Urinary catheter protective tips having a fluid reservoir

摘要

A catheter assembly (10) includes a catheter (12) at least partially positioned within a sleeve (14). The catheter has a coating, which produces a low-friction surface on the catheter when treated with an activating fluid. A protective tip (16) is connected to the proximal end (18) of the sleeve (14) and has proximal (28) and distal (30) internal seals, with the proximal seal (28) at the proximal end (24) of the tip (16) or between proximal (24) and distal (22) ends of the protective tip (16). A cap (32) of the assembly has a projection (34), which is removably received within the protective tip (16) for sealing engagement with the proximal (28) and distal (30) seals to define a fluid reservoir (38) within the protective tip (16). An activating fluid is contained within the fluid reservoir (38). The projection (34) may be partially hollow to receive a portion of the catheter (12). The sleeve (14) may be relatively narrow or at least have a narrowed portion for better distribution of activating fluid to the surface of the catheter.