New Device Improves Safety of Blood Collection

A new blood-collection device is designed to automatically retract into the device when a healthcare worker pushes the activation button, minimizing needle sticks and exposure to blood-borne pathogens.

In clinical trials, the device was tested by 86 healthcare workers at four hospitals and 13 phlebotomists. The participants found the device intuitive and easy to use. In addition to protecting against needle sticks, it protects healthcare workers from exposure to such blood-borne pathogens as HIV, hepatitis B virus (HBV), and hepatitis C virus (HCV). Because workers can operate the device with only one hand, the other hand is free to attend to the venipuncture site. Called Vacutainer, the device has been cleared by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for both blood collection and short-term infusion. Vacutainer was developed by Becton, Dickinson, and Company (BD, Franklin Lakes, NJ, USA).

"Blood collection is one of the common causes of the more than 500,000 needle stick injuries that occur among US healthcare workers annually,” said William A. Kozy, president, BD Clinical Laboratory Solutions. "The launch of this next-generation device represents a major technologic advancement in a market that has seen moderate improvement in the last decade.”




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