Development of a Safer Needle Capture System for Interventional Radiology Needle Reinsertion; Between Life and Death: An Ethical Examination of the General Public Emergency Preservation and Resuscitation Clinical Trials 9 views

The main connection between my technical and STS research projects is the examination of the process of, and ethics surrounding, developing new medical devices and interventions. In my technical project, myself and my team developed a novel device to prevent accidental needlestick injuries among Interventional Radiologists. In my STS research paper, I examined the moral quandaries around the development and deployment of a novel intervention for traumatic cardiac arrest. To note an important difference between the two, my technical project examines a novel approach to protect physicians, while my STS research paper examines the ethics of a novel approach as it applies to the patients it will be used on. Despite this differentiation around the primary party that this examination occurs for, both topics look at the design and ethics of novel approaches to patient care. In my technical report, I detail the prototyping and iterations of a novel device that acts to automatically catch and cover the tip of a needle as it is withdrawn from its catheter. This specifically is not new, however the novel component of the design allows for the needle to not only be locked within a cover, but also to be unlocked for reinsertion in a safe manner, thereby preventing an accidental needlestick injury by the user. By creating a complex interplay between mechanical components, our novel device is able to work effectively on needles of any common size and gauge utilized by Interventional Radiologists, allowing for it to be used across a wide variety of procedures and use cases. In my STS research paper, I also examine a novel medical intervention, but this time from an ethical perspective on its use for the patient. My STS research paper dives into the use of Emergency Preservation and Resuscitation (EPR) in traumatic cardiac arrest patients, specifically as it was applied in the EPR CAT trials, and questions whether its application is ethically justified through the lens of Negative Utilitarianism. The main argument that I make in my STS research paper is that, when examined through the framework of Negative Utilitarianism, clinicians have a duty to intervene to reduce the suffering of their patients wherever possible. Of the current treatment options available to physicians in the case of traumatic cardiac arrest, EPR offers the greatest chances of reducing that suffering and reversing the dying process of the patient. While the novel device my team and I developed for our technical project does not have as heavy of ethical implications as EPR use does, my work on each project was able to influence and improve the other. By considering the various ethical implications brought to light by my examination of EPR, I was able to ensure that our technical project was designed in an ethical manner in line with the trust that physicians would place in it. Similarly, by embarking on my own design process, I was able to gain a deeper understanding and appreciation of the design process the EPR CAT trials went through.

BS (Bachelor of Science)

Needlestick Injury; Interventional Radiology; Chiba Needle; Sharps Safety; Needle Reinsertion

School of Engineering and Applied Science Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering Technical Advisor: John Angle STS Advisor: Benjamin Laugelli Technical Team Members: Jaidyn Mills, Lance Le, Nurianna Stevens

English

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2026-05-07