Analysis flebula with elastic stopper
The devices that overcame sepsis
Technical file
Type of innovation: Instrument
Scope: Clinical Analysis
Innovation leader: Grifols i Roig, Josep Antoni
com.grifols.labels.cabinet.year: 1916
Period: 1909-1971
Geographical scope: Spain
Economic impact: Low
Level of innovation: Disruptive
Patent: Yes
Interdisciplinary connections: -
Josep Antoni Grifols i Roig crowned his specialization in the field of clinical analysis with the establishment of a clinical analysis laboratory (Instituto Central de Análisis Clínicos) located in Barcelona, in 1909.
It was here that his twin passions for diagnostic and therapeutic medicines converged to lay the foundations of the company that would bear the family name.
The third great passion
It was also here that the key practical challenges of the day came into sharp focus. Chief among these was maintaining the sterility of samples, even when sent out to laboratories for testing. It was a challenge that was to add a third element to Grifols i Roig's expertise: technological innovation.
The fruits of that innovation were prolific. During these first years of his clinic he created eight different scientific instruments, the great majority of them used to obtain blood samples in conditions of absolute asepsis, and always with minimal pain for the patient.
“Patented in 1916 and incrementally refined until 1929, the analysis flebula ensured that taking samples for blood testing could become a straightforward routine task for any doctor.”
Making blood samples routine
Chief among these early inventions was his clinical analysis device, known as the analysis flebula. Patented in 1916 and incrementally refined until 1929, the device ensured that taking samples for blood testing could become a straightforward routine task for any doctor. It also guaranteed that any sample taken with the device would arrive at the analysis lab in an aseptic, uncontaminated condition.
The proof of its effectiveness–and the far-sightedness of its inventor–is that more than twenty years later an American company, Becton Dickinson, patented the Vacutainer, a device very similar to the analysis flebula. What's more, the instrument was an unqualified commercial success.
Bibliography
Grifols-Roig, J.A. (1913). Contribución al perfeccionamiento del método y técnica de la Reacción de Wassermann (Doctoral thesis). Depositada en la Universidad de Barcelona.
Moragas, R. (1913). La reacció aglutinant com a medi diagnòstic de les malalties infeccioses. Actes, ponència i comunicacions del Primer Congrés de Metges de Llengua Catalana, 331-379.
Moragas, R., & Grifols-Roig, J.A. (1914). Presentació d'un nou aparell per hemocultius aerobis i anaerobis. Anals de l'Acadèmia y Laboratori de Ciències Mèdiques de Catalunya, 9, 423-427.
Moragas, R., & Grifols-Roig, J.A. (1915). Presentació d'un tub de fermentació per a cultius, aplicable a la investigació del coli en les aigües. Anals de l'Acadèmia y Laboratori de Ciències Mèdiques de Catalunya, 10, 77-79.
Grifols-Roig, J. A. (1916). Un aparato perfeccionado para la obtención de muestras de sangre, destinadas al análisis. Patente española de invención, no. 62.983. Madrid: Oficina Española de Patentes.
Grifols-Roig, J.A. (1917). Aparell per a l'extracció de sang per diferents anàlisis. Anals de l'Acadèmia y Laboratori de Ciències Mèdiques de Catalunya, 238-241.
Grifols-Roig, J.A. (1919). Tractament de les septicèmies estafilocòciques d'origen no quirúrgic ni puerperal. Tercer Congrés de Metges de Llengua Catalana, 601-610.
Moragas, R., & Grifols-Roig, J.A. (1919). Discussió. Tercer Congrés de Metges de Llengua Catalana, 72-73.
Grifols-Roig, J. A. (1926). Un aparato perfeccionado para la obtención de muestras de sangre y de otros fluidos del organismo humano y animal, destinadas al análisis serológico, químico, citológico y bacteriológico. Patente española de invención, no. 100.040. Madrid: Oficina Española de Patentes.
Grifols-Roig, J. A. (1927). Perfeccionamiento de un aparato perfeccionado para la obtención de muestras de sangre y de otros fluidos del organismo humano y animal, destinadas al análisis serológico, químico, citológico y bacteriológico. Certificado de adición a patente española, no. 104.847. Madrid: Oficina Española de Patentes.
Grifols-Roig, J. A. (1928). Modelo de tapón elástico para tubos, frescos o botellas. Certificado español de Modelos y dibujos, no. 6.030. Madrid: Oficina Española de Patentes y Marcas.
Grifols-Roig, J. A. (1929). Ampollas previamente preparadas auto-aspiradoras y auto-inyectables. Patente española de invención, no. 111.456. Madrid: Oficina Española de Patentes y Marcas.
Baños, J.E., & Guardiola, E. (2017). Eponímia mèdica catalana. Les flèbules de Grífols. Annals de Medicina, 100(2), 87-90.
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