US 12,245,841 B2
Optical fiber sensor
Yiping Ma, Layton, UT (US); and Azadeh Khanicheh, Somerville, MA (US)
Assigned to Becton, Dickinson and Company, Franklin Lakes, NJ (US)
Filed by Becton, Dickinson and Company, Franklin Lakes, NJ (US)
Filed on Sep. 21, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/949,928.
Application 17/949,928 is a continuation of application No. 15/461,366, filed on Mar. 16, 2017, granted, now 11,478,150.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/314,266, filed on Mar. 28, 2016.
Prior Publication US 2023/0013414 A1, Jan. 19, 2023
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. A61B 5/00 (2006.01); A61B 5/145 (2006.01)
CPC A61B 5/0084 (2013.01) [A61B 5/0059 (2013.01); A61B 5/14503 (2013.01); A61B 5/6847 (2013.01); A61B 5/6852 (2013.01); A61B 5/7271 (2013.01); A61B 5/746 (2013.01)] 10 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A catheter system, comprising:
a catheter adapter having a catheter tube forming a single lumen, the catheter tube having a distal tapered portion; and
a needle hub from which an introducer needle extends, the introducer needle having a distal tip and a notch feature, the needle hub being coupled to the catheter adapter such that the introducer needle is positioned within and extends through the single lumen to thereby position the distal tip of the introducer needle distally beyond a distal end of the catheter tube;
wherein the catheter tube comprises an optical fiber comprising a first end, a second end, a U-shaped portion disposed between the first end and the second end, and a helical portion formed by twisting the first and second ends with respect to one another, wherein the U-shaped portion and the helical portion are molded or co-extruded within an outer wall of the catheter tube and forms an outer surface and an inner surface of the catheter tube along a length of the catheter tube such that the U-shaped portion and the helical portion are configured to contact blood outside of the catheter tube when the catheter tube is inserted in a blood vessel and to contact blood inside of the catheter tube that flows into the distal tip of introducer needle and out through the notch feature, wherein the U-shaped portion extends up to but not beyond the distal tapered portion of the catheter tube.