Surgery – Means for introducing or removing material from body for... – Treating material introduced into or removed from body...
Patent
1998-05-04
2000-01-11
McDermott, Corrine
Surgery
Means for introducing or removing material from body for...
Treating material introduced into or removed from body...
604110, 604181, 604192, A61M 532, A61M 500
Patent
active
060130598
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
THIS INVENTION relates to medical apparatus. The invention relates particularly to medical apparatus for use in removing fluid from or inserting fluid into a body.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
According to the invention, there is provided medical apparatus which includes
an elongate cylindrical member defining a chamber therein and having a formation at one end for mounting a needle assembly on the cylindrical member;
a protective element slidably mounted relative to the cylindrical member between a first, retracted position in which, in use, a needle of the needle assembly is exposed and a second, operative position in which the needle is covered; and
an urging means interposed between the cylindrical member and the protective element for urging the protective element to its second position.
The cylindrical member may be in the form of a barrel partially closed at one end, said partially closed end defining the formation, and the protective element may be in the form of a sleeve slidably or telescopically mounted on the barrel. To ensure reliable operation of the apparatus, the barrel may be circular cylindrical having an outer diameter which is only slightly less than that of an inner diameter of the sleeve, which may also be circular cylindrical, so that the sleeve and barrel can slide relative to each other and jamming is inhibited.
The apparatus may include a locking means for locking the sleeve at least in its first position relative to the barrel. Preferably, the locking means locks the sleeve in both its positions relative to the barrel.
Still further, the apparatus may include a guide means for guiding movement of the sleeve relative to the barrel.
The guide means may include guiding formations defined in the barrel with guide elements, which co-operate with the guiding formations, being carried on the locking means.
The invention has particular application in apparatus used in collecting blood for analysis. Hence, an evacuated vial is removably insertable into the chamber of the barrel for the collection of blood for analysis purposes. Thus, the needle assembly used is a double pointed, blood-collecting needle having a first needle projecting outwardly from the barrel with a second needle projecting into the chamber of the barrel, in use, to pierce a membrane of the vial to cause blood to be charged into the vial. The needles may project in opposite directions from a boss which is mounted on the formation of the barrel. The boss may be screw-threaded and the formation of the barrel may have a correspondingly screw-threaded passage defined therethrough.
The outer needle of the needle assembly is covered by a sheath when not in use. The sheath has a formation which engages the boss of the outer needle. Thus, the free end of the sleeve may have an opening defined therein in which said formation of the sheath is snugly received such that, when the sleeve is retracted from its second position to its first position, the sheath covers the outer needle and its formation is received over the boss. The sheath can then be used to unscrew the boss from the passage of the barrel.
The locking means may comprise a mounting means carried on the sleeve and a locking arrangement extending from the mounting means, the locking arrangement having the guide elements. More particularly, the mounting means may comprise a collar carried on an outer surface of the sleeve and the locking arrangement may comprise a pair of opposed arms extending from the collar in a direction substantially parallel to a longitudinal axis of the sleeve. A free end of each arm may carry one of the guide elements thereon. The guiding formations of the barrel may be in the form of a pair of opposed, longitudinally extending slots defined in a peripheral wall of the barrel. Each slot may be substantially dumbbell-shaped having a laterally enlarged region at each end.
Each guide element may comprise a clip which co-operates with its associated slot in the barrel and which engages said enlarged region of the slot, either when th
REFERENCES:
patent: 4917101 (1990-04-01), Horn
Bianco Patricia
McDermott Corrine
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