Kink-Resistant Tubing

Abstract

Tubing for use in gastrointestinal applications includes a hollow tube and a spring positioned inside the tube. The spring is corrosion resistant and helps to prevent kinking of the tubing when the tubing is bent. An encapsulant may be positioned over the spring. The spring may be co-extruded with the tubing.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . Tubing for use in gastrointestinal applications comprising:
 a hollow tube; and   a spring coupled to the tube;   wherein the spring is corrosion resistant and helps to prevent kinking of the tubing when the tubing is bent.   
     
     
         2 . The tubing of  claim 1 , wherein the spring is positioned against an inner diameter of the hollow tube and further comprising an encapsulant positioned over the tubing. 
     
     
         3 . The tubing of  claim 1 , wherein the spring is made of a stainless steel or a polymeric material. 
     
     
         4 . The tubing of  claim 1 , wherein the tubing is a made of a silicone material, a polyurethane material, or a polymeric material. 
     
     
         5 . The tubing of  claim 1 , wherein the tubing has a substantially round inner diameter, or the tubing does not have a substantially round interior surface. 
     
     
         6 . The tubing of  claim 1 , wherein the spring is positioned in the hollow tube during a tube extrusion manufacturing process such that the spring is embedded in a wall of the tubing, or the spring is positioned in the hollow tube during a post-extrusion process. 
     
     
         7 . The tubing of  claim 1 , wherein the hollow tube includes multiple lumens in a single tube, and the spring is associated with one or more of the lumens. 
     
     
         8 . The tubing of  claim 1 , further comprising a G-J button coupled to the hollow tube at one end thereof. 
     
     
         9 . The tubing of  claim 7 , wherein the multiple lumens include a first gastric lumen, a second jejunal lumen, and a third lumen. 
     
     
         10 . A kink-resistant tubing comprising:
 a tubing wall; and   a spring positioned one of inside the tubing wall or adjacent an interior surface of the tubing wall,   wherein the spring helps to deter the tubing from kinking when bent.   
     
     
         11 . The tubing of  claim 10 , wherein when the spring is positioned inside the tubing wall, the spring is incorporated into the tubing wall during an extrusion manufacturing process of the tubing, or
 when the spring is positioned adjacent the tubing wall, the spring is added to the tubing after the extrusion process has been completed.   
     
     
         12 . A multi-lumen feeding tube that is coupled to a G-J button comprising:
 a multi-lumen tube having at least two lumens at a proximal end thereof and at least one lumen at a distal end thereof, with the lumens comprising at least a gastric lumen and a jejunal lumen; and   a spring positioned along at least part of the length of the multi-lumen tube in order to provide a kink-resistant feature to the feeding tube.   
     
     
         13 . The feeding tube of  claim 12 , wherein the gastric and jejunal lumens are about the same length and further comprising a jejunal tube inserted into the jejunal lumen, with the jejunal tube having a length that is greater than the length of the gastric and jejunal lumens and the spring being positioned along at least part of the length of the jejunal tube. 
     
     
         14 . The feeding tube of  claim 13 , wherein the jejunal tube has a cone-shaped portion at a proximal end thereof and the cone-shaped portion is formed integrally with or in a post-processing step. 
     
     
         15 . The feeding tube of  claim 14 , wherein the cone-shaped portion is made of a higher durometer material than the material of the tube and the tube is inserted into an opening in the G-J button into the jejunal lumen such that the cone-shaped portion seats in the G-J button to couple the jejunal tube to the jejunal lumen and G-J button. 
     
     
         16 . The feeding tube of  claim 12 , wherein the spring is coupled to the jejunal lumen of the multi-lumen tube and the jejunal lumen has a length that is greater than the gastric lumen, with the spring extending along at least part of the length of the jejunal lumen or along substantially all of the length of the jejunal lumen. 
     
     
         17 . The feeding tube of  claim 16 , wherein the spring is coextruded with the jejunal lumen such that the spring is embedded in the wall of the jejunal lumen. 
     
     
         18 . The feeding tube of  claim 12 , wherein the spring is coupled to the outer wall of the multi-lumen tube such that the spring is co-extruded with the outer wall of the multi-lumen tube. 
     
     
         19 . The feeding tube of  claim 18 , wherein the multi-lumen tube has a substantially constant outer diameter along its length, and the multi-lumen tube has at least a gastric lumen and a jejunal lumen, with the gastric lumen having a length that is less than a length of the jejunal lumen, and the spring extends along part or all of the length of the jejunal lumen.