Patent ID: 8419688

Claim:
A method of wiping blood from a needle during a process of emplacing a catheter using a catheter assembly, the method comprising: puncturing a person's vasculature with a sharp distal tip of the needle of the catheter assembly, the needle extending distally from a first hub including a housing having an exterior surface and an interior surface defining an interior cavity; penetrating the vasculature with the catheter of the catheter assembly, the catheter being disposed about the needle and extending distally from a second hub including a housing having an exterior surface and an interior surface defining an interior cavity, the first and second hubs releasably engaging one another; withdrawing the needle from the vasculature while maintaining the catheter within the vasculature by disengaging the first hub from the second hub and moving the first hub proximally relative to the second hub, the proximal movement causing the needle to withdraw from the catheter; and wiping blood from the needle as it withdraws by passing the needle through a wiper, the wiper being disposed in the second hub and having a fixed continuous perimeter defining an opening, the fixed continuous perimeter being in contact with the needle along a section of the fixed continuous perimeter from a point on the needle inside the interior cavity of the second hub and continuously contacting the needle during the withdrawing step to at least a point adjacent the sharp distal tip for wiping the needle during the withdrawing step.