GB2345445A

GB2345445A - Protective sleeve for acupuncture needle

Info

Publication number: GB2345445A
Application number: GB9828734A
Authority: GB
Inventors: John Worsley
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1998-12-30
Filing date: 1998-12-30
Publication date: 2000-07-12
Also published as: GB9828734D0

Abstract

An openable sterile pack for use in acupuncture therapy contains a sterile acupuncture needle (12) with a portion of the needle shaft (14) adjacent the needle point (13) inserted in a sterile protective sleeve (10) which fits over the shaft (14) and which may be used to guide the needle (12) to an insertion location on patient.

Description

ACUPUNCTURE PRODUCTS AND METHOD Methods of applying acupuncture therapy to patients have been in continuous development for at least two thousand years, having originated in the territory now known as the People's Republic of China. Acupuncture is now practised in most countries of the world, and has been practised in the UK for about fifty years.

Fundamentally, acupuncture therapy consists of the insertion of a sterile needle into the skin/muscle of the patient at a specific and appropriate location for the desired therapeutic effect to be achieved. Multiple insertions of a corresponding number of needles may be required at an array of locations on the patient with the depth and angle of each insertion being of significance. A needle may also be rotated or any other action of manipulation may be required whilst the needle is inserted in the patient.

Acupuncture needles are manufactured in a variety of designs, usually from stainless steel. Almost all needles consist of a shaft of about 0.2mm in diameter, which incorporates the point of the needle which pierces the skin of the patient, and a handle which is at the end of the needle furthest from the patient. The length of the needle can be between about 6 and 50mm. The handle of the needle normally consists of stainless steel wire which is wrapped in a tightly bound spiral around the shaft, commencing at about the middle of the needle's length, such that a 50mm acupuncture needle would consist of a shaft of 25mm and the remaining 25mm would consist of the handle. The handle has an overall diameter of about lmm.

Accuracy is important in placing the needle at the required insertion location on the patient, and therefore the needle is normally manually guided to that location by the acupuncturist holding the handle of the needle between two fingers of one hand, and using two fingers of the other hand to guide and support the shaft of the needle close to the point of the needle. This technique means that part of the needle shaft which has been touched by the acupuncturist's fingers is inserted in the patient's body.

Any concern about the loss of the needle's sterility can be met by holding some cotton wool between the needle shaft and the acupuncturist's guiding fingers, which is currently a guideline forming part of the Code of Practice of the British Acupuncture Council. However, the use of cotton wool is not wholly satisfactory because the cotton wool is itself not sterile, and it is possible that strands of cotton wool can be pushed into the patient's body by the point of the needle.

It is an object of the present invention to provide improved acupuncture products and improved methods of applying acupuncture therapy to a patient.

Accordingly the present invention comprises an openable sterile pack for use in acupuncture therapy which contains a sterile acupuncture needle with a portion of the needle shaft adjacent the needle point inserted in a sterile protective sleeve which fits over the shaft and which may be used to guide the needle to an insertion location on a patient.

The present invention also comprises an openable sterile pack for use in acupuncture therapy which contains at least one sterile protective sleeve for fitting on the shaft of an acupuncture needle to guide the needle to an insertion location on a patient.

The present invention further comprises a sterile multi-pack for use in acupuncture therapy which comprises a plurality of separate and individually openable internally sterile enclosures each containing either a sterile acupuncture needle and a sterile protective sleeve or a sterile protective sleeve alone.

The present invention additionally comprises a protective sleeve for use in acupuncture therapy which is tubular, has a length between about 5 and 20mm, is made of a resilient sterilisable material, and has a bore with a diameter in the range 0.2 to 4mm for fitting over the shaft of an acupuncture needle to guide the needle to an insertion location on a patient.

Preferably the protective sleeve is sterile and is contained in an openable sterile pack.

The present invention also consists in a method of acupuncture therapy comprising taking a sterile acupuncture needle with the end of the needle shaft adjacent the needle point inserted in an internally sterile protective sleeve, and guiding the needle by manual manipulation through the wall of the protective sleeve to an insertion location on a patient, whereby the prevention by the protective sleeve of manual contact with said end of the needle shaft keeps said end sterile.

Preferably the method further comprises the preliminary step of taking a sterile acupuncture needle and a sterile protective sleeve, and then inserting the needle point into and passing it along the sleeve to provide a sterile acupuncture needle with the end of the needle shaft adjacent the needle point located in an internally sterile protective sleeve, the prevention by the protective sleeve of manual contact with said end of the needle shaft keeping said end sterile.

