Patent ID: 6652487
Filing Date: 2003-11-25
Classification: A61M

Abstract:
A venipuncture assistor for keeping sufficiently steady a distended selected segment of a patient's vein into which a needle is to be introduced, for the purpose of withdrawing blood from or introducing fluid into said vein, which comprises:a cylindrical body formed of a substantially rigid material and having a vertically disposed longitudinal axis, an open bottom, a cylindrical side wall having a substantially horizontal bottom edge, and a diameter that is substantially equal to the length of said selected vein segment, said bottom edge of said cylindrical side wall containing a first vein-receiving notch at one location and a second vein-receiving notch located in a diametrically opposite portion of said cylindrical side wall, each of said first and second notches having a downwardly facing upper edge and two inwardly facing side edges, the interior of said cylindrical body containing a vein-accommodating space extending between said notches, which space is substantially free of any member that can press against said distended selected vein segment and its associated skin and tissue when said assistor is in its operative position over the vein that is to be punctured, each of said notches being configured and dimensioned to receive with an operative fit one or the other of two opposite end portions of said distended selected vein segment and its associated skin and tissue, to limit sidewise movement of the one of said opposite end portions of the distended selected vein segment that, with its associated skin and tissue, is received by said notch, and to permit whatever sidewise, downward and/or upward movement of said needle is necessary as it is being inserted into said vein segment, said vein-accommodating space extending between said notches being substantially less laterally confining than either of said vein-receiving notches, and each of said notches being substantially constant in size under any pressure that is exerted, during normal use of said assistor, on said cylinder side wall that contains said notch, said bottom edge of said cylindrical side wall and said upper edges and side edges of said notches being free of any exposed sharp protuberances in positions to press, when said assistor is in its operative position over the vein that is to be punctured, against said distended selected vein segment and its associated skin and tissue or against the surface of the body part in which said needle is being inserted, said bottom edge of said cylindrical side wall constituting the lowermost part of said assistor, which lowermost part lies in a substantially horizontal plane, whereby said venipuncture assistor can be positioned to receive said two opposite end portions of said distended selected vein segment and its associated skin and tissue within the respective notches, and said assistor can be held firmly by the operator's finger or fingers against the surface of the patient's body so as to prevent said distended selected vein segment from moving out of the path of said needle as it is inserted in said vein segment at a point adjacent one of said opposite end portions of said vein segment.