An Innovative Solution for Reducing the Risk of Needlestick Injuries 

West’s NovaGuard™ safety needle system is a passive safety system for Luer Lock syringes. The NovaGuard system, designed to mitigate the risk of accidental needlestick injuries, has received 510k clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.            

The sterilized device is delivered in a plastic tube that allows the user to attach the NovaGuard system to the Luer fitting without handling the needle. A plastic shield surrounds the needle before the injection is given, leaving only the needle tip exposed for injection site orientation. When the needle is pressed on the patient’s skin to administer the injection, the protective shield is activated.

As the needle is withdrawn, the shield extends forward to cover the needle fully and the shield is locked in place. Unlike “active” safety needles, the NovaGuard system provides a safety feature with no change in typical injection practice, and no necessary extra step to activate the safety feature.

The NovaGuard system benefits health care practitioners, patients and pharmaceutical companies.

• For health care practitioners, the NovaGuard system is easy to use, requires no change in drug administration technique, can reduce needlestick injuries and can improve OSHA compliance.
• For patients, injections given with the NovaGuard system can be less threatening because the needle is covered throughout the procedure.
• For pharmaceutical companies, the NovaGuard system does not require any changes to their manufacturing processes and can help compliance with safety standards, such as those required by OSHA.

Extensive field testing with nurses helped optimize the NovaGuard system’s design. These tests demonstrated the system’s intuitive, dependable and easy-to-use self-activated operation.

If you would like to learn more about the NovaGuard system, click here.

To read the NovaGuard system instructions for use, click here.