Alternatively the method further comprises the preliminary step of opening a sterile pack containing the sterile acupuncture needle with said end of the needle shaft already located in a sterile protective sleeve. Possibly, depending on the acupuncture technique being used, the protective sleeve may remain in position on the needle shaft whilst the needle is inserted in the patient.

Preferably also the method further comprises manually using the protective sleeve in supporting the needle shaft during rotation or other movements of the needle shaft whilst the needle is inserted in the patient.

Preferably further the method further comprises removing the needle from the patient by manually compressing the sleeve around the shaft whilst withdrawing said portion of the needle from the patient, the sleeve preventing manual contact with said portion and reducing any risk of injury such as needle-stick injury to the acupuncturist and/or cross-infection of a communicable disease from the patient to the acupuncturist.

Preferably further the method further comprises discarding the used needle with the sleeve on the needle shaft adjacent the needle point.

Other preferred features of the invention will be apparent from the following description and from the subsidiary claims of the specification.

The invention will now be further described, merely by way of example, by reference to the accompanying drawings, which are not to scale, in which: Figure 1 is a side elevation of a protective sleeve according to a preferred example of the invention, Figure 2 is a plan view of the sleeve of Figure 1, Figure 3 is a plan view of an openable sterile pack containing an acupuncture needle with its needle point inserted in the protective sleeve shown in Figures 1 and 2, Figure 4 is a plan view of a sterile multi-pack containing protective sleeves alone, and Figure 5 is a side elevation of the multi-pack of Figure 4.

Referring initially to Figures 1 and 2, a protective sleeve 10 for use in acupuncture therapy is tubular and is a loose sliding fit on an acupuncture needle. The bore 11 of the sleeve 10 has a diameter of about 2mm, but could be as large as about 4mm.

The sleeve 10 is made of a resilient sterilisable material such as a plastics material, typically polyethylene, and advantageously is transparent so that the needle can be seen inside it. The material may be solid, in which case it preferably has a wall thickness of about lmm, but the material may be spongy or a foam, in which case the wall thickness may be greater than lmm. The sleeve is preferably about 15mm in length, although slightly longer or shorter lengths may be preferred by different users and/or for different uses within the range of 5-20mm, depending on the length of the acupuncture needle to be used.

In use, an acupuncture needle has its needle point inserted in a sleeve 10 by the acupuncture therapist, which is easily done with a bore diameter of about ten times the diameter of the shaft of the needle. Thus, the sleeve is a loose fit on the needle. The needle point is passed along the sleeve 10 to locate the portion of the needle shaft adjacent the needle point within the protective sleeve. The sleeve 10 is then used by the therapist to guide the needle by manual manipulation through the wall of the protective sleeve 10 to an insertion location on a patient, followed by inserting the needle point into the patient whilst sliding the needle shaft as far through the sleeve 10 as is necessary. The protective sleeve 10 prevents manual contact by the therapist with the end of the needle shaft that will be inserted in the patient and hence prevents any contamination of the patient's body by any contaminating or infectious agents or body fluids potentially present on the therapist's fingers. The use of cotton wool for guiding the needle shaft is also obviated.

Conventionally the acupuncture needle is sterile before use, and preferably at least the interior of the sleeve 10 is sterile so that the sterility of the needle point and the end of the needle shaft that will pass into the patient is maintained sterile throughout the process of needle insertion, manipulation, withdrawal and disposal.

Figure 3 shows an acupuncture needle i2 of which the needle point 13 has already been inserted in a protective sleeve 10.

In this case, the sleeve can be a tight sliding fit on the needle shaft, i. e. have a bore of a diameter of about 0.2mm.

The needle point 13 has been passed into and along the bore 11 of the sleeve 10 by the assembly/packaging machinery, so that the portion of the shaft 14 adjacent the needle point 13 is located in the sleeve and separated from manual contact with the therapist's fingers. The needle 12, complete with its elongated handle 15 and the sleeve 10, is sealed in an openable sterile pack 16 with a peel-back paper tab 17. The therapist can readily peel back the tab 17 which peels off the front of the pack 16, and then lift out the needle 12 by its handle 15.

Whilst holding the shaft 14 between two fingers on one hand, the therapist can use two fingers of his other hand against the sleeve 10 to guide the needle point to the required insertion location on the patient. If the sleeve is a tight sliding fit on the needle shaft, it can usefully stiffen the portion concerned of the needle shaft during penetration of the patient's skin.

