Positive flow valve

Abstract

A closed system, spikeless, positive-flow valve device includes a body defining an internal cavity. At the proximal end of the body is an opening which is preferably sufficiently large to receive an ANSI standard tip of a medical implement. The valve includes a plastic, resilient silicon seal which fills the upper cavity and opening with an oval seal cap having a slit. The opening presses the oval seal cap to keep the slit closed in the decompressed state. The slit opens as the nose of the medical implement compresses the seal into the cavity and the seal cap is free from the opening. The housing also includes a fluid space which facilitates fluid flow between the medical implement and a catheter tip. The fluid space within the valve automatically and reversibly increases upon insertion of the medical implement into the cavity and decreases upon withdrawal of the medical implement, such that a positive flow from the valve toward the catheter tip is effected upon withdrawal of the medical implement, thereby preventing a flow of blood from a patient into the catheter when the medical implement is removed from the valve.

1 . A positive-flow medical connector for controlling a flow of fluid between first and second medical implements, the medical connector comprising: 
 a housing comprising a first end and a second end, the first end including a first opening adapted to receive a first medical implement, the exterior surface of the housing including a mounting structure and a shoulder portion wider in diameter than the mounting structure, the shoulder portion configured to halt the advancement of the first medical implement along the mounting structure, the second end of the housing including a second opening adapted to be removably connected to a second medical implement, the housing defining an interior cavity, and the exterior surface of the housing near the first end having first portion defining a first external cross-sectional width and the exterior surface of the housing in the distal direction from the first portion defining a second external cross-sectional width larger than the first external cross-sectional width;    a flexible member comprising a first opening in the region of the first end of the housing and a second opening in the region of the second end of the housing, and a fluid passageway within the flexible member; and    an interior conduit positioned within the interior cavity, the conduit in fluid communication with the fluid passageway of the flexible member;    wherein the flexible member is configured to move from a substantially closed position, in which a portion of the flexible member is near the first end of the housing, to a substantially open position upon insertion of the first medical implement into the first opening of the housing, and the flexible member is configured to move from the substantially open position to the substantially closed position upon withdrawal of the first medical implement from the first opening of the housing, the volume of the fluid passageway within the flexible member being larger in the substantially open position than in the substantially closed position so that fluid contained within the flexible member upon the withdrawal of the first medical implement is urged toward the second end of the housing, the fluid passageway of the flexible member and the interior conduit cooperating to form a substantially non-tortuous fluid passageway through the valve when the flexible member is in the substantially open position.    
   
   
       2 . The medical connector of  claim 1 , wherein an end of the flexible member closest to the first end of the housing is displaced in the direction of the second end of the housing as the flexible member moves from the substantially closed position to the substantially open position.  
   
   
       3 . The medical connector of  claim 1 , wherein the shape of the flexible member urges the fluid passageway more tightly closed near the first end of the housing when the passageway is under fluid pressure.  
   
   
       4 . The medical connector of  claim 1 , wherein an external surface on the flexible member in the substantially closed position contacts an internal surface of the interior cavity of the housing in a region near the first end of the housing.  
   
   
       5 . The medical connector of  claim 1 , wherein a portion of an interior surface of the housing between the first end and the second end is tapered.  
   
   
       6 . The medical connector of  claim 1 , wherein the fluid passageway is wider when the flexible member is in its substantially open position than in its substantially closed position.  
   
   
       7 . The medical connector of  claim 1 , wherein a first external surface of the housing near the first end has a first cross-sectional area, a second external surface of the housing closer to the second end than the first external surface has a second cross-sectional area, and the first cross-sectional area is smaller than the second cross-section area.  
   
   
       8 . The medical connector of  claim 1 , wherein a portion of the flexible member is approximately flush with the first end of the housing.  
   
   
       9 . The medical connector of  claim 1 , further comprising a region on the housing near the first end including an exterior surface with a mounting structure adapted to be rotatably attached to a screw thread on an internal surface of the first medical implement.