UV treated catheter
AssigneeInterMED, Inc.
InventorAntoine Kaldany
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A unitary, flexible, substantially noncollapsible catheter tube of biocompatible material is comprised of hard and soft regions. The hard regions can be ring shaped or helical. The hard regions provide sufficient rigidity to the tube to prevent collapse under normal usage as the interior and exterior pressures vary. The soft regions provide sufficient flexibility to allow contoured placement of the tube. The hard regions can be created by exposing a polymer in the tube to radiation. The hard regions can also be created by periodically adding a harder material to the tube.
Claims17
A flexible, indwelling catheter and optical fiber assembly for positioning adjacent body tissue comprising:
- a catheter comprising a hollow elongated body with a wall;
- and
- an optical fiber comprising a body and a face, the fiber body provided with cladding along its length, the optical fiber extending axially along and within the body wall of the catheter, a segment of the fiber body being unclad to transmit sterilizing light radially throughout the catheter body for sterilization of the catheter and radially-surrounding body tissue.
A flexible, indwelling catheter and optical fiber assembly comprising:
- a catheter comprising a hollow elongated body with a wall;
- and
- an optical fiber comprising a body and a face, said fiber slidably mounted in the catheter body wall and movable along the length of the catheter, the fiber body provided with cladding along its length;
- a segment of the fiber body being unclad to transmit ultraviolet light radially through the catheter body for in vivo sterilization of the catheter and radially-surrounding body tissue.
A flexible, indwelling catheter and optical fiber assembly for in vivo positioning comprising:
- an ultraviolet light source;
- a catheter comprising a hollow elongated body;
- and
- an optical fiber slidably mounted relative to and extending along the body of the catheter, the fiber having a proximal and a distal end, the proximal end of the fiber being coupled to the ultraviolet light source, the fiber comprising a body and a face, the fiber body provided with cladding along its length, a segment of the fiber body being unclad to transmit ultraviolet light transmitted from the ultraviolet light source through the fiber body and radially outwardly from the fiber body against the adjacent catheter for sterilization of the catheter.
A flexible indwelling catheter and optical, fiber assembly comprising:
- a catheter comprising a hollow elongated body;
- and
- an optical fiber comprising a body and a face, the fiber body having a proximal end and a distal end and being clad except at unclad segments intermediate the length of the fiber, the fiber extending along the body of the catheter, such that a portion of ultraviolet light transmitted from the proximal end of the fiber body toward the distal end escapes radially outwardly through the catheter body at the unclad segments for in vivo sterilization of the catheter and radially-surrounding body tissue.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.