Catheter with Removable Extension

Abstract

A catheter connector including a valve assembly and an access cannula. The valve assembly includes a housing with a septum, a displaceable plunger, and a distal end adapted for insertion into a catheter. The access cannula includes a distal end configured to engage the plunger. Displacement of the plunger by the cannula establishes fluid communication between the cannula and housing.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application is a division of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10 / 987,647, filed Nov. 12, 2004, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10 / 844,236, filed May 12, 2004, and a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10 / 844,276, filed May 12, 2004, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,063,685, each of which is incorporated by reference into this application as if fully set forth herein.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]There are a variety of conditions that require injection of fluids into, or withdrawal of fluids from, a patient's circulatory system. It is common to use an implanted catheter to repeatedly access the patient's vascular system. A flexible guidewire placed in the vascular system may be used to facilitate placement of the catheter, but its use would prevent the physician from capping the proximal end of the catheter to prevent fluid from exiting the catheter or air from entering the vascular syste...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The solution provides enhanced patient safety by maintaining a sealed catheter interface, preventing contamination and air embolism, allowing for easy access and multiple uses without replacing the catheter, and enabling selective access to individual lumens while keeping others sealed.

Problems solved by technology

However, in case of accidental separation of the valve cap from the catheter, the distal end of the catheter would then be exposed to the environment outside the body of the patient.

The exposed catheter lumen may increase the patient's risk of blood loss, air embolism, or infection.

The use of a cap or adapter to seal the proximal end of a catheter may increase the risk of trapping air pockets within the lumen of the catheter, resulting in an air embolism.

Furthermore, during a treatment process requiring infusion of multiple fluids through the implanted catheter, the physician may inadvertently leave the lumens unprotected between procedures, and expose one or more of the lumens to possible contaminations.