Patent ID: 11931526
Assignee: WAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES
Field: Medical technology (Instruments)
Classification: CPC A | IPC A

Claim 13:
14. A medical device that is controllable with a first hand of a user in which the medical device is held to deploy a catheter in a patient's body while operating an ultrasound probe with a second hand of the user, the medical device comprising:
a housing, the housing having a disk-mounting surface and a spindle fixedly secured to the disk-mounting surface and extending away from the disk-mounting surface in a direction normal to the disk-mounting surface, the disk-mounting surface being adapted for mounting a disk thereon such that the spindle mates with an opening formed in the disk to rotationally couple the disk to the housing, wherein the disk holds a coiled configuration of the catheter, the housing having a first opening formed in a forward end thereof through which a distal end of the catheter passes when the catheter is being deployed, the housing having a catheter pathway along which the catheter moves that extends between the first opening and the disk;
a first actuator mechanism mechanically coupled to the housing and to the catheter, the first actuator mechanism comprising a plurality of gear wheels, a portion of at least a first gear wheel of the plurality of gear wheels being accessible by the user to allow the user to use a digit of the first hand to rotate the first gear wheel in at least a first direction, wherein rotation of the first gear wheel in the first direction causes the catheter to be fed out of the disk and to move along the catheter pathway in a second direction as the user operates the ultrasound probe with the second hand;
a first port mechanically coupled to, or integrally formed in, the housing, the first port being adapted to introduce a fluid into the housing; and
a first valve mechanically coupled to the housing, the first valve being configured to be placed in at least a first position that allows fluid received in the first port to enter a first inner region of the housing and a second position that prevents fluid received in the first port from entering the first inner region of the housing, the first valve being controllable with a digit of the first hand to cause the first valve to be placed in one of the first position and the second position as the user operates the ultrasound probe with the second hand,
wherein the first valve comprises a cylindrical body having first and second bores formed therein, the cylindrical body being movable via a digit of the first hand of the user in an axial direction of the cylindrical body from the first position to the second position and vice versa, wherein when the first valve is in the first position, the first bore provides a pathway for fluid to flow from the first port into the first inner region of the housing and to the first opening formed in the forward end of the housing, and wherein when the first valve is in the second position, the second bore provides a pathway that coincides with the catheter pathway to allow the catheter to move along the catheter pathway between the first opening formed in the forward end of the housing and the disk.