Granted Patent B2

US 12,745,942 · App. 18/075,280 · Granted Sep 29, 2026

Inventors: Steffan Sowards (Salt Lake City, UT); William Robert McLaughlin (Bountiful, UT)

Assignee: Bard Access Systems, Inc.

A61B5/28A61M2025/0166

Abstract

Claims (32)

1 . A catheter placement system, comprising:

a catheter placement device, comprising:

an elongate body configured for insertion into a catheter lumen, the elongate body including a body lumen extending between a body distal end and a body lumen opening at a body proximal end;

a compartment coupled with the elongate body at the body proximal end, the compartment fluidly coupled with the body lumen via the body lumen opening;

a saline solution disposed within the compartment and the body lumen; and

a stylet extending along the elongate body and through the body lumen opening, the stylet including a multi-core optical fiber extending along the stylet, the multi-core optical fiber including a number of fiber Bragg gratings disposed along a length of the multi-core optical fiber.

2 . The system according to claim 1 , wherein a distal portion of the stylet is disposed within the body lumen.

3 . The system according to claim 2 , wherein the stylet includes an elongate opening extending along the distal portion, the elongate opening defining an additional cross-sectional area of the body lumen.

4 . The system according to claim 1 , wherein the catheter placement device is optically coupled with a system module.

5 . The system according to claim 4 , wherein the system module is configured to determine a shape of the stylet based on reflected light signals emanating the fiber Bragg gratings.

6 . The system according to claim 5 , wherein the system module is configured to display the shape.

7 . The system according to claim 4 , wherein the system module is further configured to display an image acquired by the multi-core optical fiber.

8 . The system according to claim 4 , wherein the system module is further configured to determine, based on reflected light signals emanating the fiber Bragg gratings, one or more of:

a temperature of the multi-core optical fiber,

a motion of the multi-core optical fiber, or

a displacement of fluid adjacent the multi-core optical fiber.

9 . The system according to claim 4 , wherein the saline solution is electrically coupled with the system module and a patient.

10 . The system according to claim 9 , wherein the saline solution is electrically coupled with the system module via a wire.

11 . The system according to claim 10 , wherein the wire extends through a sterile barrier between a sterile environment and a non-sterile environment.

12 . The system according to claim 9 , wherein the system module is configured to determine an electrocardiogram signal of the patient and display an electrocardiogram waveform.

13 . The system according to claim 12 , wherein the system module is configured to determine a placement location of the body distal end within a vasculature of the patient based on the electrocardiogram signal.

14 . The system according to claim 1 , wherein:

the stylet extends through the compartment, and

a proximal portion of the stylet extends proximally away from the compartment.

15 . The system according to claim 14 , wherein the proximal portion of the stylet is:

electrically conductive,

electrically coupled with the saline solution within the compartment, and

electrically coupled with a system module.

16 . The system according to claim 1 , wherein the catheter placement device further comprises a fluid delivery device containing the saline solution, the fluid delivery device fluidly coupled with the compartment.

17 . The system according to claim 16 , wherein:

the compartment includes a side port, and

the fluid delivery device is fluidly coupled with the compartment via the side port.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (400)