US 12,268,823 B1
Making a single-use radio-frequency ablation catheter reusable
Chris Meyer, Windermere, FL (US); and Seth Masek, Dover, FL (US)
Filed by Chris Meyer, Windermere, FL (US); and Seth Masek, Dover, FL (US)
Filed on Jun. 13, 2024, as Appl. No. 18/742,125.
Int. Cl. A61M 25/00 (2006.01); A61B 18/14 (2006.01); A61B 18/00 (2006.01)
CPC A61M 25/0009 (2013.01) [A61B 18/1492 (2013.01); A61B 2018/00577 (2013.01); A61M 2025/0019 (2013.01); A61M 2205/70 (2013.01)] 2 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method for safely restoring use of a previously used RFA catheter comprising:
inspecting, visually, a previously used RFA catheter for visible damage;
if visibly damaged, then safely discarding the previously used RFA catheter;
otherwise if visibly undamaged, then,
immersing the previously used RFA catheter in a protease enzyme solution;
removing, manually, after immersing, any remaining biotic substances;
checking for insulation failure between probe and shaft of the previously used RFA catheter;
if low resistance is measured between probe and shaft, then safely discarding the previously used RFA catheter;
otherwise flushing the previously used RFA catheter's lumen with NaOCl;
rinsing, after flushing the catheter's lumen, with deionized water;
inspecting, using light and magnification, the previously used RFA catheter, now flushed and rinsed, for any remaining biotic substances;
if any biotic substances remain, then safely discarding the previously used RFA catheter;
otherwise rinsing the entire catheter in deionized water;
vacuum drying the now rinsed previously used RFA catheter;
determining if the vacuum-dried catheter has any operational restrictions, and then
circumventing the restrictions by physically modifying the hardware.