Feeding tube and catheter misconnections are a serious problem in hospitals. One such type of misconnection error involves enteral feeding tubes and intravenous catheters. Enteral feeding tubes are used to administer liquid nutritional solutions and medications directly to a patient's gastrointestinal system. In contrast, intravenous catheters are used to administer liquid nutritional solutions and medications directly to a patient's vascular system. Patients may be harmed if feeding solutions are administered intravenously and vice versa. Errors such as this occur because medical professionals use similar or identical tubing for different purposes. The use of luer tips, including luer-lock components, contributes to many of these errors because they enable functionally dissimilar tubes or catheters to be connected. For example, a luer tip may be inserted improperly into a connector or adaptor of a feeding tube, with potential harmful results. The present invention is directed a discriminating connector assembly for ensuring that the proper tubing and catheters are connected.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds