Patent ID: 8795452

Claim:
A method of inspecting a joint in a medical device, the method comprising the steps of: applying a joining material comprising a first component and a second component to at least one of an end of a medical-grade tube and a joining surface of a medical-grade fitting, wherein the joining surface is configured to accept the tube end, the first component is configured to couple the tube to the fitting, and the second component is configured to provide observable evidence of the presence of the joining material; assembling the joint by accepting the tube end onto the joining surface of the fitting; observing a bonding area between the tube and the fitting; determining how much of the bonding area has the joining material disposed between the tube and the fitting; and determining automatically whether one or more portions of the bonding area form (i) a leakage path between an interior passage of the assembled joint and an outside surface of the assembled joint or (ii) a contiguous bubble that is greater than a determined value; and providing automatically an alert signal when it is determined that the leakage path or the contiguous bubble exists.