摘要 |
Disclosed is a shield assembly for a catheter particularly useful for the protection of flow directed catheters used in the measurement of central venous pressure and pulmonary wedge pressure. The shield assembly includes front and rear hubs each with a central passage sized to permit movement of a catheter therethrough and a feed tube for interconnecting the front and rear hubs. The feed tube has a lumen extending between the passage and the hubs for guiding a catheter passed through the rear hub and out through the front hub. A flexible sheath interconnects the two hubs. The sheath is substantially longer than the feed tube and is collapsible to permit interconnection of the two hubs by the feed tube for catheter guidance during feeding of the catheter through the rear hub, through the feed tube and through the front hub and is extendable to shield a substantial length of catheter from contamination when the front and rear hubs are separated.
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