Abstract:
An infiltration tubing having a one-to-many connector is disclosed herein. The one-to-many connector includes a Y-shaped body. The Y-shaped body includes a proximal inlet configured to connect to a fluid source (e.g., an IV bag or bottle) and at least two distal outlets. Each distal outlet is configured to connect to a respective fluid delivery device (e.g., an infiltration cannula, a catheter or a hypodermic needle) for infiltrating fluid into a patient.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
         [0001]    Not Applicable  
         STATEMENT RE: FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH/DEVELOPMENT  
         [0002]    Not Applicable  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0003]    The present invention relates in general to infiltration tubing and in particular to a one-to-many infiltration tubing.  
           [0004]    Infiltration tubing is used for infiltrating fluids into a patient, for example for providing local anesthesia in order to perform a surgical procedure, such as liposuction. Typically, a single source of fluid is transported through the tubing and out a single fluid delivery device, such as a needle or catheter, and into the patient. There are presently tubing connectors that incorporate a many-to-one branching design that allows two or more separate types of intravenous (IV) fluids (contained in two or more streams) to be carried by separate IV lines to be combined and funneled through a single IV line that is then infused into a single vein through an intravenous catheter. For example, anesthesia and nutrients could be delivered from separate sources to a patient through a single delivery device.  
           [0005]    There are some situations in which it is desirable to simultaneously deliver fluid from a single source to multiple sites on a single patient, for example, the infiltration of tumescent local anesthesia. If the local anesthesia (from a single source) could be delivered simultaneously to multiple sites (e.g., through multiple delivery devices, such as needles, cannulas or catheters), the time required to complete the infiltration could be dramatically decreased. Such a dramatic decrease in the infiltration time would in turn greatly decrease the patient&#39;s discomfort.  
           [0006]    Presently, if it is desired to infiltrate fluid from a single source into multiple sites on a single patient (as described above), the infiltration device (e.g., needle or cannula) must be removed and reinserted in the new location. This temporarily terminates the infiltration process. Thus, using prior art devices, multiple sources containing the same fluid (e.g., local anesthetic), and multiple peristaltic infiltration pumps or multiple peristaltic pump heads on a single infiltration pump would be required in order to infiltrate at multiple sites without terminating the infiltration process.  
           [0007]    Therefore, there is a need for a system of performing an infiltration process using fluid from a single source and infiltrating the fluid into multiple patient sites without terminating the infiltration process while the needle or cannula is removed and inserted into the new patient site, and without requiring the use of multiple infiltration pumps.  
         BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0008]    An infiltration tubing having a one-to-many connector is disclosed herein. The one-to-many connector includes a Y-shaped body. The Y-shaped body includes a proximal inlet configured to connect to a fluid source (e.g., an IV bag or bottle) and at least two distal outlets. Each distal outlet is configured to connect to a respective fluid delivery device (e.g., an infiltration cannula, a catheter or a hypodermic needle) for infiltrating fluid into a patient.  
           [0009]    An IV tube may be disposed between the proximal inlet and the fluid source.  
           [0010]    The at least two distal outlets may be substantially parallel in relation to each other. Alternatively, the two distal outlets may be in an angular relationship of less than 180 degrees with respect to each other.  
           [0011]    The proximal inlet may be attached to a proximal inlet female connector and the fluid source may include a fluid source male connector with the proximal inlet female connector configured to connect to the fluid source male connector. The proximal inlet female connector may be attached to the proximal inlet via a short tubing. The short tubing may be glued to the proximal inlet female connector and the proximal inlet.  
           [0012]    The proximal inlet female connector and the fluid source male connector may be luer connectors. The proximal inlet female connector and the fluid source male connector may have a luer slip connection or they may have a luer lock connection  
           [0013]    Each of the at least two distal outlets may be configured to connect to the respective fluid delivery device with a distal tube disposed therebetween. Each of the at least two distal outlets may be glued to the respective distal tube.  
           [0014]    Each of the at least two distal outlets may include a distal outlet male connector. Each of the respective distal tubes may include a distal tube female connector with each of the distal outlet male connectors configured to connect to a respective distal tube female connector. The distal outlet male connectors and the distal tube female connectors may be luer connectors which have a slip luer connection or a luer lock connection.  
           [0015]    The distal tubing may include an on-off switch configured to temporarily stop all flow through the distal tubing. The on-off switch may be a clamp or a stopcock. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0016]    These as well as other features of the present invention will become more apparent upon reference to the drawings wherein:  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 1 is a side elevation view of a one-to-many infiltration tubing system shown with a single fluid source and multiple (two) delivery devices;  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 2 is a side elevation view of the one-to-many branching component of the infiltration tubing system shown in FIG. 1;  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 3 is a side view of an alternative embodiment of the one-to-many branching component shown in FIG. 2;  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 4 is a side elevation view of an alternative embodiment of a one-to-many infiltration tubing system shown with a single fluid source and multiple (two) delivery devices; and  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 5 is a side elevation view of the one-to-many branching component of the infiltration tubing system shown in FIG. 4. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0022]    A one-to-many branching configuration for infiltration tubing is described herein. A one-to-many infiltration tubing branching configuration such as the one described herein allows for a dramatic decrease in the time required to complete an infiltration. This dramatic decrease in the infiltration time significantly decreases the degree of discomfort experienced by the patient during the infiltration process.  
