Patent ID: 8523818

Claim:
An enteral feeding assembly, comprising: a base, the base defining an opening therethrough; a flexible catheter having a proximal end and a distal end, a longitudinal axis, width and a length; the catheter being positioned through the base in communication with the opening therein, a portion of the catheter extending away from the base to define the distal end, the catheter having walls defining a catheter lumen from the opening defined in the base to the distal end of the catheter; a retainer provided on the distal end of the catheter, the retainer having: a proximal end and a distal end and a longitudinal axis, a plurality of struts having a flexible, preformed configuration which cooperate to form at least a portion of a retainer shape about the longitudinal axis with openings between the struts and a flexible shroud positioned over or incorporated with at least a portion of the struts at the proximal end of the retainer to prevent the struts from causing irritation or embedding in a body lumen; an actuator configured to fit through the opening defined by the base and to fit within the lumen of the flexible catheter, a distal end of the actuator including two or more slits that divide the distal end of the actuator into end portions, each end portion further including a catch extending outwards radially to provide at least one radial edge; and an obturator that is configured to fit within the actuator; wherein the actuator and obturator combination is configured to alternate the retainer between: (a) an insertion configuration that is generated by applying an elongating force generally along the longitudinal axis of the retainer such that the struts and the shroud of the retainer are substantially axially aligned with the catheter to an insertion width that is substantially the same as the catheter width and an insertion length, and (b) a deployed configuration in the absence of the elongating force in which the struts and the shroud of the retainer have a deployed width that is substantially greater than the width of the catheter and a deployed length that is less than insertion length, and wherein the obturator and the actuator are configured to engage a distal end of the catheter so that an elongating force may be applied along the longitudinal axis of the retainer to move the retainer from a deployed configuration to an insertion configuration such that the length of the flexible catheter is not significantly altered when the retainer is alternated between such configurations.