Surgical scrub system

A surgical scrub system at least a portion of which is to be placed in an essentially permanent installation in an operating room for dispensing any selected one of a plurality of sterile liquids and applying the selected liquid to an area of the body of a patient while maintaining the sterile condition desired at said area, said scrub system comprising:

• a plurality of supply reservoirs associated with said essentially permanent installation, one supply reservoir for each sterile liquid to be dispensed;
• a dispensing head associated with said essentially permanent installation;
• selector means associated with said essentially permanent installation and communicating with each supply reservoir and with the dispensing head for selectively opening communication between the dispensing head and any one of the supply reservoirs;
• an operator coupled with the selector means and capable of manual actuation to any one of a plurality of selected positions, each position corresponding to the communication of the dispensing head with one of the supply reservoirs, for manually selecting which of the supply reservoirs will communicate with the dispensing head;
• a hollow handle constructed of a sterilizable material, such as stainless steel, the handle extending longitudinally between first and second ends and including a chamber therein;
• a dispensing tip constructed of a sterilizable material and located at the first end of the handle, the tip having an external surface, an internal cavity and passages between the cavity and the external surface;
• a valve constructed of sterilizable material and located in the handle for selectively opening and closing communication between the cavity and the chamber;
• an opening located at the second end of the handle and communicating with the chamber;
• a coupling member constructed of a sterilizable material, such as stainless steel, and removably securable to the dispensing head which, as a result of said association with the permanent installation, ordinarily is not sterile, said coupling member having an external configuration complementary to the opening in the handle such that the handle is capable of being coupled asceptically with the non-sterile dispensing head via the coupling member for placing the selected liquid in the chamber of the handle while maintaining the handle sterile;
• and
• a porous swab;
• the external surface of the dispensing tip including means for coupling the porous swab thereto for selective attachment and detachment such that a liquid in the chamber will be passed to the swab through the valve, the cavity and the passages for application to said area.