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AssigneeZoll Circulation, Inc.
InventorsJefferey C. Bleam, George Tsai
Estimating the term…
A connector assembly for catheters having closed loop flow circuits, such as some balloon catheters and heat exchange catheters. The connector assembly comprises first and second connector bodies that may be connected and disconnected from one another. When the connector bodies are disconnected, a syringe or negative pressure source may be attached to withdraw residual fluid from the catheter's closed loop circuit and to deflate any expandable portion of the closed loop circuit (e.g., balloon or expandable heat exchanger). A one way flow valve prevents make up air or other fluid from entering the catheter while the negative pressure is being applied. Also disclosed are sterility barrier assemblies for all types of catheters. Such sterility barrier assemblies are operative to prevent contamination of the portion of a catheter that remains outside of a patient's body so that the catheter may subsequently be further advanced into the patient's body without introducing microbes or other contaminants into the patient's body.
A method for connecting a fluid inflow tube and a fluid outflow tube to a closed loop catheter that has a closed loop fluid flow circuit with a first lumen through which a fluid may flow into the catheter and a second lumen through which fluid that has flowed through the first lumen may subsequently flow back out of the catheter, said method comprising the steps of:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.