Vascular access device
AssigneeAccess Scientific, Inc.
InventorsSteven F. Bierman, Richard A. Pluth, Tu Nguyen
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An access device for placing a medical article within a body space includes a needle, a dilator, and a sheath. The dilator can be coaxially and slideably disposed about the needle, and the sheath can be coaxially and slideably disposed about the dilator. The access device can further include a inner member coaxially disposed between the needle and dilator. The needle can include a fenestration in fluid communication with a space between the needle and inner member. When the needle punctures a blood vessel, the fenestration allows blood to flow into the space between the needle and inner member to provide a visual indicator to a physician or healthcare professional that the needle is in a vessel.
Claims22
An access device for placing a medical article within a body space, the access device comprising:
- a needle comprising a fenestration near a distal end of the needle;
- a dilator disposed about the needle, a distal end of the dilator positioned distal to the fenestration;
- and
- a inner member coaxially disposed between the needle and the dilator, a distal end of the inner member positioned distal to the fenestration and proximal to the distal end of the dilator;
- wherein a space between an outer diameter of the needle and an inner diameter of the inner member defines a blood flash channel in fluid communication with the fenestration to allow blood to flow from an interior of the needle through the fenestration to the blood flash channel when the needle punctures a blood vessel.
An access device for placing a medical article within a body space, the access device comprising:
- a needle comprising a cylindrical body extending proximally along a needle lumen from a distal opening to a fenestration, an outer surface of the cylindrical body disposed at a radius r1 from the central longitudinal axis of the needle lumen;
- a dilator comprising a cylindrical body extending proximally along a dilator lumen having an inside surface disposed at a radius r2 from the central longitudinal axis of the dilator lumen, a portion of the cylindrical body of the dilator configured to be disposed about the needle distal to the fenestration;
- and
- a inner member having an inner portion, an outer portion, and a dimension defined therebetween, the dimension being less than r2−r1 such that the inner member can be positioned in a flash channel between the needle and the dilator.
A splittable sheath comprising:
- a splittable sheath body comprising a generally flexible tubular structure, a proximal end, and a distal end, the sheath body defining a longitudinal axis and being splittable into two portions along a pre-determined line generally parallel to the longitudinal axis;
- a splittable sheath hub extending from the proximal end of the sheath body defining a longitudinal axis generally aligned with the longitudinal axis of the sheath body, the sheath body and sheath hub forming an inner cavity along their respective longitudinal axes;
- and
- a valve element comprising:
- a resilient plate comprising a sealing portion extending radially inwardly from a side of the inner cavity;
- a sealing element comprising a domed first sealing surface and being supported by the resilient plate such that the sealing element is biased toward
- a position against a second sealing surface to substantially seal the inner cavity;
- and
- an annular member comprising the second sealing surface, the annular member having a central bore and a tapered top surface that decreases from an outer edge of the annular member to the central bore, the domed first sealing surface corresponding to the central bore of the annular member.
A sheath assembly comprising:
- a sheath body comprising a generally flexible tubular structure, a proximal end, and a distal end, the sheath body defining a longitudinal axis;
- a hub coupled with the proximal end of the sheath body, the sheath body and the hub having aligned openings forming a passage therethrough;
- and
- a valve comprising:
- an annular member disposed against a surface of the hub facing the sheath body, the annular member having and opening therethrough disposed in the passage;
- and
- a sealing member having an engagement portion coupled with a structure of the sheath assembly disposed generally between the surface of the hub and the distal end of the sheath body, and a seal portion projecting into sealing engagement with the opening in the annular member in a sealing position and disposed away from the opening in the annular member in an open position.
A sheath assembly comprising:
- a sheath body comprising a generally flexible tubular structure, a proximal end, and a distal end, the sheath body defining a lumen along a longitudinal axis;
- a hub coupled with the proximal end of the sheath body and having a passage therethrough;
- and
- a soft polymeric diaphragm coupled with a distal face of the hub providing fluid communication between the lumen and the passage when open and having a proximal face configured to seal against a device disposed in the passage, diaphragm and lumen of the sheath assembly.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.