It has long been recognized to be medically desirable to intravenously infuse liquid into and to sample blood from a patient. Certain problems have, nevertheless, persisted over the years in the fields of intravenous (IV) infusion and acquisition of blood specimens.
Typically, during delivery of IV solution to the patient through a cannula, such as a catheter tube or IV needle, it is difficult to predict when the supply of IV solution will become exhausted and even more difficult to coordinate availability of nursing personnel with the need to timely disconnect a soon-to-be-dry IV supply from the catheter tube or needle. As a consequence, the distal tip of the cannula sometimes experiences bleedback and clotting. More specifically, in a conventional IV hook-up to a patient, the flow of IV solution occurs because the force of gravity upon the solution exceeds the blood pressure in the cardiovascular system of the patient. When the supply of IV solution is exhausted, the pressure difference changes so that the cardiovascular pressure prevails, causing blood flow into the IV catheter tube a distance which may vary. Sometimes this blood flow reaches, contaminates and requires replacement of the IV filter. In any event, whether the blood reaches the filter or it does not, the aforesaid blood in the catheter will, within a short time, clot. This risks negligent introduction of the clot into the bloodstream and requires replacement of the IV system, when discovered.
Also, shifting of positions by the patient, as, for example, if the patient raises the venipuncture site above the IV bottle, sometimes causes refluxing or bleedback of blood into the distal end of the cannula. This reflux may or may not reach the IV filter, but in either event causes IV flow to stop which results in clotting within either the cannula, the filter or both.
When and if discovered, both the clotted IV filter and catheter tube are replaced with the accompanying patient trauma and expense. It is bad practice and an unacceptable risk to the patient to force a clot from the catheter tube into the bloodstream, but, due to negligence, this sometimes happens.
It has been proposed that a one-way outdwelling (outside the patient) standard valve be used to prevent undesired blood flow into the distal end of an indwelling cannula, such as a catheter tube or IV needle. However, this approach does not work in a medically-acceptable fashion. Also, the one-way standard valve will not allow blood sampling when the standard one way valve is located between the catheter tube and the sampling site.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds