Retractable needle catheter insertion device

Abstract

A retractable needle catheter insertion device is provided with a cannula and a needle positioned within the cannula to assist with insertion of the cannula. After insertion of the cannula into a patient, the needle can retract into a protective sleeve that contains the needle in order to reduce the chance that a medical practitioner will be inadvertently stuck by a used needle. The needle is carried by a needle support that is slidably disposed within the sleeve. A spring biases the needle support and needle toward a retracted position, and the device also includes an activation hub that works in conjunction with the needle support to control retraction of the needle. The retraction may be activated manually by the medical practitioner or may be activated automatically. A modular system and method of manufacturing is also provided in which catheters having either manually or automatic retraction can be manufactured using common parts.

We claim: 
     
         1 . An intravenous catheter comprising:
 a cannula assembly comprising a cannula and a cannula hub;   a needle;   a sleeve defining an internal cavity with an opening at a front end of the sleeve;   a needle support attached to the needle at a rear portion of the needle, the needle support slidably mounted within the internal cavity of the sleeve for movement of the needle from an extended position to a retracted position, the needle support comprising a first detent and a second detent;   a retractor that applies a force to the needle support biasing the needle support toward the retracted position; and   a modular activation hub assembled to the front end of the sleeve, the activation hub comprising a manually actuated release that engages the first detent of the needle support to secure the needle support against the biasing force of the retractor and further comprising an automatically actuated release that engages the second detent of the needle support to secure the needle support against the biasing force of the retractor.   
     
     
         2 . The intravenous catheter of  claim 1  wherein the modular hub is assembled to the front end of the sleeve by attaching the sleeve to a rearward end of the activation hub during assembly of the catheter. 
     
     
         3 . The intravenous catheter of  claim 2  wherein the sleeve is attached to the rearward end of the activation hub by ultrasonic welding. 
     
     
         4 . The intravenous catheter of  claim 1  wherein the retractor comprises a spring. 
     
     
         5 . The intravenous catheter of  claim 4  wherein the spring is compressed between the activation hub and the needle support. 
     
     
         6 . The intravenous catheter of  claim 5  wherein the sleeve is assembled to the activation hub after the spring has been compressed. 
     
     
         7 . The intravenous catheter of  claim 1  wherein the manually actuated release comprises a button that is pressed by a user to activate the release. 
     
     
         8 . The intravenous catheter of  claim 2  wherein the button comprises a cutout, and the cutout of the button engages the first detent. 
     
     
         9 . The intravenous catheter of  claim 1 , wherein the automatically actuated release comprises a resilient arm, and the resilient arm engages the second detent. 
     
     
         10 . The intravenous catheter of  claim 6  wherein the automatically actuated release is activated upon withdrawal of the actuation hub from the cannula hub. 
     
     
         11 . The intravenous catheter of  claim 7 , wherein the second detent comprises a lip formed on a surface of the needle support. 
     
     
         12 . The intravenous catheter of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the manually actuated release comprises a button having a cutout;   the automatically actuated release comprises a resilient arm;   the needle support first detent comprises a circumferential groove;   the needle support second detent comprises a lip extending outwardly from a surface of the needle support;   the resilient arm engages the lip; and   the cutout of the button engages the circumferential groove.   
     
     
         13 . The intravenous catheter of  claim 12 , wherein the cannula hub surrounds the activation hub at least in part and limits movement of the resilient arm when the activation hub is inserted into the cannula hub. 
     
     
         14 . The intravenous catheter of  claim 13 , wherein movement of the needle from an extended position to a retracted position requires that the button is pressed by a user to activate the manually actuated release and that activation hub is withdrawn from the cannula hub to activate the automatically actuated release. 
     
     
         15 . An intravenous catheter comprising:
 a cannula assembly comprising a cannula and a cannula hub;   a needle;   a sleeve defining an internal cavity with an opening at a front end of the sleeve;   a needle support attached to the needle at a rear portion of the needle, the needle support slidably mounted within the internal cavity of the sleeve for movement of the needle from an extended position to a retracted position, the needle support comprising a first detent that engages a first release and a second detent that simultaneously engages a second release;   a retractor that applies a force to the needle support biasing the needle support toward the retracted position; and   a modular activation hub assembled to the front end of the sleeve, wherein the activation hub comprises the first release engaging the needle support first detent and the second release simultaneously engaging the needle support second detent.   
     
     
         16 . The intravenous catheter of  claim 12 , wherein the activation hub first release comprises a manually actuated release. 
     
     
         17 . The intravenous catheter of  claim 13 , wherein the manually actuated release comprises a button that is pushed to activate the manually actuated release. 
     
     
         18 . The intravenous catheter of  claim 12 , wherein the activation hub second release comprises an automatically actuated release. 
     
     
         19 . The intravenous catheter of  claim 15 , wherein the cannula hub at least partially surrounds the activation hub, and the activation hub is withdrawn from the cannula to activate the automatically actuated release. 
     
     
         20 . The intravenous catheter of  claim 12 , wherein the first release and the second release must both be activated for movement of the needle from an extended position to a retracted position.