Patent Application
20120220984
Catheters may be employed for draining fluids from various organs or other locations within a patient. For example, catheters may be used for draining urine, a surgical wound, or any other body location that may be beneficial. Further, it may be desirable to selectively couple and decouple such a catheter to and from a drainage system or other system (e.g., aspiration system, cleansing system, etc.), respectively, for cleaning or for any other suitable reason. Such a connection system can enable an increase in ambulation for the patient and thereby increase quality of life.
One aspect of the instant disclosure relates to a catheter connection system comprising at least two components and a deformable sealing element positioned between the at least two components configured to allow, upon deformation, fluid flow through the at least two components. Another aspect of the instant disclosure relates to a catheter connection system comprising a sealing element positioned between at least two components, wherein the components are coupled to one another by a locking member.
Features from any of the above-mentioned embodiments may be used in combination with one another in accordance with the instant disclosure. In addition, other features and advantages of the instant disclosure will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art through consideration of the ensuing description, the accompanying drawings, and the appended claims.
Advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon review of the following detailed description and drawings, which illustrate representations (not necessarily drawn to scale) of various embodiments of the invention, wherein:
a is a side, cross-sectional view of the catheter coupling system shown in
b is a side, cross-sectional view of the catheter coupling system shown in
One aspect of the instant disclosure relates to apparatuses and systems for selective coupling of a tubular member to another tubular element. Specifically, the instant disclosure contemplates that a catheter may include a connection structure for selectively coupling the catheter to another tubular element by way of a sealing element that forms a seal between the catheter and tubular element.
One aspect of the present invention, as shown in
Referring now to
In one embodiment, actuating member 110 can be disposed concentrically within cavity 100. Further, coupling member 30 can be configured with a through-center bore 130 for communicating a fluid from catheter hub 20 through coupling member 30. In an additional embodiment, actuating member 110 comprises a raised surface located within cavity 100 of coupling member 30. The raised surface of actuating member 110 can be shaped to approximate the shape of deformable sealing element 80 such that when coupling member 30 and catheter hub 20 are secured together, as shown in
In an additional embodiment, seal post 70 may be positioned near deformable sealing element 80 to facilitate deformation of deformable sealing element 80 and passage of fluids through catheter hub 20 to coupling member 30. In one embodiment, as shown in
In another embodiment of the present invention, coupling member 30 and catheter hub 20 may be secured together with a locking member 180. The locking member 180 may be any device for securing catheter hub 20 and the coupling member 30 together, for example, a so-called “living hinge clip” or any cantilevered pivoting element.
The catheter hub 20 and coupling member 30 described above can be formed from any material suitable for connection to any elongated tubular member placed within the corpus of a patient. By way of example, the connector system 10 may be prepared from of any suitable thermo-plastically formed material. The deformable sealing element 80 can be formed from a resilient material that is flexible, inert, and impermeable to fluid, such as silicone or polyurethane.
The above embodiments may be used, for example, in connection with a pleural drainage system. One example of components of a pleural drainage system are disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/595,450 entitled “Portable Hand Pump for Evacuation of Fluids” which is incorporated herein in its entirety. More specifically, the present invention may be used to connect a catheter placed within the corpus of a patient for the purposes of evacuating fluid from the corpus of the patient to a manually-operated pump and a device for storage of the evacuated fluid. The pump may be adapted to connect to an inflow conduit and an outflow conduit. For purposes of clarity, the pump, outflow conduit, and inflow conduit are all downstream from the connection system of the present invention. Near the connection of the inflow conduit, the pump can be provided with a one-way inflow valve that acts to permit flow of fluids from the inflow conduit into the interior of the pump but limits or restricts any back flow of the same into the inflow conduit. Similarly, near the connection of the outflow conduit, a one-way outflow valve permits flow of fluids out of the pump interior and into and through a lumen of the outflow conduit. This outflow one-way valve also serves to limit or restrict the back flow of fluids from the outflow conduit into the pump interior.
While certain embodiments and details have been included herein for purposes of illustrating aspects of the instant disclosure, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes in the systems, apparatuses, and methods disclosed herein may be made without departing from the scope of the instant disclosure, which is defined, in part, in the appended claims. The words “including” and “having,” as used herein including the claims, shall have the same meaning as the word “comprising.”
This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/879,673, filed Sep. 10, 2010, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/535,245, filed Sep. 26, 2006, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,177,772, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/720,443, filed Sep. 26, 2005, each of which is incorporated by reference into this application as if fully set forth herein.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60720443 | Sep 2005 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 12879673 | Sep 2010 | US |
| Child | 13469849 | US | |
| Parent | 11535245 | Sep 2006 | US |
| Child | 12879673 | US |
