SELF-LUBRICATING CATHETER

• US 3,726,281 A
• Filed: 12/08/1971
• Issued: 04/10/1973
• Est. Priority Date: 12/08/1971
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Keith Ferguson, William J. Norton
• Original Assignee: Keith Ferguson, William J. Norton
• Inventors: Norton, William J., Ferguson, Keith
• Primary Examiner(s): Rosenbaum, Charles F.
• Application Number:
  US05/205,827
• Time in Patent Office: 489 Days
• Field of Search: 128/348-350
• US Class Current: 604/43
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2025/0062 having features to improve the sliding of one part within another by using lubricants or surfaces with low friction
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 25/10 Balloon catheters A61M25/0125 takes precedence; embolectomy A61B17/22032; retractors A61B17/02; inflatable balloons for placing stents or stent-grafts A61F2/958 ; stomach balloons for treatment of obesity A61F5/0003; oesophagal tubes A61J15/00

Abstract

A urinary catheter provided with a lubrication lumen extending from an eye adjacent the distal tip to a reservoir adjacent the drainage funnel, with means for permitting, causing and controlling the flow of lubricant from the reservoir to the eye as the catheter is inserted into a patient.

Claims

1. A catheter adapted for insertion into a body passage of restricted size comprising a shaft, a main lumen traversing said shaft from a point adjacent the distal tip thereof to the proximal end thereof, and an integral lubrication system including an eye close to the distal tip of the catheter, a funnel adjacent the proximal end of the catheter, a lumen connecting said funnel to said eye, a first closure for the proximal end of said funnel and a removable second closure for the distal end of said funnel, the interior of said funnel between said closures constituting a lubricant containing chamber from which lubricant may be expressed upon removal of the removable closure.

2. A catheter according to claim 1 which includes a flow restrainer in said second named lumen adjacent the connection thereof to said funnel.

3. A catheter according to claim 2 wherein the flow restrainer is a cylindrical body traversed axially by an orifice smaller than the cross-section of said lumen.

4. A catheter according to claim 1 in which the first closure is a one-way valve.

5. A catheter according to claim 4 in which the valve is a plug of self-sealing material.

6. A catheter according to claim 1 in which the second closure is a clamp.

7. A catheter according to claim 1 in which said funnel is adapted to be inflated by forcible injection of lubricant, to restrain the lubricant under pressure and to express automatically a portion of the lubricant upon removal of said second closure.

8. A catheter according to claim 1 which includes a quantity of lubricant confined in the funnel, the funnel being stretched and the lubricant being under pressure.