US-12623059-B2 - Multi-use blood control safety catheter assembly

Abstract

A catheter assembly comprises a catheter ( 18 ), a needle ( 12 ) having a sharp distal tip disposed within the catheter ( 18 ), a catheter hub ( 14 ) connected to the catheter ( 18 ) having the needle ( 12 ) passing therethrough, the catheter hub ( 14 ) including a valve ( 38 ) that selectively permits or blocks a flow of fluid through the catheter ( 18 ), a valve actuator ( 54 ) that moves between a first position and a second position, and a return member ( 56 ) that returns the valve actuator ( 54 ) from the second position to the first position, and a needle protection member ( 176 ) that encloses the sharp distal tip of the needle ( 12 ).

Inventors

• Weston Harding
• Jon BURKHOLZ
• Huibin Liu
• Ken Cluff
• Lawrence TRAINER
• Stephen Bornhoft
• Yiping Ma
• Weston Whitaker
• Ralph Sonderegger

Assignees

• BECTON, DICKINSON AND COMPANY

Dates

Publication Date

20260512

Application Date

20221223

Claims (11)

1. 1 . A catheter assembly comprising: a catheter; and a catheter hub connected to the catheter, the catheter hub including: a septum valve that selectively permits or blocks a flow of fluid through the catheter; a valve actuator that moves between a first position and a second position in an axial direction, the valve actuator does not engage the septum valve to close the septum valve in the first position and the valve actuator engages the septum valve to open the septum valve in the second position; and a return member that returns the valve actuator from the second position to the first position.
2. 2 . The catheter assembly of claim 1 , wherein the return member includes one of an elastic washer, a circular or radially extending silicone member, a plurality of elastic bands, rubber, elastic disk, silicone rubber, a thermal plastic, or a thermal plastic elastomer.
3. 3 . The catheter assembly of claim 1 , wherein the return member provides a force on the valve actuator to move the valve actuator from the second position to the first position.
4. 4 . The catheter assembly of claim 1 , wherein the catheter hub includes a side port; a side port valve selectively permits or blocks a flow of fluid through the side port; and the return member is disposed between the valve actuator and the septum valve.
5. 5 . The catheter assembly of claim 4 , wherein the return member does not contact the side port valve.
6. 6 . The catheter assembly of claim 4 , wherein the return member is disposed between the septum valve and the side port valve.
7. 7 . The catheter assembly of claim 4 , wherein the valve actuator includes a flange that engages the return member.
8. 8 . The catheter assembly of claim 4 , wherein the side port valve is proximal to the septum valve.
9. 9 . The catheter assembly of claim 1 , wherein the catheter hub includes a side port.
10. 10 . The catheter assembly of claim 9 , wherein a side port valve selectively permits or blocks a flow of fluid through the side port.
11. 11 . The catheter assembly of claim 1 , wherein the return member is disposed between the valve actuator and the septum valve.

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation of U.S. Nonprovisional application Ser. No. 16/912,709, filed on Jun. 26, 2020, which is a continuation of U.S. Nonprovisional application Ser. No. 15/304,304, filed on Oct. 14, 2016, which is a national stage application, filed under 35 U.S.C. § 371, of International Application No. PCT/US2015/026534, filed on Apr. 17, 2015, which claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. 61/981,223, filed on Apr. 18, 2014, U.S. Provisional Application 61/981,312, filed on Apr. 18, 2014, and U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 62/077,760, filed on Nov. 10, 2014. Each of these applications are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties. FIELD Various exemplary embodiments of the invention relate to catheter assemblies. BACKGROUND Catheter assemblies are used to place a catheter properly into the vascular system of a patient. Once in place, catheters such as intravenous catheters may be used to infuse fluids including normal saline, medicinal compounds, and/or nutritional compositions into a patient in need of such treatment. Catheters additionally enable the removal of fluids from the circulatory system and monitoring of conditions within the vascular system of the patient. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an aspect of the present invention to provide a catheter assembly in which a septum and a septum actuator provide a multi-use function for blood control, for example, in combination with a return member that allows for engagement and disengagement of the septum actuator to the septum, and where at least a portion of an introducer needle is protected after use. For example, the needle protection can enclose a distal needle tip, a distal needle tip and a needle deformation, or the complete needle. Additionally, the septum actuator can include one or more external grooves that extend axially along a distal portion of the septum actuator. The foregoing and/or other aspects of the present invention can be achieved by providing a catheter assembly comprising a catheter, a needle having a sharp distal tip disposed within the catheter, a catheter hub connected to the catheter having the needle passing therethrough, the catheter hub including a valve that selectively permits or blocks a flow of fluid through the catheter, a valve actuator that moves between a first position and a second position, and a return member that returns the valve actuator from the second position to the first position, and a needle protection member that encloses the sharp distal tip of the needle. The foregoing and/or other aspects of the present invention can further be achieved by providing a catheter assembly comprising a catheter, and a catheter hub connected to the catheter, the catheter hub including a valve that selectively permits or blocks a flow of fluid through the catheter, a valve actuator that moves between a first position and a second position, the valve actuator including one or more external grooves that extend axially along a distal portion of the valve actuator, and a return member that returns the valve actuator from the second position to the first position. The foregoing and/or other aspects of the present invention can also be achieved by a method of operating a catheter assembly comprising disposing a needle having a sharp distal tip within a catheter in a position configured to receive fluid, removing the needle while maintaining fluid flow through the catheter, enclosing at least the sharp distal tip of the needle by a needle protection member, opening a valve with a valve actuator that moves from a first position to a second position to establish fluid communication between the catheter and a catheter hub, and returning the valve actuator from the second position to the first position to block fluid communication between the catheter and the catheter hub. Additional and/or other aspects and advantages of the present invention will be set forth in the description that follows, or will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The above aspects and features of the present invention will be more apparent from the description for the exemplary embodiments of the present invention taken with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG. 1A is a perspective view of an exemplary catheter assembly; FIG. 1B is an exploded perspective view of the catheter assembly of FIG. 1A; FIG. 2A is a sectional, side view of an exemplary catheter hub and actuator; FIG. 2B is a perspective view of an exemplary septum; FIG. 3 is a sectional, side view of an exemplary catheter hub, actuator, and spring with an introducer needle inserted through the catheter hub; FIG. 4 is a sectional side view of the catheter hub of FIG. 3 with the introducer needle removed; FIG. 5 is a sectional, side view of the catheter hub of FIG. 4 with a Luer connector inserted;