         [0023]    Referring now to the drawings wherein the showings are for purposes of illustrating preferred embodiments of the present invention only, and not for purposes of limiting the same, FIGS. 1-3 illustrate exemplary embodiments of a one-to-many branching configuration  10 ,  40  for infiltration tubing. The embodiments shown in FIGS. 1-3 use a parallel Y connector configured to be directly connected (e.g., glued) to infiltration tubing. FIGS. 4-5 illustrate an alternative (non-parallel) embodiment in which the one-to-many branching configuration  50  includes connectors for connecting to the infiltration tubing, e.g., using slip luers or luer locks.  
         [0024]    Traditionally, (i.e., in a one-to-one configuration), IV lines  72  are attached at the proximal end  74  to the IV bag/bottle  76  by means of a spike (not shown) inserted through a rubber stopper  78  on the bottle/bag. The distal end  79  of the IV line  72  consists of a male luer connector  70  (Slip-Luer or Luer Lock). This male luer connector  70  is attached to a female luer connector of an IV catheter, hypodermic needle, or a length of IV extension tubing.  
         [0025]    In exemplary embodiments, the one-to-many arrangement of IV tubing as shown in FIGS. 1-3 has one proximal inlet  13  and multiple (two or more) distal outlets  12 .  
         [0026]    The distal end  20  of the proximal inlet  13  connects to a female connector  28 , e.g., a luer connector. The proximal end of the one-to-many connector  10 ,  40  has either a female luer connector  28  (as shown) or is permanently attached (not shown) either to an IV extension tubing (e.g., twenty-four inches in length) or directly to IV tubing  72  attached to an IV bag  76 . The distal end  20  of the proximal inlet  13  may be connected to the female connector  28  directly as shown in the one-to-many connector  40  shown in FIG. 3 or via a short length of IV tubing  22  as shown in the one-to-many connector  10  shown in FIGS. I and  2 . In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the distal end  20  of the proximal inlet  13  is connected to the proximal end  24  of the short tubing  22 . In exemplary embodiment, the proximal end  24  of the short length of tubing  22  is glued into the distal end  20  of the proximal inlet  13  and the distal end  26  of the short length of tubing  22  is glued to female connector  28 . The female connector  28  is configured to be connected to male connector  70  which is attached to the fluid source  76  as shown in FIG. 1 and described above.  
         [0027]    Each of the distal outlets  12  leads to a delivery device  82 , such as an infiltration cannula, a needle, etc. In exemplary embodiments, shown in FIGS. 1-3, the proximal ends  18  of multiple distal tubes  16  are glued directly to distal openings  14  of a one-to-many connector  10 ,  40 . The distal ends  30  of each of these tubes  16  has a male connector  32 . The male connector  32  is configured to connect to a female connector  80  attached to a fluid delivery device  82 .  
         [0028]    Each of the distal tubes  16  extending from the one-to-many connector  10 ,  40  is equipped with a simple on-off switch  34 , such as a clamp or stopcock. This on-off switch  34  allows the clinician to temporarily stop all flow through the distal tube  16 , remove the infiltration cannula  82  from the subcutaneous space and reinsert the cannula  82  into a new position while the infiltration process continues through the other cannulas  82  that remain in their subcutaneous positions.  
         [0029]    [0029]FIGS. 4-5 illustrate an alterative embodiment of a one-to-many infiltration tubing configuration  50 . The embodiment shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 has a traditional, i.e., non-parallel, “Y” shape as contrasted with the parallel “Y” shape of the embodiments shown in FIGS. 1-3.  
         [0030]    In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 4-5, the connector  50  has one proximal inlet  58  and multiple (two or more) distal outlets  52 . The distal end  60  of the proximal inlet  58  includes a female connector  62 , e.g., a luer connector. As described above, this female connector  62  can be attached to an IV extension tubing or directly to IV tubing  72  attached to an IV bag  76 .  
         [0031]    The connector  50  shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 includes multiple (two or more) distal outlets  52 . Each of the distal outlets  52  leads to a delivery device  82 , such as an infiltration cannula, a needle, etc. In exemplary embodiments, shown in FIGS. 4-5, male connectors  56  are attached to the proximal ends  54  of each of the distal outlets  52 . These male connectors  56  are configured to be connected to female connectors  90  that are connected to distal tubing  92 . The distal tubing  92  has female connectors  90  at the distal end  91  of the distal tubing  92  and male connectors  94  at the proximal end  93  of the distal tubing  92 . The male connectors  94  can be connected to a delivery device  82 , such as an infiltration cannula or needle  82  having a female connector  80 .  
         [0032]    Each of the distal tubes  92  connected to the one-to-many connector  50  is equipped with a simple on-off switch  96 , such as a clamp or stopcock, such as the one described above with reference to the embodiments shown in FIGS. 1-3.  
         [0033]    Additional modifications and improvements of the present invention may also be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. Thus, the particular combination of parts described and illustrated herein is intended to represent only a certain embodiment of the present invention, and is not intended to serve as a limitation of alternative devices within the spirit and scope of the invention.