Urinary catheter and method with increased resistance to obstructions
First Claim
1. A catheter for insertion in a urinary tract to drain urine from a bladder to a location adjacent to an orifice in an external urinary sphincter muscle which controls urine flow into a urinary canal of the urinary tract, comprising:
- a main body having a distal end, a proximal end and a length sufficient to position the distal end within the bladder and to position the proximal end adjacent to and distal of the orifice in the external urinary sphincter muscle, the main body defining an urine drainage interior passageway extending from the distal end to the proximal end, the interior passageway having a cross-sectional size;
a distal anchor attached to the distal end of the main body and expandable within the bladder to restrain the main body against proximal movement within the urinary tract from a use position in which the distal end of the main body is located in the bladder and the proximal end of the main body is located adjacent to and distal of the orifice in the external urinary sphincter muscle;
a proximal anchor attached to the proximal end of the main body to restrain the main body against distal movement in the urinary tract from the use position; and
at least one urine inlet opening extending through the distal end of the main body and into the interior passageway, each inlet opening having a cross sectional size, the cumulative cross-sectional size of all inlet openings in the distal end being greater than the cross-sectional size of the interior passageway to facilitate passing urine and blood clots from the bladder into the interior passageway while reducing an accumulation of blood clots within the inlet opening and the interior passageway.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A catheter for draining urine from a bladder is made more resistant obstructions and blood clot accumulations by configurations of urine inlet openings into an interior urine drainage passageway. The inlet opening configurations include a whistle tip, a multiple opening tip, a couvelaire tip, and a beveled tip with a direct opening into the passageway. A low friction coating also resists blood clot accumulation. A single-use or multiple-use clearing device moves within the interior drainage passageway to contact, disintegrate, and facilitate movement of the accumulated clots and obstructions out of the urine inlet opening and interior passageway.
97 Citations
62 Claims
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1. A catheter for insertion in a urinary tract to drain urine from a bladder to a location adjacent to an orifice in an external urinary sphincter muscle which controls urine flow into a urinary canal of the urinary tract, comprising:
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a main body having a distal end, a proximal end and a length sufficient to position the distal end within the bladder and to position the proximal end adjacent to and distal of the orifice in the external urinary sphincter muscle, the main body defining an urine drainage interior passageway extending from the distal end to the proximal end, the interior passageway having a cross-sectional size;
a distal anchor attached to the distal end of the main body and expandable within the bladder to restrain the main body against proximal movement within the urinary tract from a use position in which the distal end of the main body is located in the bladder and the proximal end of the main body is located adjacent to and distal of the orifice in the external urinary sphincter muscle;
a proximal anchor attached to the proximal end of the main body to restrain the main body against distal movement in the urinary tract from the use position; and
at least one urine inlet opening extending through the distal end of the main body and into the interior passageway, each inlet opening having a cross sectional size, the cumulative cross-sectional size of all inlet openings in the distal end being greater than the cross-sectional size of the interior passageway to facilitate passing urine and blood clots from the bladder into the interior passageway while reducing an accumulation of blood clots within the inlet opening and the interior passageway. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A method of making an urinary catheter more resistant to obstructions from blood clots in a urine flowpath from a bladder through an interior passageway of the catheter, comprising:
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locating at least one urine inlet opening within an end piece of the catheter to conduct urine from the bladder into the interior passageway when the end piece is located in the bladder; and
forming each inlet opening with a predetermined configuration and a cross-sectional size to facilitate passing urine and blood clots from the bladder into the interior passageway while reducing an accumulation of blood clots within the inlet opening and the interior passageway, the cumulative cross-sectional size of all inlet openings being greater than the cross-sectional size of the interior passageway. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A catheter for insertion in an urinary tract to drain urine from a bladder through a urinary canal and out of an exterior opening of the urinary canal, comprising:
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a main body having a distal end and a length sufficient to position the distal end within the bladder, the main body defining an urine drainage interior passageway;
an urine inlet opening extending through the distal end into the interior passageway to pass urine from the bladder into the interior passageway; and
a clearing device comprising a contact element moveably positioned within the interior passageway for movement past the inlet opening and along the interior passageway to contact and disintegrate and facilitate movement of blood clots and obstructions within the inlet opening and the interior passageway with the flow of urine through the interior passageway. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48)
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49. A method of making an urinary catheter more resistant to obstructions from blood clots in a urine flowpath from a bladder through urinary tract, the catheter having a main body with an interior passageway for draining the urine through the catheter and an urine inlet opening formed through the main body and into the interior passageway at a distal end, comprising:
moving a clot clearing contact element positioned within the interior passageway past the inlet opening and along a portion of the interior passageway to contact and disintegrate and facilitate movement of blood clots and obstructions within the inlet opening and the interior passageway with the flow of urine through the interior passageway. - View Dependent Claims (50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62)
Specification