Abstract
The invention involves a system and method for straightening and refurbishing medical catheters. The system includes the steps and equipment to repair bends and kinks which prevent proper usage of the catheter for a medical procedure. The system and method further checks electrical conductivity and resistance if needed. The catheters are then cleaned and repackaged for shipment and use.
Claims
1. A method for straightening bent or kinked medical catheters comprising: providing an overview of the method for straightening bent or kinked medical catheter including parts and documents (14), equipment required (16), setup and procedure (18) and inspection requirements (20); supplying a process flow chart (24) outlining an overview of the steps required to repair the particular medical catheter; wherein the equipment required (16) refers to the equipment required to repair the bends and kinks of a particular medical catheter.
2. The method for straightening bent or kinked medical catheters of claim 1 wherein the documents (14) lists the documents that are needed and/or required for refurbishing a medical catheter, wherein the catheter is intended to be put back into commerce as a usable product or discarded as not usable and tracked for disposal.
3. The method for straightening bent or kinked medical catheters of claim 1 wherein the overview includes written precautions (22) that should be observed before and while straightening a medical catheter.
4. The method for straightening bent or kinked medical catheters of claim 1 wherein after review of the overview, the set up step (34) requires a technician to determine whether the medical catheter needs kink or collar repair.
5. The method for straightening bent or kinked medical catheters of claim 4 wherein, when the technician determines the catheter needs kink repair, the process (12) directs the technician to the required steps to complete the required work in a repair reference (35).
6. The method for straightening bent or kinked medical catheters of claim 5 wherein the repair reference directs the technician to identify the kinked area(s), once the kinked area is identified, the technician is directed to clean the medical catheter (50) with a film free solvent.
7. The method for straightening bent or kinked medical catheters of claim 6 wherein the next step of the process (12) requires the technician to place the catheter (50) in a mold (44), the mold (44) is being constructed from a high temperature resistant material to include an outer diameter (42), an inner diameter (46) sized to abut outer diameter of the catheter, and a length (48) sufficient to cover the bend or kink.
8. The method for straightening bent or kinked medical catheters (50) of claim 7 wherein the mold (44) is constructed as a split mold including two or more mold halves (52) constructed to assemble into a full loop around the catheter (50).
9. The method for straightening bent or kinked medical catheters (50) of claim 8 wherein the mold halves (52) include alignment keys for aligning the mold halves (52) with respect to each other.
10. The method for straightening bent or kinked medical catheters of claim 7, including the step of positioning the mold (44) and medical catheter (50) within an induction coil (58), the induction coil (58) being constructed and arranged to heat the catheter (50) to a sufficient temperature to activate the shape memory of the polymer forming an outer sheath of the catheter (50).
11. The method for straightening bent or kinked medical catheters of claim 7, including the step of positioning the mold (44) and medical catheter (50) within an induction coil (58), the induction coil (58) being constructed and arranged to heat the catheter (50) to a sufficient temperature to reform the polymer forming an outer sheath of the catheter (50).
12. The method for straightening bent or kinked medical catheters (50) of claim 10 including the step of controllably cooling the catheter sheath using air provided by a blower (60) after being heated to provide the desired material flexural properties for the catheter (50).
13. The method for straightening bent or kinked medical catheters (50) of claim 11 including the step of controllably cooling the catheter sheath using air provided by a blower (60) after being heated to provide the desired material flexural properties for the catheter (50).
14. The method for straightening bent or kinked medical catheters (50) of claim 7 including the step of pulling the catheter (50) through a set of straightening rolls (64), the straightening rolls (64) including a plurality of rollers (66) arranged in perpendicular planes with respect to each other, the rollers (66) each including a groove (68) sized to accept and guide the outer diameter of the catheter, the rollers (66) positioned to bend the catheter (50) back and forth in a decreasing manner as it passes over the rollers (66) to straighten the catheter (50) when exiting the straightening rolls (64).
15. The method for straightening bent or kinked medical catheters (50) of claim 7 including the step of checking electrical conductivity.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
[0016] FIG. 1 is an overview of a method and system procedure for repairing a medical catheter;
[0017] FIG. 2 is a list of precautions suitable for use with the present system and method;
[0018] FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating one embodiment of steps utilized in the procedure for repairing a kinked or bent medical catheter;
[0019] FIG. 4 is an example of equipment, material and documents needed for repairing medical catheters;
[0020] FIG. 5 outlines a portion of the system and method used for straightening a medical catheter;
[0021] FIG. 6 outlines a portion of the system and method used for straightening a medical catheter;
[0022] FIG. 7 outlines a portion of the system and method used for straightening a medical catheter;
[0023] FIG. 8 outlines a portion of the system and method used for straightening a medical catheter;
[0024] FIG. 9 illustrates the initial examination of the medical catheter;
[0025] FIG. 10 is a partial view, taken along lines 10-10 of FIG. 9, illustrating a bent or kinked portion of a medical catheter;
[0026] FIG. 11 illustrates a portion of the straightening method utilizing a roll straightener;
[0027] FIG. 12 illustrates a portion of the straightening method utilizing a roll straightener;
[0028] FIG. 13 is a partial view taken along lines 13-13 of FIG. 11 illustrating the roll straightener cooperating with the catheter;
[0029] FIG. 14 is a top view illustrating the roll straightener cooperating with the catheter;
[0030] FIG. 15 is a partial view, taken along lines 15-15 of FIG. 13, illustrating the roll straightener cooperating with the catheter;
[0031] FIG. 16 is a partial view, taken along lines 16-16 of FIG. 14, illustrating the roll straightener cooperating with the catheter;
[0032] FIG. 17 is a top perspective view illustrating a polymer mold clamped in place on the outer diameter of the medical catheter;
[0033] FIG. 18 is an end perspective view illustrating a polymer mold clamped in place on the outer diameter of the medical catheter;
[0034] FIG. 19 is a top perspective view illustrating one half of the polymer mold having the medical catheter still positioned inside after reforming of the medical catheter sheath;
[0035] FIG. 20 is a perspective view illustrating the polymer mold positioned inside of an induction heater and cooling apparatus;
[0036] FIG. 21 is a partial close up view illustrating the polymer mold positioned inside of an induction heater and cooling apparatus; and
[0037] FIG. 22 is a partial close up view illustrating the controls for the induction heater and cooling apparatus.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0038] While the present invention is susceptible of embodiment in various forms, there is shown in the drawings and will hereinafter be described a presently preferred embodiment with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered an exemplification of the invention and is not intended to limit the invention to the specific embodiments illustrated.
