Blood seal having a spring-biased septum
OwnerGlade H. Howellinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A blood seal having a spring-biased septum is provided for preventing the leakage of blood during the placement and use of vascular catheters and similar devices. The structure of the blood seal includes a housing with an internal channel. A spring-biased septum is placed securely within the channel such that it substantially blocks blood flow through the channel. The spring-biased septum includes an elastic plug having a pre-slit or pre-molded hole and a biasing element disposed about the elastic plug. A needle or other object may be withdrawn through the slit or hole, after which the biasing element forces the hole closed, preventing blood leakage.
Claims8
A seal, comprising:
- a housing;
- an elastic plug disposed in the housing and having a proximal end, a distal end, an outside longitudinal surface extending between the proximal end and the distal end, and a slit disposed longitudinally through the elastic plug;
- and
- a biasing element disposed in the housing about the elastic plug and in contact with the outside longitudinal surface of the plug.
A catheter assembly, comprising:
- a catheter;
- an adapter connected to the catheter, the adapter defining a cavity therein;
- an elastic plug disposed in the adapter and defining a circumference and a slit disposed longitudinally through the elastic plug;
- a biasing element disposed in the adapter about the elastic plug and in contact with the circumference;
- and
- a longitudinal element extending through the slit.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.