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

Claim 17:
18. A method for use by a user to deploy a catheter in a patient's body, the method comprising:
with a digit of a hand of a user of a medical device, controlling a first actuator mechanism that is mechanically coupled to a housing of the medical device and to the catheter to cause the catheter to be fed out of a coiled configuration of the catheter held within a catheter holder of the medical device and to move along a catheter pathway in a first direction, 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; and
with a digit of a hand of the user, operating a first valve that is mechanically coupled to the housing to place the first valve in one of a first position and a second position, wherein when the first valve is in the first position, the first valve allows fluid received in a first port of the medical device to enter a first inner region of the housing, wherein when the first valve is the second position, the first valve prevents fluid received in the first port from entering the first inner region of the housing,
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 catheter holder.