Cannula safety sleeve

Abstract

The invention details a device designed to prevent dislodgment of a cannula into the eye during intraocular surgery. It consists of an adhesive tape with a hole in it that sits over the top of the cannula and attaches to the syringe to prevent the cannula ejecting at force into the eye if it does become loosened or mis threaded. It will be used during any intraocular surgical procedure. The hole is small enough to only allow the cannula to pass through but the hub of the cannula cannot fit through. The tape is then stuck to the syringe. It is easily applied and easily removed.

Description

[0001]CANNULA SAFETY SLEEVE INVENTION DESCRIPTION Cataract surgery is one of the most commonly carried out operations in the world. It is fundamentally a very safe procedure; however sight threatening complications can occur. The surgery involves the use of syringes and cannulae to inject fluids into the eye. These fluids include anaesthetic agents, viscoelastic devices, antibiotics and balanced salt solutions. The syringe should be a Luer Lock syringe which requires the hypodermic needle to be screwed on, rotating the needle clockwise thereby achieving a tight fit bond between the needle and the syringe. This is vital as if the cannula becomes disconnected from the syringe it can fly off at significant speeds into the eye resulting in potentially blinding consequences. Despite the use of these syringes the cannula can still come off and patients are losing vision because of it. In April 2018 the Royal College of Ophthalmologists and the NHS Improvement national patient safety team highlighted this safety issue. [https: / / www.rcophth.ac.uk / news-views / ophthalmic-safety-alert-detachment-of- cannulas-during-ophthalmic-surgery / ] The cannula can dislodge for three reasons: (1) The surgeon and scrub practitioner fail to adequately tighten the cannula to the syringe and / or fail to appropriately check it, (2) The surgeon and scrub practitioner tighten the cannula but it is mis threaded, and (3) The Luer lock syringe has a manufacture fault. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention details an adhesive tape that sits over the top of the cannula and attaches to the syringe to prevent the cannula ejecting at force into the eye if it does become loosened or mis threaded. It will be used during any intraocular surgical procedure. The tape has a hole in it through which the needle portion of the cannula is placed. The tape is then stuck to the syringe. It is easily applied and easily removed. The present invention thus provides a device which is applied over the cannula and secures it to the syringe to stop it flying off into the eye during intraocular surgery. According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a device which is formed of an adhesive tape with a hole for a surgical cannula. The device may secure the cannula to the syringe to prevent the cannula dislodging into the eye. The device may connect the cannula to the syringe via adhesive. The device may be sterile. The device may be easily applied and removed. The device may have its ends adapted with slits to allow secure attachment to the syringe or an elastic band may be used to facilitate adhesion. According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a safety assembly comprising a syringe, a needle or cannula connected thereto, and an adhesive tape with a hole therethrough, wherein the tape is positioned over a hub of the needle or cannula so that the needle or cannula extends through the hole, the ends of the tape are adhered to the syringe, and the tape thereby helps to secure the needle or cannula to the syringe. The hole may be located centrally on the tape. The ends of the tape may be each bifurcated by a respective slit. The safety assembly may comprise an elastic band to help adhesion of the tape. The adhesive may be at the ends of the tape, but may be located in the middle of the tape or away from the ends of the tape in other embodiments. The connection to the syringe may comprise a threaded coupling, but other connections to the syringe are envisaged in other embodiments. The needle or cannula may be for, but is not limited to, intraocular use. According to a third aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of securing a needle or cannula to a syringe, including the steps of: feeding the needle or cannula through a hole in a sheet of adhesive tape; and adhering the tape to the syringe so that a hub of the needle or cannula is retained by the tape. In the method of the invention, the hole may be located centrally on the tape. The ends of the tape may be each bifurcated by a respective slit. The method may include the step of using an elastic band to help adhesion of the tape. In the method of the invention, the adhesive may be at the ends of the tape, but may be located in the middle of the tape or away from the ends of the tape in other embodiments. The method may include the step of connecting the hub to the syringe at a threaded coupling or a different type of connection or coupling. In the method of the invention, the needle or cannula may be for, but is not limited to, intraocular use. Preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of non-limiting examples, with reference to the following figures: Figure 1 shows the image of what the device may look like before application. Figure 2 shows the image of the device fitted to the syringe and cannula. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The invention details a device designed to prevent dislodgment of a cannula into the eye during intraocular surgery. It consists of an adhesive tape with a hole in it that sits over the top of the cannula and attaches to the syringe to prevent the cannula ejecting at force into the eye if it does become loosened or mis threaded. It will be used during any intraocular surgical procedure. The hole is small enough to only allow the cannula to pass through but the hub of the cannula cannot fit through. The tape is then stuck to the syringe. It is easily applied and easily removed. The device consists of a small sheet of adhesive tape with a hole placed centrally to allow the cannula to pass through. It will be appreciated that the hole is not required to be placed centrally on the sheet of adhesive tape. It will also be appreciated that the cannula may be replaced by a needle. It is used during intraocular surgery but may be used in other forms of invasive / non- invasive surgeries and operations. The cannula is attached to the Luer lock (or any other) syringe. The syringe in this embodiment is threaded, but may be non-threaded in other embodiments. The cannula is threaded through the hole in the tape and the tape is then attached firmly to the syringe. The adhesive tape may have its ends adapted with slits and / or an elastic band may be used to assist connection to the cannula. The device may be replaced with another device consisting of a small sheet of additional adhesive tape with a hole placed centrally to allow an additional cannula to pass through. This is because the device is easily removed and replaced by the other device in order to change cannulae.