[0039] Referring generally to FIGS. 1-22, a method and system for straightening a bent or kinked medical catheter is illustrated. The system includes a written protocol 12 for the straightening procedure for each respective catheter. The overview of the method includes parts and documents 14, equipment required 16, setup and procedure 18 and inspection 20. (FIG. 1) FIG. 2 outlines general precautions 22 for a particular catheter. In this non-limiting embodiment, the precautions are illustrated for a VNUS catheter (registered trademark) which is typically used to close veins with radio frequency ablation. It should be noted that the present system and method is suitable for use with many other catheters without departing from the scope of the invention. Referring to FIG. 3, the process flow chart 24 is illustrated. The process flow chart 24 outlines an overview of the steps required to repair the particular medical catheter. These steps may vary from one catheter to another without departing from the scope of the invention. Referring to FIG. 4, materials 26, equipment 28 and documents 30 are specified. In general, the materials 26 include a list of all the materials needed to repair a bent or kinked medical catheter. The equipment list refers to the equipment required to repair the bends and kinks of a particular medical catheter and the documents section 30 lists the documents that are needed and/or required for refurbishing a medical catheter, wherein the catheter is intended to be put back into commerce as a usable product or discarded as not usable and tracked for disposal. FIG. 5 further illustrates the process, including line clearance and documentation review 32, set up of the repair 34, and physical steps 36 for modification of the medical catheter. In general, under line clearance 32, the person repairing the medical catheter should be trained to modify the medical catheter, and they should sign off on the documents stating that they are trained. The next step under set up 34 is for the technician to determine whether the medical catheter needs kink or collar repair. Once kink or collar repair is determined, the process 12 includes a repair reference 35 that directs the technician to the required steps to complete the required work. In this particular model, the technician is given the choice of kink repair in the collar area of the medical catheter 37 and kink repair in other portions of the medical catheter 38. Under the physical steps section 36, the steps for repair of a kink in the collar section of the medical catheter are listed in order of performance. If the medical catheter requires kink repair in an area other than the collar, the technician is directed to kink repair 40, shown on FIG. 6. This section includes such steps as identifying the kinked area(s), as shown on FIGS. 9 and 10. Once the kinked area is identified, the technician is directed to clean the medical catheter 50 (FIG. 9) with alcohol or a similar film free solvent. The next step requires the technician to place the catheter in a mold 44, FIGS. 17-22. The mold is generally constructed from a high temperature resistant material such as, but not limited to, ceramic to include an outer diameter 42, an inner diameter 46, and a length 48. The mold 44 is preferably constructed to include a pair of halves 52, which may be held together with clamps 54 to enclose the outer diameter 56 of the medical catheter 50. Although not required, the mold halves 52 may include keys, pins, steps or any other alignment device without departing from the scope of the invention. Once the mold 44 is positioned around the medical catheter 50, clamps 54 may be positioned to hold the mold halves 52 in position with respect to each other and with respect to the medical catheter 50. The mold 44 and medical catheter 50 can then be positioned within a device, such as an induction coil 58, which is utilized to heat the catheter to a sufficient temperature to either activate the memory of the polymer or reform the polymer to remove the kink. Air may be provided by a blower 60 to cool the mold and catheter 50 after being heated. In this manner, the speed of cooling can be controlled, if necessary, to provide the proper material properties for the catheter 50. Once the kink(s) in the catheter 50 are repaired, the mold 44 can be removed by removing the clamps 54. FIG. 16 illustrates timer and cycle controls for the induction heater used to heat the mold 44.
[0040] Referring to FIGS. 11-16, an alternative or an additional manner of straightening kinks from a catheter 50 is illustrated. This step includes straightening rolls 64. The straightening rolls include a plurality of rollers 66 arranged in perpendicular planes with respect to each other. Each roller 66 includes a V-shaped or U-shaped groove 68 sized to accept and guide the outer diameter of the catheter. In operation, the rollers are set to bend the catheter back and forth in a decreasing manner as it passes over the rollers to cause the catheter to become straight when exiting the straightening rolls 64. The catheter 50 is thus pulled through the straightening rollers 66 at least one time to remove the kinks. Such straightening rolls are typically used for straightening solid metal wire as it is pulled from a coil for use in manufacturing. After straightening, the solid wire is typically cut to a particular length for use. After straightening the catheter 50, any other checks, such as electrical conductivity, resistance and the like may also be completed. Thereafter, the paperwork is completed regarding the inspection of the catheter. The catheter can then be cleaned and repackaged for shipment and use.
