In the medical field, it is often necessary to be able to control fluid being delivered into patients’ bodies. Check valve assemblies built for this purpose are mostly developed using hard thermoplastic outer housings which makes them very stiff. They are commonly used for procedures such as intravenous transfusion, pharmaceutical administration, and catheter/cannula sets, for as long as 72 hours at a time. These assemblies are attached to patients, which ultimately causes them discomfort due to prolonged pressing against the skin. This contact can sometimes even lead to bruising. An example of this set-up is shown below.

The purpose of this project is to redesign one of Vernay Laboratories’ check valves to make the housing softer to the touch (comfortable) to protect the patient. Nonetheless, the valve must meet the original performance requirements such as significant forward flow, adequate pressure differential, minimal reverse leakage, no impingement, among other constraints that are specified later in the documents. These requirements vary depending on the type of valve chosen to redesign by the team: normally closed or normally open. The goal of this project is to understand the chosen valve’s functionality and essence to then redesign and create a functional prototype that is more comfortable for the user. If time permits, flow sensors can be added to the valve to facilitate the fluid administration - this is the “smart” component of the project.