A catheter system may include a catheter assembly and a needle assembly. The catheter assembly may include a catheter hub and a catheter extending distally from the distal end of the catheter hub. The catheter assembly may include a cover coupled to a proximal portion of the catheter hub. The cover may be configured to reduce contact with the catheter assembly during initial insertion of the catheter assembly into vasculature of a patient and/or threading the catheter, which may reduce a risk of bacterial contamination of the catheter. The needle assembly may include an introducer needle, a housing, and a needle hub disposed within the housing. The housing may include a button. A proximal end of the introducer needle may be secured within the needle hub. In response to activation of the button, the needle hub and the introducer needle may move proximally within the housing.

A method of creating a feature on a needle. The method comprising the steps of providing a needle having a sharpened distal end for insertion into an insertion site on a subject, a proximal end, and a tubular wall defining an inner diameter and an outer diameter; gripping a distal portion of the needle about the outer diameter; gripping a proximal portion of the needle about an outer diameter; and applying a compressive force between the distal portion and the proximal portion sufficient to effect an outward buckling of the tubular wall, thereby increasing an outer diameter of the tubular wall between the distal portion and the proximal portion.

The present invention relates to a dilator. The dilator includes a shaft, a lumen and a hub. The shaft has at least two stiffness sections with the stiffness sections becoming less rigid as they approach a distal end of the shaft. The varying stiffness sections allow the dilator to track along the guidewire through torturous vasculature so as the dilator is advanced and the stiffness is changed, the stiffer sheath can advance smoothly through a blood vessel. The dilator may also taper at the distal tip to stretch the initial skin puncture hole larger to accommodate the dilator shaft and ease the sheath tip insertion through to the vasculature. Or the shaft may taper from where it extends beyond the sheath distal tip to the distal end so that it can reach further distal in the vasculature. The dilator may also include an atraumatic tip for easier advancement of the dilator. The dilator distal end may also include one or more radiopaque markers and a shaped distal end.

A guiding device for a vascular catheter that is inserted over a guidewire. The guiding device comprising a tapered component for passing through a bore of the vascular catheter and extending from a distal end thereof. The tapered component has an aperture through which the guidewire may pass so that the tapered component (12) may move along the guidewire. A pushing means extends from the tapered component and is configured to extend beyond a proximal end of the vascular catheter. The tapered component comprises a first section, a second section and the third section. The first section is disposed between the proximal end of the tapered component and the second section, the second section is disposed between the first section and the third section, and the third section is disposed between the second section and a distal end of the tapered component. The first section is a cylinder and the second and the third sections are conical. The taper of the second section differs from the taper of the third section.

The embodiments described herein relate to a self-positioning, quick-deployment low profile transvenous electrode system for sequentially pacing both the atrium and ventricle of the heart in the “dual chamber” mode, and methods for deploying the same.

A catheter assembly may include an introducer needle coupled to a needle hub, an intermediate member having a contact surface, a resilient member, and a ramp member. The resilient member may be coupled to one of the needle hub and the intermediate member. The ramp member may be coupled to the other one of the needle hub and the intermediate member. The resilient member may engage a ramp surface of the ramp member and impart a force on the intermediate member in a distal direction. The contact surface of the intermediate member may engage a proximal surface of a catheter adapter body and urge the catheter adapter body in the distal direction such that a catheter projecting from the catheter adapter body may be translated in the distal direction relative to the introducer needle.

A rapidly insertable central catheter (“RICC”) insertion assembly can include a RICC, an introducer needle, a coupler coupling the RICC and the introducer needle together, and a sheath-splitting means for splitting a sheath body of the introducer needle away from an access guidewire. The sheath-splitting means allows the access guidewire to escape from the sheath body and remain in a needle tract established with the introduce needle. The splitting of the sheath body by the sheath-splitting means can be initiated by withdrawing the sheath body by a pair of finger tabs extending from a sheath hub around the proximal portion of the sheath body, twisting the introducer needle or a needle hub around the proximal portion of the needle shaft, triggering one or more triggers disposed in the coupler housing, or pushing a catheter tip of the RICC into the sheath body.

A catheter system may include a blood shield secured within a catheter hub. The blood shield may include a distal end, a proximal end, a blood shield lumen extending through the distal end and the proximal end, and an inner wall forming the blood shield lumen. The inner wall may include a narrowed inner diameter portion or a shield bump. The catheter system may include an introducer needle having a sharp distal tip and a needle bump. The introducer needle may extend through the catheter and the blood shield. In response to proximal retraction of the introducer needle, the needle bump may be configured to contact the narrowed inner diameter portion or the shield bump to pull the blood shield proximally out of the catheter hub. The sharp distal tip may be disposed within the blood shield when the needle bump contacts the narrowed inner diameter portion or the shield bump.

An IV catheter device can include needle cover that functions as a needle shield. By using the needle cover as a needle shield, the design of the IV catheter device is simplified thereby reducing its cost. The needle cover can be configured to slide along a needle hub between a distalmost position in which the needle cover functions as either a needle cover or a needle shield and a proximal position in which the needle cover exposes the needle to enable the catheter to be inserted into a patient's vasculature.

An intravenous (IV) catheter assembly may include a catheter adapter and a catheter extending from the distal end of the catheter adapter. The intravenous (IV) catheter assembly may include an introducer needle. The elongated shaft may include a flashback notch, and the flashback notch may include a distal end and a proximal end. The flashback notch may include a smooth tapered edge extending from the distal end in a direction that increases a depth of the flashback notch. The smooth tapered edge may extend along at least half of an entire length of the flashback notch between the distal end and the proximal end. In an orthogonal side view projection of the intravenous catheter assembly, every tangent to the smooth tapered edge may be at an angle of 30° or less with respect to a longitudinal axis of the introducer needle