Patent ID: 7213466

Claim:
A method for in vitro testing of tampon-and-applicator systems, comprising the steps of: (a) pressurizing an in vitro receptacle comprising a sleeve having a tampon- deflecting zone to provide a pressure of about 0.6 psi (4.1 Pascal); (b) providing a tampon-and-applicator system comprising an applicator at least partially housing a tampon in a larger tube and a smaller tube for ejecting the tampon from the larger tube, the tampon having a removal string attached thereto; (c) inserting the tampon-and-applicator system into an adaptor such that a trailing end of a larger tube of the tampon-and-applicator system is even with a trailing end of the adaptor; (d) inserting the adaptor with the tampon-and-applicator system into an entry of the in vitro receptacle such that a leading end of the adaptor is brought in contact with a base surface in the entry; (e) activating a driving mechanism to push the smaller tube to eject the tampon from the tampon-and-applicator system into the in vitro receptacle; (f) removing the adaptor with the applicator from the entry of the in vitro receptacle leaving the tampon in the in vitro receptacle; (g) inserting a pin plug into the entry of the in vitro receptacle; and (h) photographing the tampon and a low-placement positioning zone disposed inside the in vitro receptacle, the low-placement positioning zone having a width of about 30 mm and forming an anterior depth of about 10 mm of and a posterior depth of 0 mm.