If required, the openable sterile pack 16 may contain a large bore diameter sleeve 10 without the needle 12. A pack 16 is then opened each time the therapist needs a sleeve 10 to put onto a needle 12, as described above in relation to Figures 1 and 2.

Figures 4 and 5 show a sterile multi-pack 20 comprising a plurality of separate and individually openable internally sterile enclosures 21 each removably attached to its neighbours by perforated joins 22. Each enclosure 21 has its own peel-back tab 23 to peel off the front of the enclosure 21 to access its interior. Each enclosure 21 is shown containing a sterile sleeve 10, but alternatively it may contain a sterile acupuncture needle 12 complete with a sleeve 10 as shown in Figure 3.

The protective sleeve 10 may be left on the needle shaft 14 whilst the needle 12 in inserted in the patient, particularly to support the needle shaft 14 during rotation or other movements of the needle shaft 14. Alternatively, once the needle has been inserted in the patient, the sleeve 10 may be removed from the needle by being slid over the handle 15, the 2mm bore of the sleeve easily slipping over the lmm diameter of the handle 15.

To remove the needle 12 with the sleeve 10 on it, the therapist can manually compress the sleeve 10 around the needle 12 whilst withdrawing the needle 12 from the patient, the sleeve 10 preventing manual contact with the end of the needle shaft and reducing any risk of injury. The needle may then be safely discarded with the sleeve still on the needle shaft into a conventional sharps box for appropriate disposal by incineration.

Claims

CLAIMS 1. An openable sterile pack for use in acupuncture therapy which contains a sterile acupuncture needle with a portion of the needle shaft adjacent the needle point inserted in a sterile protective sleeve which fits over the shaft and which may be used to guide the needle to an insertion location on a patient.
2. An openable sterile pack for use in acupuncture therapy which contains at least one sterile protective sleeve for fitting on the shaft of an acupuncture needle to guide the needle to an insertion location on a patient.
3. A sterile multi-pack for use in acupuncture therapy which comprises a plurality of separate and individually openable internally sterile enclosures each containing either a sterile acupuncture needle and a sterile protective sleeve according to Claim 1, or a sterile protective sleeve according to Claim 2.
4. P protective sleeve for use in acupuncture therapy which is tubular, has a length between about 5 and 20mm, is made of a resilient sterilisable material, and has a bore with a diameter in the range 0.2 to 4mm for fitting over the shaft of an acupuncture needle to guide the needle to an insertion location on a patient.
5. A protective sleeve according to Claim 4 which is sterile and is contained in an openable sterile pack.
6. A method of acupuncture therapy comprising taking a sterile acupuncture needle with an end of the needle shaft adjacent the needle point inserted in an internally sterile protective sleeve, and guiding the needle by manual manipulation through the wall of the protective sleeve to an insertion location on a patient, whereby the prevention by the protective sleeve of manual contact with said end of the needle shaft keeps said end sterile.
7. A method according to Claim 6 further comprising the preliminary step of taking a sterile acupuncture needle and a sterile protective sleeve, and then inserting the needle point into and passing it along the sleeve to provide a sterile acupuncture needle with the portion of the needle shaft adjacent th needle point located ; n sleeve, the prevention by the protective sleeve of manua contact with said end of the needle shaft keeping said end sterile.
8. A method according to Claim 6 further comprising the preliminary step of opening a sterile pack containing the sterile acupuncture needle with said portion of the needle shaft already located in a sterile protective sleeve.
9. A method according to any one of Claims 6-8 wherein the protective sleeve is in position on the needle shaft whilst the needle is inserted in the patient.
10. A method according to Claim 9 further comprising manually using the protective sleeve in supporting the needle shaft during rotation or other movements of the needle shaft whilst the needle is inserted in the patient.
11. A method according to Claims 9 or 10 further comprising removing the needle from the patient by manually compressing the sleeve around the shaft whilst withdrawing said portion of the needle from the patient, the sleeve preventing manual contact with said portion of the needle shaft and reducing any risk of injury.
12. A method according to Claim 11 further comprising discarding the used needle with the sleeve on the needle shaft adjacent the needle point.
13. A protective sleeve for use in acupuncture therapy substantially as herein described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings.
14. A sterile multi-pack for use in acupuncture therapy substantially as herein described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings.
15. An openable sterile pack for use in acupuncture therapy substantially as herein described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings.
16. A method of acupuncture therapy substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.