Catheter introducer with needle shield

Inventors

Erskine, Timothy J.

Assignees

Erskine Medical LLC

Abstract

A needle assembly with a needle shield is disclosed. The shield includes a lumen slidable on the needle, a holder and a needle blocking object which moves at least partially into the lumen in order to block distal movement of the needle. A spring biases the blocking object towards the needle axis. Proximal movement of the needle relative to the shield is limited by a restraint in the form of a discontinuity on the needle which abuts the shield, a tether or a tube abutting the needle hub. When the needle shield moves from a non-shielding position to a shielding position, the needle blocking object moves at least partially into the lumen. The needle blocking object is radially and axially constrained in the shielding position. The holder also prevents radial, longitudinal and circumferential movement of the blocking object. In one embodiment, the needle blocking object is a ball. A catheter adapter and tube may be threaded over the needle. The needle blocking object may also lock the catheter adapter to the needle shield, allowing it to be released only when the needle is shielded.

Core Innovation

A catheter introducer assembly includes a needle having a longitudinal axis, a proximal end, a sharp distal end, and an outer surface, and a catheter assembly having a catheter adapter and a catheter tube coaxial with the needle. The assembly further includes a needle shield assembly with a shield housing that has an internal lumen and is slidable along the outer surface of the needle. A blocking object is carried by a carrier, where the carrier includes a spring imparting a force on the blocking object.

In a non-shielding position, the carrier maintains the blocking object in contact with the outer surface of the needle. The spring force has an axial component in a distal direction and a radially inward component that biases the blocking object toward the outer surface of the needle. In a shielding position, the carrier limits inward radial movement of the blocking object relative to the longitudinal axis and allows the blocking object to further enter the internal lumen, thereby blocking distal movement of the needle.

The needle shield assembly is also associated with a restraint for preventing movement of the needle shield assembly off the sharp distal end of the needle. Further embodiments describe how the blocking object interacts with a catheter adapter interior to lock and disengage during shield deployment, and how directionally constrained movement of the blocking object is implemented.

Claims Coverage

The document provides two independent claims centered on coordinated shield deployment, spring-biased blocking object positioning, distal needle movement blocking, and a restraint preventing the shield from leaving the needle tip. A second independent claim adds a catheter adapter detent and defines blocking object protrusion and disengagement behavior.

Overall, the claims cover catheter introducer assemblies in which a slidable needle shield housing uses a carrier-spring-biased blocking object to maintain contact in a non-shielding position and to block distal needle movement in a shielding position by limiting inward radial movement and enabling blocking object entry into the shield internal lumen, with a restraint preventing shield departure from the needle tip. A second independent claim additionally includes a catheter adapter detent and defines protrusion and disengagement behavior of the blocking object relative to the catheter adapter when transitioning between non-shielding and shielding positions.

Stated Advantages

Documented Applications