Distal tip protector for use in pre-treating medical instruments
AssigneeMedisafe UK Limited
InventorLawrence Ralph Dawson
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method of pre-treating a contaminated medical instrument that is to undergo decontamination involves inserting a distal tip of the instrument into a distal tip protector. The distal tip of the instrument is inserted through a rupturable resilient seal into an internal cavity of the protector that contains a fluid. The distal tip protector thereby maintains a fluid around the distal tip of the instrument until the distal tip protector is removed to allow reprocessing of the instrument to take place, facilitating decontamination of the instrument.
Claims15
A distal tip protector for use in pre-treating a contaminated medical instrument that is to undergo reprocessing, the distal tip protector comprising:
- an internal cavity for placing fluid in contact with a distal tip of a medical instrument inserted in the distal tip protector when the distal tip protector is applied to the distal tip of the instrument in use;
- wherein the distal tip protector is pre-filled with fluid to form a sealed chamber of fluid into which the distal tip of the instrument can be inserted, the fluid comprising a detergent or a decontaminating agent;
- a rupturable seal for closing an end of the sealed chamber, the sealed chamber being adapted to receive the distal tip of the instrument inserted through the rupturable seal, wherein the sealed chamber is defined by walls made of a rigid material;
- and
- an end cap formed as a unitary structure for retaining the rupturable seal in place, said end cap having a central aperture.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.