Patent ID: 8323209

Claim:
A catheter for chorionic villus sampling, the catheter comprising: a flexible cannula of soft plastic having an elongate tubular body with a proximal end and an open distal end, a connector at said proximal end, and a lumen formed throughout the center of the tubular body and defined by the open distal end and extending through the connector at said proximal end, the tubular body being manually bendable to conform to a desired curvature; and an elongate obturator with a proximal end and a distal end, an elongate cylindrical handle at said proximal end of said obturator, said handle having a textured section at a proximal portion of the handle and a guide tab protruding from a distal portion of the handle and aligned with a bend in said cannula, said bend being introduced in said cannula by an operator of the catheter, and said guide tab functioning to keep track of said bend upon insertion of said cannula into a patient during chorionic villus sampling, and a malleable portion at the distal end of said obturator with a rounded smooth tip proportioned to close the open distal end of the lumen during insertion into the patient, the malleable portion thereof being slideably connectable to the cannula in the lumen and releaseably attached by the connector.