Safety Blood Collection Device Eliminates Needlestick Risk

A new blood collection device is completely passive, automatically hiding the needle without the clinician having to perform any additional tasks.

The Vacuette Premium Tube-Touch safety-needle system blood collection device is designed with an integrated, multiple sample needle and safety shield safety mechanism that automatically activates through normal use, with no additional step by the user. Insertion of the first blood collection tube causes the safety shield to be automatically released, which automatically covers the needle immediately following blood collection from the patient. The Tube-Touch is available in 20G, 21G, and 22G gauges.


Vacuette tube-activated blood collection devices employ a mode of action that impinges on the safety trigger, causing wing-like sheaths to deploy around the needle. Blood cannot be drawn unless the safety system has been engaged. If the vein is missed, the phlebotomist can reposition with the same device, provided a collection tube has not been inserted into the collection device. The Vacuette Premium Tube-Touch is a product of Greiner Bio-One (Kremsmünster, Austria), and has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

"Greiner Bio-One introduced the first plastic evacuated blood collection tube on the market to provide phlebotomist, nurse, and laboratory professionals a new level of safety and product effectiveness that would help to eliminate the use of dangerous glass tubes,” said Franz Konrad, CEO of Greiner Bio-One. "We continue to provide a high level of service to the medical professional community in the products we bring to customers.”

Healthcare workers worldwide experience millions of needlestick injuries per year, and as many as two-thirds of these events go unreported; US hospitals report approximately 30 needlestick injuries per year for every 100 beds. Needlesticks have been responsible for infections from more than 20 different infectious agents, including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), Hepatitis B virus (HBV), and Hepatitis C virus (HCV). The rate of infection following needlestick exposure has been calculated for HIV as 0.3%; figures for HCV and HBV have been reported as 1.7% and as high as 30%, respectively. While most needlestick injuries carry no adverse health consequences, the possibility of infection with life-threatening microbes exists, especially with exposure to body fluids.

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