Patent ID: 8657790

Claim:
A medical device for accessing a body space comprising: a hollow needle comprising: a needle hub at a proximal end of the needle; a needle body extending distally from the needle hub; a bore extending through the needle body and the needle hub; a side hole extending through a side of the needle body, the side hole being in communication with the bore; and a sharpened distal tip; a dilator coaxially mounted on the needle, the dilator further comprising: a dilator hub at a proximal end of the dilator; and a dilator body extending distally from the dilator hub; a guidewire preloaded in the needle bore; and a blunting device mounted within the dilator hub, the blunting device configured to be held open by the needle body and to snap onto the sharpened distal tip when the sharpened distal tip is retracted into the blunting device, such that the needle can be fully withdrawn from the device with a protected sharpened distal tip.