News & Events
Two BD Products Win Design Excellence Awards
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Contact: Camilla B. Jenkins BD (201) 847-5369 Franklin Lakes, NJ (September 23, 1999) -- The BD UniJect™ prefillable device and the BD INTIMA™ II intravenous catheter have received Medical Design Excellence Awards for 1999. Each year Medical Device & Diagnostic Industry magazine recognizes outstanding achievements in medical device development. Form and function, cost effectiveness, user acceptance, ease of use and simplicity of training were among the factors considered by this year’s panel of eight judges.
In the case of the BD INTIMA™ II intravenous catheter, the design had to not only be functional but needed to be capable of being self-taught. The catheter was created for use in China, an emerging market where use would be widespread and training is not always available. “Health care workers know how the INTIMA II is to be used because of the way it looks,” said Chris Cindrich, industrial designer for BD Infusion Therapy Systems. “If we set the product before them, they know how it works.”
In most emerging markets, the standard of practice for infusion therapy is a steel needle with wings that are grasped during insertion. The INTIMA II has an intuitive elliptical design and a series of raised bumps to indicate where the user should grasp. Cost and manufacturing processes were a constraint because the product had to be affordable in developing countries. “Everything had to be molded into it,” said Cindrich. “You can’t apply any extraneous elements when it’s being manufactured by the millions.”
The award-winning UniJect ™, a prefillable single-use device for intramuscular and subcutaneous injections, was designed for use in developing countries, where the common practice of syringe reuse can spread bloodborne diseases such as HIV and hepatitis. The UniJect device houses medication in a reservoir that collapses after activation, inhibiting refilling.
“This is a whole new concept for delivery of injectable drugs,” said Roderick Hausser, director of R & D, BD Pharmaceutical Systems. “With a prepackaged single dose, UniJect reduces vaccine waste and encourages healthcare workers to give individual inoculations.”
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