Challenge

Improve the design of a surge-protected flow valve to put into a medical fluid transport device, such as a needle-and-syringe. The fluid is required to leave the needle at the same speed whatever pressure is applied to the syringe.

What We Did

• Used software to explore a set of feasible designs

• Found the best feasible design

(Click on each picture to show full size)

Potential Benefits to Our Clients

• An efficient way to get from a basic idea that does not yet work to one that does work

• If the working design is novel, and not obvious to the “person skilled in the art” mentioned in patent law, it could even be patentable

• Exclusive rights to the design improvement if patentable

• The design is already a long way towards being proved before a prototype has been built

NB. This is a fictitious example in order to protect confidentiality of clients in the real cases that we have tackled.