Patent ID: 8490622

Claim:
A respiratory apparatus for connecting a respiratory device to an artificial airway of a patient, the apparatus comprising: an adapter assembly including: a ventilator port for connection to a ventilating device, a respiratory port for connection to the artificial airway, an access port including a conduit defining a passageway extending from an open, insertion end, a flush port projecting from the conduit and fluidly open to the passageway at a flush port outlet; and a catheter assembly including: a fitting including a hub and a tube extending from the hub to a trailing end, wherein the tube defines: an exterior surface, an interior surface forming a lumen, a circumferential groove in the exterior surface adjacent the trailing end, a plurality of apertures fluidly open to the lumen and the exterior surface in a region of the circumferential groove, a catheter assembled to the fitting, the catheter defining a distal end; wherein the tube is sized to be slidably received within the passageway such that upon final assembly, a fluid pathway is formed between the flush port and the distal end of the catheter via the flush port outlet, the circumferential groove, the plurality of apertures, and the lumen.