A hand-held device is provided for precisely positioning a needle tip at a desired target position into a non-homogeneous material, including a blood vessel. The hand-held device includes a casing hand-held by an operator, a shaft extending along a longitudinal axis and carrying the needle, the shaft mounted in the casing and coupled to the casing to move as a single piece therewith along the longitudinal axis. The hand-held device further includes a sensor unit to provide signals indicative of a physical characteristic of the material wherein the needle tip has to be inserted, and a control unit configured to determine, based on the signals received from the sensor unit, whether the needle tip has reached the target position and to operate a decoupling unit to decouple the shaft and the needle from the casing or to operate an actuating unit to actively move the shaft relative to the casing.

A safety catheter insertion assembly including a catheter hub coupling assembly. The safety catheter insertion assembly having a needle hub slideably coupled to a needle housing such that the needle hub is moveable between a first position wherein an insertion needle extends from the needle housing, and a second position wherein the sharp distal tip is housed within the needle housing, the catheter hub coupling assembly coupling the catheter hub to the needle housing in the first position and releasing the catheter hub from the needle housing in the second position.

A vasculature imaging device includes an optical camera (10), a display (12), an electronic processor (14) connected to operate the optical camera and the display, and a non-transitory storage medium (16) storing instructions (18) readable and executable by the electronic processor to perform a vasculature imaging method (20). That method includes: operating the optical camera to acquire color video; computing a temporal variation of values of pixels of the color video; identifying pixels representing vasculature based on the temporal variation of the values of the pixels; and operating the display to present the color video with highlighting of the pixels representing vasculature. In some embodiments, the vasculature imaging device comprises a cellular telephone (cell phone) or other mobile device (22) with the camera and display being built-in components. The instructions may be an application (app) executable under a mobile operating system (24) run by the mobile device.

A catheter insertion device includes a housing, a needle, a catheter, and a guide wire. The needle has a proximal end positioned in the housing and a distal end extending beyond a distal end of the housing in a first position. The catheter is positioned coaxially over the needle, and may include a flexible tube and a catheter hub on a proximal end of the flexible tube. A proximal portion of the flexible tube and the catheter hub may be positioned in the housing. The guidewire may have a proximal end positioned in the housing and a distal end positioned in a lumen of the needle. The catheter insertion device also may include a handle coupled to the catheter, wherein movement of the handle relative to the housing moves the catheter hub from a position in the housing to a position outside of the housing.

The invention relates to a detection apparatus and a method for detecting and manipulating a blood vessel under the skin of part of the body of a patient, which comprises a treatment chamber for accommodating the body part, a data processing control device, a vascular structure measuring device for detecting the position and/or dimensions of vascular structure data of the blood vessel in the treatment chamber by measurement, a vascular manipulation device for changing the position and/or dimension of the blood vessel, wherein the control device is designed to control the vascular manipulation device as a function of the vascular structure data.

A fluid connector device for a blood collection system is disclosed. In order to be safely used with different gauges, the fluid connector device can regulate blood flow therethrough based upon the catheter gauge. For example, when 18-to-22-gauge catheters are used, the fluid connector device regulates the blood flow by positioning a slider assembly (within the fluid connector device) to a setting that allows a single channel to transmit blood through the fluid connector device into a fluid inlet and out of a fluid outlet of the fluid connector device. Alternatively, in another example, when 24-gauge (or greater) catheters are used, the slider assembly can be actuated to a new position, which allows multiple channels to transmit blood into the fluid inlet and out of the fluid outlet. By regulating blood flow, the fluid connector device can limit or prevent hemolysis, while being universally used with different catheters.

A flow restriction device includes a proximal housing configured to couple to a fluid collection device, a distal housing configured to couple to a catheter assembly, an intermediate housing interposed between the proximal housing and the distal housing and an internal fluid channel extending transversely therethrough. The flow restriction device also includes a fluid shield assembly having an enclosure coupled to an end of the distal housing and a split septum coupled to an end of the enclosure, the split septum comprising a flexible material with a centrally disposed slit. The fluid shield assembly provides for connection of a female connector to a male connector of the distal housing through the slit of the split septum, and to contain fluid within the enclosure and split septum upon disconnection and withdrawal of the female connector from the male connector. Blood collection systems and fluid shield assemblies are also provided.

A catheter system may include a catheter assembly, which may include a catheter adapter and a catheter extending distally from a distal end of the catheter adapter. The catheter system may also include a needle assembly, which may include a needle hub and an introducer needle. The needle hub may include: a distal end coupled to the proximal end of the catheter adapter; a proximal end; a wall disposed between the distal end of the needle hub and the proximal end of the needle hub; and a flashback chamber proximate the wall. The introducer needle may be press-fit within a through-hole of the wall. The catheter system may also include a plug coupled to the proximal end of the needle hub. A blood collection device may be coupled to a proximal end of the plug to collect blood from a patient.

Systems and methods for autonomous intravenous needle insertion are disclosed herein. In an embodiment, a system for autonomous intravenous insertion include a robot arm, one or more sensors pivotally attached to the robot arm for gathering information about potential insertion sites in a subject arm, a medical device pivotally attached to the robot arm, and a controller in communication with the sensors and the robot arm, wherein the controller receives the information from the sensors about potential insertion sites, and the controller selects a target insertion site and directs the robot arm to insert the medical device into the target insertion site.

Systems and methods to assist a practitioner to confirm location of a distal tip of a needle within a patient include confirming tactile feedback from a needle insertion to a point of loss of resistance of fluid flow and by viewing a display showing color of a tissue plane at the distal tip of the needle at the point of loss of resistance.