Hemostasis cannula

A hemostasis cannula comprising:

• a housing having a passage to receive a catheter and an abutting surface;
• a cap coupled to said housing, said cap having an opening and defining a recess having at least one internal wall adjacent to said abutting surface;
• a body formed from a pliable material and placed in contact with said internal wall and said abutting surface, said body having a first planar face, a second planar face and a peripheral edge separating said faces, said first face including a slit extending across said first planar face and defining a slit plane that intersects said peripheral edge at at least one point, said slit extending only partly through said body, said second planar face including an opening, said face opening extending partly through said body, said slit intersecting said opening within said body;
• said slit and said opening being formed in said body while unstressed before being placed in contact with said internal wall and said abutting surface;
• said body having a length dimension perpendicular to said slit plane and a width dimension perpendicular to said length dimension, said length dimension of said body being greater than a length dimension defined by said internal wall, said width dimension of said body being less than a width dimension defined by said internal wall, wherein, when said body is placed into contact with said internal wall, said body is compressed only in a direction substantially perpendicular to said slit plane to maintain a fluid tight seal through said body and wherein at said at least one point at which said peripheral edge is intersected by said slit plane no portion of said body contacts said internal wall.

A method for making a hemostasis cannula comprising the steps of:

• providing a housing having proximal and distal ends, said housing including a cap having an opening and also having a recess defined by at least one wall, said housing including an abutting surface and a passage sized to receive a catheter, said recess having a recess height dimension and a recess width dimension perpendicular to said recess height dimension;
• providing a body formed from a pliable material, said body having a first planar face, a second planar face and a peripheral edge separating said faces, said first planar face including a slit extending only partly through said body and defining a slit plane that intersects said peripheral edge at at least one point, said second planar face including an opening, said face opening extending partly through said body, said slit intersecting said opening within said body, wherein said body additionally includes a body height dimension and a body width dimension perpendicular to said body height dimension and parallel to said slit plane, said body height dimension being greater than said recess height dimension and said body width dimension being less than said recess width dimension, said slit and said opening being formed in said body while unstressed before being received in said recess;
• receiving said body within said recess with said second face directed towards said proximal end of said housing such that said body contacts said wall and said abutting surface and said body is compressed only in a direction substantially perpendicular to said slit plane when said body is received within said recess and such that at said at least one point at which said peripheral edge is intersected by said slit plane no portion of said body contacts said at least one wall of said recess.

A hemostasis cannula, comprising:

• a housing defining a passage for receiving a catheter;
• a cap coupled to said housing, said cap defining a cap opening to receive the catheter and a cap recess, said cap recess having a height and a width;
• a valve body sandwiched in said cap recess between said housing and said cap to seal said passage in said housing, said valve body being formed from a pliable material, said valve body including
• a first face having a slit extending across said first face to define a slit plane, wherein said valve body has a height that is perpendicular to said slit plane,
• a second face defining a valve body opening directed towards said cap opening in said cap, said valve body opening extending into the valve body, wherein said slit extends only partly through said valve body to intersect said valve body opening within said valve body, and
• a peripheral edge separating said first face from said second face, wherein said peripheral edge includes a pair of parallel planar surfaces that extend perpendicular with respect to said slit plane, said parallel planar surfaces defining a width of said valve body that is perpendicular to said height of said valve body, wherein said height of said valve body is greater than said width of said valve body;
• wherein said height of said valve body is greater than said height of said recess when said valve body is in an uncompressed state;
• wherein said valve body is compressed within said cap recess to reduce said height of said valve body to fit in said cap recess;
• wherein said width of said valve body is less than said width of said recess when said valve body is compressed within said end cap;
• and
• wherein said parallel planar surfaces allow said width of said valve body to expand without said parallel planar surfaces contacting said cap when said valve body is compressed in said cap recess and to permit said valve body to compress only in a direction substantially perpendicular to said slit plane to maintain a fluid tight seal through said slit in said valve body.