Patent ID: 6050976
Filing Date: 2000-04-18
Classification: A61M

Abstract:
A safety catheter insertion needle retracting device comprising:a needle hub assembly comprising a needle hub and a catheter insertion needle securely affixed at a proximal end thereof to a distal portion of the needle hub, said catheter insertion needle having a sharpened tip on its distal end and an elongated cannula disposed along a longitudinal axis of said hub assembly between the sharpened tip and the proximal end, said hub portion comprising a through hole in line with said cannula for providing a communicating fluid pathway there through;a catheter releasibly affixed about said catheter insertion needle;an elongated body assembly in which said needle hub assembly is slidably affixed, said elongated body assembly comprising a distal part, which is proximally disposed relative to said sharpened tip during the catheter insertion procedure and which surrounds and encloses said sharpened tip when the needle is retracted, and a proximal part which comprises a guide path through which a proximal portion of said needle hub is confined to glide proximally as said needle is retracted; andsaid body assembly further comprising a pair of substantially rigid elongated parts each of which is hingeably affixed to the other, one end of one of the pair of parts being hingeably affixed to said elongated body part and the other being hingeably affixed to the needle hub such that the parts pivot in line with said longitudinal axis, with one of said parts rotating approximately 180.degree. to urge retraction of said needle hub and catheter insertion needle from an extended state to a retracted state whereat said needle tip is enclosed within the distal part.