This proposal outlines a plan to research issues leading to the development of a single use, non-reversible syringe. This product is intended to provide added safety to professionals who may handle contaminated needles from accidental exposure to disease and to help prevent the spread of disease through shared or reused syringes. The product will be developed in conjunction with professionals from the health care and drug abuse communities in order to best address the problems they have with the current generation of disposable syringes. Syringe design alternatives will result from an intensive problem identification study, and will be analyzed to produce a single optimum design, including a functional prototype and two alternative,paper designs. Syringe requirement specifications, program status reports, and a final report will round out the deliverable documents for the Phase I program. The results from Phase I are intended to lead directly to a Phase II program which will include limited production quantities of the product to be used for qualifying the design in the field while obtaining FDA approval for sales and distribution. The commercialization of the product will begin upon FDA approval, with the product marketed as a safe direct replacement for the current generation of syringes.
