A primer may be used with IV catheter systems. The primer may be positioned along the tubing of an extension set such that the primer divides the IV catheter system into a downstream portion and an upstream portion. The primer may vent air from both the upstream and downstream portions to allow blood to flow up to the primer while also allowing priming solution to flow down to the primer. As a result, the catheter may be inserted into the patient's vasculature without first priming the catheter. Once the air has been vented from the upstream and downstream portions of the IV catheter system, the primer may be actuated to open a fluid pathway through the primer. With the fluid pathway opened, the priming solution may commence flowing towards the patient's vasculature thereby flushing the blood from the IV catheter system.

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 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”) includes an access section formed of a first material, a catheter body section formed of a second material, and a dilator section disposed therebetween. The first material has a first durometer and the second material has a second, lesser durometer. The dilator section is formed of the first material, the second material, or a third material having a third durometer. The catheter body defines a primary lumen communicating with a primary lumen aperture disposed in a distal tip of the access section, a secondary lumen communicating with a secondary lumen aperture and a tertiary lumen communicating with a tertiary lumen aperture. The secondary lumen aperture and the tertiary lumen aperture can be disposed at an equal longitudinal length from the primary lumen aperture. The RICC can include intricate tip structures formed from different materials and can define a smooth abluminal surface.

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.

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

A fluid transfer device for use with a peripheral intravenous catheter (PIVC) including an introducer body having a proximal end and a distal end, and a flow tube at least partially housed within the introducer body, wherein the flow tube is configured to be selectively extendable from the introducer body. The fluid transfer device also includes a lever lock coupled to the distal end of the introducer body, wherein the lever lock includes a lumen configured to allow the flow tube to pass therethrough, and wherein an effective length of the lever lock relative to the distal end of the introducer body is adjustable in order to accommodate use of the fluid transfer device with indwelling catheters of the PIVC having various lengths.