Apparatus and method for positioning a sensor away from the blood vessel wall
First Claim
1. A probe assembly for inserting a probe through a lumen of a catheter and into a blood vessel, while maintaining a flow path through a catheter and positioning a distal end of the probe at a location spaced from a luminal surface of the blood vessel, wherein the catheter tends to lie along a lower vessel wall opposite a site of insertion, the probe assembly comprising:
- a probe having means for sensing a parameter of the blood;
a support tube having an outer diameter sized to be slidably engaged within the catheter lumen and a tube lumen which forms a fluid flow path through both the tube and catheter;
the probe being disposed within the tube lumen and attached to an upper tube wall portion while maintaining the flow path along a lower tube wall portion;
wherein the upper wall portion of the support tube may be aligned along an upper wall of the catheter so that the probe is spaced from said lower wall of the vessel.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Apparatus and method for positioning a probe through a catheter wherein a sensing element on the probe is located outside the catheter but is spaced from the luminal surface of the blood vessel to prevent any adverse effect on the sensor measurement. A standard introducer catheter may be used and a support tube is provided around a portion of the probe and is slidably engagable within the catheter lumen for positioning the probe against an anterior wall of the catheter, away from a posterior vessel wall on which the catheter lies. In a second embodiment, a portion of the support tube extends outside the distal end of the catheter to prevent any possible contact between the sensing element and posterior vessel wall.
91 Citations
22 Claims
-
1. A probe assembly for inserting a probe through a lumen of a catheter and into a blood vessel, while maintaining a flow path through a catheter and positioning a distal end of the probe at a location spaced from a luminal surface of the blood vessel, wherein the catheter tends to lie along a lower vessel wall opposite a site of insertion, the probe assembly comprising:
-
a probe having means for sensing a parameter of the blood; a support tube having an outer diameter sized to be slidably engaged within the catheter lumen and a tube lumen which forms a fluid flow path through both the tube and catheter; the probe being disposed within the tube lumen and attached to an upper tube wall portion while maintaining the flow path along a lower tube wall portion; wherein the upper wall portion of the support tube may be aligned along an upper wall of the catheter so that the probe is spaced from said lower wall of the vessel. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 21)
-
-
16. A system for inserting a probe through a lumen of a catheter and into a blood vessel, while maintaining a flow path through the catheter and positioning a distal end of the probe at a location spaced from a luminal surface of the blood vessel, the system comprising:
-
a catheter which when passed through an insertion site tends to lie along a lower vessel wall opposite the site of insertion; a probe having means for sensing a parameter of the blood; a support tube having an outer diameter sized to be slidably engaged within the catheter lumen and a tube lumen which forms a fluid flow path through both the tube and catheter; the probe being disposed within the tube lumen and attached to an upper tube wall portion while maintaining the flow path along a lower tube wall portion; wherein the upper wall portion of the support tube may be aligned along an upper wall of the catheter so that the probe is spaced from said lower wall of the vessel. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
-
-
22. A probe assembly for inserting a probe through a lumen of a catheter and spaced from a body member comprising:
-
a probe; a support member attached to the probe to form said probe assembly which is slidably engagable within said catheter lumen and maintains the probe along one wall of the catheter lumen and a distal end of the probe outside a distal end of the catheter, such that when another wall of the catheter, opposite the one wall along which the probe is maintained, lies in contact with a body member, the distal end of the probe is spaced from the body member, wherein the support member comprises a tube having an outer diameter sized to slidably engage the catheter lumen and a tube lumen which forms the fluid flow path through the catheter lumen.
-
Specification