Claims

CLAIMS 1. A safety assembly comprising a syringe, a needle or cannula connected thereto, and an adhesive tape with a hole therethrough, wherein the tape is positioned over a hub of the needle or cannula so that the needle or cannula extends through the hole, the ends of the tape are adhered to the syringe, and the tape thereby helps to secure the needle or cannula to the syringe.

2. The safety assembly of claim 1, wherein the hole is located centrally on the tape.

3. The safety assembly of claim 1 or 2, wherein the ends of the tape are each bifurcated by a respective slit.

4. The safety assembly of claim 1 or 2, comprising an elastic band to help adhesion of the tape.

5. The safety assembly of any preceding claim, wherein the adhesive is at the ends of the tape.

6. The safety assembly of any preceding claim, wherein the connection to the syringe comprises a threaded coupling.

7. The safety assembly of any preceding claim, wherein the needle or cannula is for intraocular use.

8. The safety assembly of any preceding claim, comprising an additional needle or cannula, and an additional adhesive tape with a hole therethrough, wherein the additional adhesive tape is positioned over a hub of the additional needle or cannula so that the additional needle or cannula extends through the hole, wherein the needle or cannula and tape are replaceable by the additional needle or cannula and additional tape.

9. A method of securing a needle or cannula to a syringe, including the steps of: feeding the needle or cannula through a hole in a sheet of adhesive tape; and adhering the tape to the syringe so that a hub of the needle or cannula is retained by the tape.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the hole is located centrally on the tape.

11. The method of claim 9 or 10, wherein the ends of the tape are each bifurcated by a respective slit.

12. The method of claim 9 or 10, including the step of using an elastic band to help adhesion of the tape.

13. The method of any of claims 9 to 12, wherein the adhesive is at the ends of the tape.

14. The method of any of claims 9 to 13, including the step of connecting the hub to the syringe at a threaded coupling.

15. The method of any of claims 9 to 14, wherein the needle or cannula is for intraocular use.

16. The method of any of claims 9 to 15, including the steps of: feeding an additional needle or cannula through a hole in a sheet of additional adhesive tape; removing the needle or cannula and tape from the syringe; adhering the additional tape to the syringe so that a hub of the additional needle or cannula is retained by the additional tape.