Needle stick protective apparatus for manual catheter placement devices

摘要

A needle stick protective apparatus for medical devices having a hollow needle with a sharp tip, a vacuum chamber in flow communication with the hollow needle and a vacuum creating piston-plunger. The apparatus includes an interface member having a rear arm for engaging the piston-plunger and a front portion plate with a needle guard slideable over the needle up to the needle tip to enclose it and to irreversibly lock upon enclosure of the needle tip, shielding the needle tip to provide protection against needle sticks. The sliding of the needle guard over the needle is initiated and sustained, and in certain embodiments is completed, by posterior displacement of the vacuum creating piston-plunger engaged with the arm of the interface member upon blood vessel penetration by the needle. An engagement member converts the rearward displacement of the piston-plunger into a forward displacement of the interface member with the needle guard up to the needle tip. The piston-plunger is manually displaceable to enable a manually driven advancement of the needle guard over the needle upon blood vessel penetration by the needle tip, by acting on the handle of the piston-plunger away and at a safe distance from the needle tip.