Culture sampling device

Abstract

A device for obtaining a culture sample from a particular location in a body passage while avoiding contamination of the sample by materials located elsewhere in the body passage includes a stiff flexible tube. A sleeve of pliant waterproof material surrounds the tube and the distal end of the sleeve is tucked into the distal end of the tube. A bag of pliant waterproof material is bonded to the outside surface of the sleeve to form a waterproof seal extending all around the sleeve, the bag enclosing the distal end of the tube and the distal end of the sleeve. The bag has a limited burst strength and is broken after the distal end has been emplaced at a particular pre-sampling level to expose the sterile sleeve that was tucked into the tube. As the tube is inserted a short distance further, the portion of the sleeve that was tucked into the tube everts out of the distal end of the tube to form a sterile curtain surrounding the distal end of the tube and protecting it from contamination. The sample can then be taken by sucking it up the tube or, more typically, by inserting a sampling tube of smaller diameter through the tube, injecting a wash, and withdrawing the wash through the sampling tube.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.