A catheter and introducer needle assembly, including a flexible catheter and a catheter hub having an uninterrupted outer surface portion, a Luer-connecting feature, and a disabling feature. The assembly includes an introducer needle disposed in the catheter, a needle shield having a resilient clip adapted to flex between first and second positions in a plane perpendicular to the introducer needle. The resilient clip includes a cantilevered arm with a pawl. In the resilient clip's first position, the cantilevered arm is flexed so that the pawl frictionally contacts the catheter hub's uninterrupted outer surface portion and frictionally retains the needle shield with the catheter hub, and the pawl is axially aligned with and spaced apart from the disabling feature. In the second position, the pawl no longer frictionally contacts the hub's uninterrupted outer surface, thereby permitting needle shield displacement relative to the catheter hub.

A tool for inserting a catheter into a body of a patient is provided. The tool comprises: a housing in which at least a portion of the catheter is initially disposed; a needle distally extending from the housing, at least a portion of the catheter disposed over the needle; a guidewire initially disposed within the needle partially; and an advancement assembly for distally advancing the catheter. The housing comprises: a first portion comprising a distal part and a proximal part; and a second portion engaged with the first portion, wherein the distal part of the first portion is configured to be able to distally slide with respect to the second portion to release the engagement between the first portion and the second portion. The advancement assembly includes a safety cap which is initially disposed over the needle and is configured to be locked to the housing when distally sliding to a position of isolating the tip of the needle within the safety cap.

A vascular access system which may be configured for blood draw may include a housing, which may include a distal end, a proximal end, and a slot disposed between the distal end and the proximal end. The slot may include a notch. The vascular access system may include a cannula hub, which may be disposed within the housing and movable with respect to the slot. The cannula hub may include a tab extending through the slot. The vascular access system may include a cannula extending distally from the cannula hub. In response to the tab being disposed within the notch, a distal tip of the cannula may be disposed within the housing. In response to advancing the tab along the slot to a distal end of the slot, the distal tip of the cannula is disposed distal to the distal end of the housing.

A device for magnetizing a tissue-penetrating medical device is disclosed including a housing having a proximal portion and a distal portion; a magnetic field generator contained within the distal portion of the housing and a tissue penetrating subassembly including a hub and a tissue penetrating medical device having a proximal end and a distal end. The hub is detachably connected to the distal portion of the housing and the proximal end of tissue penetrating medical device extends proximally from the hub such that the proximal end of the tissue penetrating medical device is exposed to the magnetic field to magnetize the distal end of the tissue penetrating medical device. Methods of magnetizing tissue-penetrating medical devices are also disclosed.

A needle assembly, such as a catheter assembly, having a needle shaft with a needle tip formed from a first rigid material for puncturing a subject. The shaft section, proximal of the needle tip can be formed from a second material different from the first material. The needle tip is attached to the needle shaft to form the needle. The first material can have higher rigidity than the second material and the needle can project through a catheter tube and used in a catheter assembly.

A pressure based vessel locating system including a pressure based vessel locator device coupled to a needle or catheter. The pressure based vessel locator device can include a proximal end having an air permeable membrane, and a first chamber and a second chamber. The first chamber can be separated from a second chamber by an interior wall. Each of the first chamber and the second chamber include a proximal opening and a chamber opening having a pressure activated valve disposed therein. The pressure based vessel locator device can further include an air permeable membrane configured to cover proximal openings of the first chamber and the second chamber. Each of the chambers include a window enabling a user to observe the contents of each chamber. A method of identifying a blood vessel includes visually inspecting each chamber for the presence or absence of blood therein.

A device for one-handed insertion of a guidewire into a vessel or cavity is provided. The device has a body, an actuator carriage, a guidewire feed, and a syringe. The body has a handle, a guideway, and a clip to retain the syringe. The syringe has a barrel and a plunger with a flange and a guidewire passage. The actuator carriage has a trigger and a clip to grasp the syringe plunger flange. The actuator carriage slides along the body guideway. The guidewire feed has a wire feed surface. The thumb engages wire at the wire feed surface to advance and retract the wire through the guidewire passage and a finger moves the trigger to move the syringe plunger rearwardly and/or forwardly, while the remaining fingers of the one hand grasp the handle. The device allows the user to sense resistance encountered by the tip of the wire.

A safety catheter insertion device configured to automatically retract a needle cannula following insertion of a catheter assembly and to inhibit release of the catheter assembly from the safety catheter insertion device until the needle cannula has been retracted for the purpose of inhibiting inadvertent needle sticks. The safety catheter insertion device including an advancement arm slidably coupled to a needle housing assembly and configured to shift between a first position in which a needle cannula traverses through a catheter hub coupling portion of the advancement arm to inhibit release of a catheter assembly, and a second position in which one or more tabs of the advancement arm interact with one or more retention arms of the needle housing assembly to enable a biasing mechanism to shift the needle assembly to a proximal position and enable release of the catheter assembly from the safety catheter insertion device.

A catheter assembly includes a catheter adapter and an introducer needle. The introducer needle extends through the catheter adapter and through a catheter tube so as to assist placement of the catheter tube into a patient's blood vessel. Blood flashback into the catheter tube and/or catheter adapter through an aperture in a side of the needle indicates when the catheter tube is within the blood vessel. After the catheter tube is placed in the blood vessel, the introducer needle is withdrawn. A primary septum within the catheter adapter blocks blood flow in a proximal direction past the primary septum. A secondary septum proximal the primary septum is biased so as to enter into the aperture in the introducer needle and plug the aperture while the needle is being withdrawn, thus blocking blood flow through the aperture after the aperture is drawn through the primary septum.

A fluid vessel insertion device (10), typically for medical use, comprises a puncture member (18) arranged for locaton within a sleeve (20), and a retraction mechanism (44, 48, 60) for retracting the puncture member relative to the sleeve. The puncture member (18) is retractable in use between a first condition in which an end (18A) of the puncture member protrudes beyond an end (24) of the sleeve and a second condition in which the end of the puncture member is within the sleeve (20). The retraction mechanism (44, 48, 60) actuates the puncture member between the first and second conditions in response to fluid pressure at the end (18A) of the puncture member. The device may be used during positioning of the sleeve in a desired fluid vessel, such as, for example, during intravenous cannulation.