Catheter insertion system and method

1. A catheter inserter comprising:

a housing having an outer wall, an open interior, and a distal open end;

a needle assembly mounted in the open interior of the housing and to provide access through a patient's skin to a patient's vasculature, the needle assembly including a needle and a lock secured to the needle and slidable with the needle relative to the housing for selectively sliding the needle to a first, use position and a second, retracted position to fix the needle assembly in the first, use position and the second, retracted position;

a catheter assembly removably positioned in the housing and including a catheter and a hub connected to the catheter; and

an actuator assembly to move the catheter assembly to move the catheter and the hub outside the housing by engaging the catheter assembly,

wherein the lock includes a locking ring on an outside of the housing, wherein the housing includes threads at a first housing position and at a second housing position axially spaced on the housing from the first housing position, and wherein the locking ring threadingly engages the threads at either the first, use position or the second, retracted position to position the needle of the needle assembly at either the first, use position or the second, retracted position.

2. A catheter inserter comprising:

a housing having an outer wall, an open interior, and a distal end;

a needle assembly mounted in the open interior of the housing and to provide access through a patient's skin to a patient's vasculature, the needle assembly including a needle that is slidably mounted relative to the housing between a first, use position and a second, retracted position within the housing;

a catheter assembly removably positioned in the housing and including a catheter and a hub connected to the catheter;

an actuator assembly to move the catheter assembly to move the catheter and the hub outside the housing by engaging the catheter assembly; and

a lock that is movable relative to the housing to fix the needle assembly in at least one of the first, use position and the second, retracted position, wherein the lock includes an annular locking ring that extends about an entire outer circumference of the housing and is slidable relative to the housing.

3. The catheter inserter of claim 2 wherein the needle assembly includes a radially-extending protuberance, and wherein the housing includes a slot that receives the radially-extending protuberance for guiding axial movement of the needle relative to the housing.

4. The catheter inserter of claim 2 wherein the lock includes a lock thread that is threadably engageable with a first thread on an exterior of the housing, and is slidable along the exterior of the housing to a second thread on the exterior of the housing that is axially spaced from the first thread.

5. A catheter inserter comprising:

a housing having an outer wall, an open interior, a distal end, and a door assembly that is pivotable between a closed position and an open position to selectively close at least a portion of the distal end;

a needle assembly mounted in the open interior of the housing and to provide access through a patient's skin to a patient's vasculature, the needle assembly including a needle supported by the door assembly with the door assembly in the closed position;

a catheter assembly removably positioned in the housing and including a catheter and a hub connected to the catheter; and

an actuator assembly to move the catheter assembly to move the catheter and the hub outside the housing by engaging the catheter assembly,

wherein the actuator assembly is configured to release the catheter assembly and to re-engage the catheter assembly within the open interior of the housing to move the catheter of the catheter assembly distally through the door assembly.

6. The catheter inserter of claim 5 , wherein the actuator assembly includes an actuator connected to the hub; and wherein the hub engages a latch mechanism to open the door assembly to allow the catheter assembly to move outside the housing.

7. The catheter inserter of claim 6 , wherein the door assembly includes at least one first door held in the closed position by the latch mechanism and at least one second door.

8. The catheter inserter of claim 7 , wherein the at least one first door includes a latch, wherein the latch mechanism includes a control arm with a catch to receive the latch, the control arm is moved to release the latch from the catch with the hub engaging the control arm.

9. The catheter inserter of claim 7 , wherein the at least one first door and the at least one second door matingly engage when closed and support the needle at the distal end of the housing when closed.

10. The catheter inserter of claim 9 , wherein the at least one first door includes a protrusion and the at least one second door includes a recess to receive the protrusion with the at least one first door and the at least one second door being in the closed position.

11. The catheter inserter of claim 7 , wherein the at least one first door includes an aperture to support the needle with the needle extending past the door assembly.

12. The catheter inserter of claim 7 , wherein the at least one first door and the at least one second door form an aperture through which the needle of the needle assembly and the catheter of the catheter assembly extend with the doors in the closed position.

13. The catheter inserter of claim 7 , wherein the at least one first door and the at least one second door cover more than half of the distal end of the housing while in the closed position.

14. The catheter of claim 5 wherein the door assembly is axially fixed and hingedly connected to the housing.

15. The catheter of claim 5 wherein the door assembly includes a first pivotable door and a second pivotable door that matingly engages the first door when in the closed position and is pivotable away from the first door when in the open position.