IMPROVED IN-LINE SAMPLING SYSTEM INCORPORATING AN IMPROVED BLOOD SAMPLING DEVICE

摘要

A blood sampling system which incorporates a fluid storage mechanism (20) which can be disposed along the longitudinal axis of a fluid line (51) extending from an injection site (55) to a fluid supply (50). Both the main body portion (21) of the fluid storage mechanism (20) and a fluid draw element (22) of the fluid storage mechanism (20) are axially aligned with the longitudinal axis of the fluid line (51). The fluid storage mechanism (20) also incorporates a vortex inducer element (28) at the distal end (24) of the fluid draw element (22) to induce a swirl of fluid to cleanse the fluid storage mechanism (20) once a sample drawn into the fluid storage mechanism (20) has been returned to the patient. An alternative embodiment of the fluid storage mechanism (20) includes a volume control device (240).