Analysis of the Design Features of Suppository Delivery Devices

            This disposable suppository delivery device is widely used in the delivery of topical solid preparations in gynecology and colorectal surgery. The overall structure adopts a split push-paddle tube design, which is optimized from multiple dimensions including ergonomics, safety and hygiene, ease of use, and production compatibility, fully meeting the requirements of medical drug delivery scenarios.

  1. Humanized Design of the Outer Tube and Front End Tube

            The head of the outer tube of the delivery device adopts a smoothly tapered arc shape without sharp edges. The rounded and bluntened top can reduce friction stimulation on the mucosal tissue during insertion and avoid damaging the fragile mucosa of the vagina or anus, enhancing the insertion comfort. The inner diameter of the tube has been standardized for compatibility with common-sized suppositories, pills, and capsules, allowing for the stable containment of solid medications. During insertion, it can firmly hold the suppository to prevent premature sliding or displacement, ensuring the precise delivery of the drug to the affected area.

The tube body adopts a slender straight tube shape, with the length calculated based on human physiological dimensions to ensure that the drug can reach the designated administration depth. It is moderately thick and thin, balancing the grip stability and insertion smoothness; the semi-transparent plastic material allows for intuitive observation of the internal suppository status, facilitating users to confirm if the drug is properly placed.

  2. Design of the Push Rod Injection Structure

              The device is equipped with a built-in push rod, and the tail is equipped with a circular pressing push disc. The wide and flat push disc increases the contact area of the fingers, ensuring uniform force during drug delivery, preventing slipping, and allowing users to smoothly push the suppository with gentle force. The gap between the push rod and the tube is precisely controlled, ensuring smooth and uninterrupted movement, and the push force can be directly transmitted to the front drug, completely pushing the suppository out of the tube, minimizing the loss of dosage due to residue on the tube wall, and ensuring accurate dosage delivery. The push rod stroke also has a limit design to prevent the push rod from completely detaching from the tube, avoiding operational errors.

  3. Material and Hygiene Safety Design

               The delivery device generally uses medical-grade PP polypropylene raw materials, which have stable chemical properties and do not react chemically with the suppository drug components, preventing the release of harmful substances that could contaminate the drug. The material is resistant to ethylene oxide sterilization and meets the standards for single-use aseptic use. The one-piece injection molding process results in fewer seams and smooth inner walls, making it less likely to harbor bacteria and contaminants; the one-time use positioning ensures aseptic use from the source, meeting the hygiene requirements for private area drug delivery. The material has a moderate hardness, providing sufficient support for smooth insertion while also having a slight flexibility to reduce discomfort from foreign objects.

  4. Adaptation to Operating Scenarios

               The overall structure is simple, with few components, no need for assembly. After opening, it can be directly used for drug loading. The learning threshold is low, making it convenient for home use and self-operation. The overall outer diameter is slender, reducing the psychological resistance of users to foreign objects. It is suitable for suppository delivery in vaginal and anal areas. The shape is regular, occupying less space when stacked, facilitating single sterile packaging in aluminum foil bags or plastic bags, reducing storage and transportation costs, and also convenient for patients to carry with them.

  5. Production and Standardization Advantages

               The overall structure is suitable for large-scale automated injection molding production. The mold forming is stable, with high dimensional consistency, making it easy for pharmaceutical companies to achieve drug and delivery device packaging integration. Specifications can be flexibly adjusted for tube length and diameter to match different-weight suppositories (mainstream suppository specifications such as 0.5g, 1g, 2g). The outer tube and push rod can be separately produced and assembled, adapting to automated assembly lines, meeting the large-scale integration requirements of the pharmaceutical industry.

  6. Optimization Details of User Experience

               The entire device is free of burrs and flashings, with smooth surfaces both inside and outside. After injection, slowly withdrawing the tube can complete the drug delivery. The operation steps are simple. Compared to manual drug insertion, the delivery device can avoid bacterial contact with the private affected area of the body, solving the problems of difficult access to the drug delivery depth with hands and the suppository being prone to melting and sticking to the hand due to heat, especially suitable for suppositories that are prone to softening due to heat, significantly improving the success rate of drug delivery. In summary, this suppository delivery device integrates biological safety, ergonomics, and functional practicality. With a simple and reliable mechanical structure, it addresses many pain points of self-administration of external suppositories, and is a mature and practical auxiliary medical device packaging component in the external administration system of solid preparations.