WINGUIDE needle guide

1. A device for facilitating placement of a central line in a patient, said device comprising:

a housing having proximal and distal ends and a central portion therebetween, said housing having an upper portion and a lower portion;

the proximal end of the housing forming a handgrip, the housing having at least one of a channel and a through hole extending from a proximal most end of the housing to the central portion of the housing, wherein the channel or through hole is sized to receive and support opposing lateral sides of an unsheathed guidewire;

a feeder tip receiver provided on a proximal end of the handgrip in communication with the channel or through hole in said handgrip;

a stabilizer comprising an elongate, cylindrical protrusion, said stabilizer located on and extending away from the lower portion of said housing and generally centered beneath the central portion of the housing, wherein the stabilizer is positioned and sized so as to allow a clinician to hold the device during use with a grip of the index and middle fingers;

a luer slip tip provided on the distal end of the housing, said luer slip tip having a mounting portion for attachment to a needle hub assembly, said luer slip tip having a lumen aligned with the channel or through hole in said handgrip; and

a wire slide platform provided on the central portion of the housing, a top surface of the unsheathed guidewire is exposed a full length of the wire slide platform such that a user can longitudinally advance/retract the unsheathed guidewire by applying force along the top surface of the unsheathed guidewire, wherein the stabilizer is located underneath the wire slide platform.

2. The device of claim 1 further comprising a thumb base ramp provided on the housing proximate a proximal end of the wire slide platform.

3. The device of claim 2 , wherein the thumb base ramp angles downward towards the wire slide platform.

4. The device of claim 3 , wherein the thumb base ramp includes non-slip features.

5. The device of claim 1 , further comprising a thumb tip ramp provided on the housing proximate a distal end of the wire slide platform.

6. The device of claim 5 , wherein the thumb tip ramp angles upward away from the wire slide platform.

7. The device of claim 5 , further comprising a cleaning edge provided adjacent the thumb tip ramp.

8. The device of claim 5 , further comprising a transparent flashback reservoir in the thumb tip ramp, the reservoir is in fluid communication with the luer slip tip lumen.

9. The device of claim 1 , wherein the needle hub assembly includes a hollow sharpened needle having a lumen extending therethrough, said hollow sharpened needle attached to a hub, said hub removably attached to the luer slip tip.

10. The device of claim 1 , further comprising an unsheathed guidewire acceptor adjacent a distal end of the wire slide platform and having a lumen aligned and in communication with said luer slip tip lumen and the channel or through hole in said housing.

11. The device of claim 10 , wherein the guidewire acceptor is funnel shaped with a wide mouth which tapers to a narrow lumen, wherein the guidewire acceptor is configured to receive the unsheathed guidewire fed from the feeder tip receiver through the handgrip, on the wire slide platform and out the luer slip tip lumen.

12. The device of claim 1 , wherein a thickness of the handgrip gradually increases from the proximal end of the handgrip to a distal end of the handgrip.

13. The device of claim 1 , further comprising a backflow preventer provided in fluid communication with the luer slip tip lumen, the backflow preventer comprising a gasket configured to surround and engage the unsheathed guidewire.

14. A method for using the device of claim 1 , comprising:

providing the device according to claim 1 ;

the device including a guidewire acceptor adjacent a distal end of the wire slide platform and having a lumen aligned and in communication with said luer slip tip lumen;

providing a needle assembly having a hub attached to a hollow sharpened needle with a lumen extending therethrough;

attaching the hub of the needle assembly to the luer slip tip;

providing a guidewire assembly having a guidewire in a coiled sheath, said coiled sheath including a guidewire feeder tip;

inserting the guidewire feeder tip into the guidewire acceptor;

advancing the guidewire from the coiled sheath through the guidewire feeder tip into the needle lumen; and

removing the guidewire feeder tip from the guidewire acceptor without withdrawing the guidewire from the needle lumen and inserting the guidewire feeder tip into the feeder tip receiver.

15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising the steps of:

identify a blood vessel to be cannulated using an ultrasound transducer;

grasping the device with a user's hand and using the needle to puncture the skin and advance towards a lumen of a vein while visualizing using ultrasound;

inserting the needle into the lumen of the vein.

16. The method of claim 15 , further comprising the steps of:

stabilizing the device by compressing long and index fingers of the user's hand onto the stabilizer and placing a thumb tip of the user's hand in a vertical position at a thumb base ramp;

compressing the guidewire on the wire slide platform with the thumb tip; and

advancing the guidewire on the wire slide platform to the thumb tip ramp.

17. The method of claim 16 , further comprising the step of:

advancing the thumb tip up the thumb tip ramp to advance the guidewire into the lumen of the vein.

18. The method of claim 17 , further comprising the steps of:

releasing thumb pressure on the guidewire;

and slowly backing the needle out of the skin, while compressing the guidewire on the skin with the other hand to expose the guidewire entering the skin and the vein.