Method of determining an appropriate catheter length
A method of inserting a catheter into a body of a patient includes identifying a catheter insertion site on the patient's body; measuring a length, from the insertion site to another site external to the body of the patient, and along an external path that follows a presumed internal path of the catheter from the insertion site to a target site within the patient's body, using an automatic measuring device; trimming the catheter to an appropriate length based on the length measured by the automatic measuring device; and inserting the trimmed catheter into the body of the patient through the insertion site to the target site.
1 . A method of inserting a catheter into a body of a patient, comprising:
identifying a catheter insertion site on the patient's body;
measuring a length, from the insertion site to another site external to the body of the patient, and along an external path that follows a presumed internal path of the catheter from the insertion site to a target site within the patient's body, using an automatic measuring device;
trimming the catheter to an appropriate length based on the length measured by the automatic measuring device; and
inserting the trimmed catheter into the body of the patient through the insertion site to the target site.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the automatic measuring device comprises a measuring wheel, and the step of determining a length comprises moving the measuring wheel along the external path.
3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the automatic measuring device is a digital device.
4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the automatic measuring device is an analog device.
5 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising placing the automatic measuring device in communication with a printer to print out length data including the measured length.
6 . A method of inserting a catheter into a body of a patient, comprising:
identifying a catheter insertion site on the patient's body;
measuring a length, from the insertion site to another site external to the body of the patient, and along an external path that follows a presumed internal path of the catheter from the insertion site to a target site within the patient's body, using an automatic measuring device; and
inserting the catheter into the body of the patient through the insertion site by an amount determined based on the length measured by the automatic measuring device.
7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the automatic measuring device comprises a measuring wheel, and the step of determining a length comprises moving the measuring wheel along the external path.
8 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the automatic measuring device is a digital device.
9 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the automatic measuring device is an analog device.
10 . A method of determining appropriate length of a catheter to be inserted into a body of a patient, comprising:
identifying a catheter insertion site on the patient's body; and
measuring a length, from the insertion site to another site external to the body of the patient, and along an external path that follows a presumed internal path of the catheter from the insertion site to a target site within the patient's body, using an automatic measuring device.
11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the automatic measuring device comprises a measuring wheel, and the step of determining a length comprises moving the measuring wheel along the external path.
12 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the automatic measuring device is an analog device.
13 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the automatic measuring device is a digital device.
14 . An automatic measuring device for measuring length of an anatomical feature, comprising:
a first portion including a measuring tool that generates signals when placed in contact with and traversed along the anatomical feature; and
a second portion including a processor that processes the generated signals to produce data representing the length of the anatomical feature.
15 . The measuring device of claim 1 , wherein the measuring tool is a measuring wheel.
16 . The measuring device of claim 1 , wherein the first portion is separable from the second portion.