein when the lid is closed with the container, the test strips are enclosed in the vial. The vial may also optionally comprise a desiccant.
It is often an advantage in the analyte detection industry to provide vials, test strips, and diagnostic meters that are as small as possible to allow a user to carry them with the utmost ease. However, the user of such items may be arthritic or have some other physical impairment which would hinder their ability to remove a single diagnostic test strip from a small vial. This physically impaired user may find it easier to dump the strips contained in the vial into their hand or onto another potentially contaminated surface in order to retrieve a single strip for performing a diagnostic test. Subsequently, the user may return potentially contaminated strips to the vial for storage and for future tests.
The present invention provides a user-friendly medical diagnostic test strip vial that allows a user greater access to the test strips contained in it. The vial has a generally annular open mouthed container that is cut at an oblique angle. At the open mouth, the wall of the generally annular container has a high side and a low side, formed by the oblique cut, where the low side is shorter in length than a diagnostic test strip thereby allowing a user to easily manipulate individual test strips therein contained. In one embodiment the diagnostic test strip vial comprises a container, a lid, and a plurality of diagnostic test strips: (i) wherein the container comprises a generally annular wall terminating at a base and at an open mouth at an end opposite the base, wherein the annular wall is cut at an oblique angle whereby the wall has a high side and a low side at the open mouth, wherein the low side is shorter in length than a diagnostic test strip, (ii) wherein the test strips are disposed in the container, and (iii) wherein when the lid is closed with the container, the test strips are enclosed in the vial. The vial may also optionally comprise a desiccant (e.g. a silica gel or a molecular sieve material such as that made by CSP Technologies, Inc.).
The term “oblique angle” as it is used in the present invention is understood to mean an angle that is not 90° with respect to the axis of the annular wall of the container. In
The oblique cut of the annular wall preferably extends through the entire wall. However in another embodiment the annular wall is partially cut at the oblique angle.
The low side of the annular wall of the container is shorter in length, from the base to the open mouth, than a diagnostic test strip contained in the vial. In a preferred embodiment the height of the low side of the annular wall, when measured from the base, is greater than the major diameter of the annular wall and more preferably greater than twice the major diameter of the annular wall. When the oblique angle is small, for example in a range of between 10° and 30° it is preferred that the height of the low side of the annular wall be at least twice, and more preferably more than triple, the major diameter of the annular wall so as to prevent test strips from unwantedly tipping out of an open container. In another embodiment it is preferred that the height of the low side of the annular wall be between 50% and 80%, and more preferably between 60% and 75% of the length of a diagnostic test strip contained in the vial.
The term “slidably receive” is used in reference relative to the sizing of the annular wall of the container and the lid. As used in the specification and claims of this application “slidably receive” means that the container fits within the lid or vice versa and is removable and replaceable by the user. In some embodiments, the lid fits onto the container so that the fit between the lid and the container is sufficiently tight to prevent a test strip from fitting between the lid and the container. In a preferred embodiment the lid slides onto or into the container with minimal force, for example the force applied by one hand of the user, and when the lid is closed to the container the lid remains closed to the container when the vial is inverted and the lid is subjected to the force of gravity. In some embodiments, for example in the absence of a seal as depicted in
The term “snap fit engagement” is herein understood to mean the sealing interaction between the raised sealing ridge and the corresponding depression. For example, in the embodiments where a raised sealing ridge is disposed on the inside of the lid and a corresponding depression is disposed on the outer surface of the annular wall of the container and where the lid is being closed with the container, the raised sealing ridge of the lid slides along the annular wall of the container until it reaches the corresponding depression where it is received. In other embodiments where a raised sealing ridge is disposed at the open mouth of the container and where the lid has a corresponding depression disposed on its inner side, the lid snaps directly onto the container and the contents of the vial are sealed from the surrounding atmosphere. In a preferred embodiment when the raised ridge is received by the corresponding depression a noise is made by the interaction, for example a “click”, to notify the user that the vial is sealed.
In the embodiments shown in
It is often preferred that medical diagnostic test strips be stored in a stable environment where there is reduced moisture as compared to the normal atmosphere. To maintain this reduced moisture environment it is often desired that the space within the container is sealed from the outside atmosphere using an “air-tight” seal that seals the lid to the container. In addition to sealing the container from the surrounding environment a desiccant may be employed as depicted in
In accordance with the present invention, types of seals are not limited and may include gaskets, raised sealing ridges, and stoppers among other seals. In a preferred embodiment, the vial comprises a seal disposed on the lid, the container, or both. In a further embodiment, this seal is a raised sealing ridge disposed on the lid, the container, or both and optionally further comprises a corresponding depression located on the opposite surface for snap fit engagement with the sealing ridge where the raised ridge snaps into the corresponding depression when the lid is closed with the container. The raised sealing ridge and the optional corresponding depression may be circular or oval in nature depending on the shape of the annular wall.
A circular sealing ridge is preferred in some embodiments because it provides a more rigid seal as compared to an oval sealing ridge and is able to better withstand deformation pressures thereby providing a better seal. As depicted in
The generally annular wall of the container may be circular, elliptical or oval in shape. It is sometimes preferred that the overall vial shape and also the shape of the annular wall be oval in nature so that the vial may easily fit into a carrying case for medical supplies to be carried by a user. It is also often preferred that medical test strip vials be camouflaged or appear to be something other than what they are. For example, a user may desire to have the test strip vial be in the shape of lipstick, lip balm, eye liner, a pen, or some other indiscreet object in order to downplay what is therein contained. Thus variations of the shape of the vial and its lid and/or container of the present invention are contemplated herein and do not depart from the scope of the present invention.
The material and methods used to make the vials of the present invention are not particularly limited. However, for ease of manufacture and the costs associated therewith, injection molded thermoplastic resin is often preferred.
