VALVE PORT AND METHOD FOR VASCULAR ACCESS

摘要

Valved ports (10) for accessing blood vessels and other body lumens include a lock mechanism which locks the valve fully open when a needle or other acces s tube is placed into the port. The lock mechanism includes a latch typically comprising one or more laterally deflectable elements, such as a pair of opposed balls (40). The deflected elements are pushed outwardly by the needl e to engage a recess (44) in the port (10) which locks the valve open until th e needle (N) is removed.