Baxter Travenol Laboratories, Inc.

Clintec Nutrition Company

Baxter Healthcare Inc.

Robert A Miller

Kenneth W Larson

Frank M Richmond

Michael J Becker

Algirdas J Bindokas

Richard A Rollins

R Daniel Webster

Bradley H Buchanan

Albert L Stone

Jerre T Kachmar

Joseph L Schopen

A port/spike assembly including an enteral spike having a diameter substantially less than the diameter of a standard parenteral spike. The assembly also includes a port having a tube with an outer wall which defines a generally cylindrical elongated bore. A frangible membrane is disposed inside the elongated bore, and divides the bore into upper and lower bore sections. A selector ring is provided in the upper bore section for permitting insertion of the reduced diameter enteral spike and for preventing the insertion of a standard parenteral spike through the membrane. The assembly prevents inadvertent insertion of a parenteral spike into an enteral feeding system.

Enteral-specific spike/bag port system

A wedge-shaped access port for a flexible container is described. The flexible container is formed of at least one or more sheets of material which are sealed together about the edges to form a cavity. The wedge-shaped port is sealed to the container so that a base of the wedge is exterior to the cavity and a thin edge of the wedge is located inside the cavity. An orifice in the port provides a passageway from the base of the wedge to the cavity. The wedge shape of the port allows sealing of the port to container with minimal stress or thinning of material at the seal between the port and the container.

Wedge-shaped port for flexible containers

A flexible collapsible container is filled with fluid by connecting a fluid conduit to a tubular port which communicates through one of the walls of the container to the container interior, and rupturing a sealing diaphragm that closes the bore of the tubular port. One then passes fluid through the conduit to fill the container. Thereafter, one seals either or both the tubular port and plastic wall which carries it to the other, opposed plastic wall of the container with seal line means to close off flow communication between the bore of the tubular port and a major portion of the container interior which contains the fluid. The effect of this is to block flow communication between the bore and the fluid so that the contents of the container remain sealed on disengagement of the fluid conduit from the tubular port.

Method for filling collapsible containers

A collapsible medical agent container (10) is disclosed having walls (34, 36, 38) defining a plurality of chambers (12, 14) for containing selected quantities of one or more medical fluids or a dry or encapsulated drug or other reagent in separate sealed condition. Opening means which communicates between adjacent chambers (12, 14) for passage of fluid from one chamber to another, is normally closed by frangible closure (18) which maintains the chambers (12, 14) in separate hermetically sealed condition until flow between the chambers (12, 14) is needed. The frangible closure (18) has an elongated relatively rigid portion (20) which extends into one of the chambers and is disposed within a protective retentive tube (24), and a relatively weakened portion (22) adjacent the opening means. The closure (18) is manually openable from exterior the container (10) to permit flow between the chambers (12, 14), such as for mixing, by grasping the elongated portion (20) through the walls (30, 32) of the container (10) and bending it until the relatively weakened portion (22) is fractured.

Collapsible multi-chamber medical fluid container

A process and apparatus for mixing at least two parenteral solutions, sterilizing the resulting mixture, and transferring the sterilized mixture into an extensible, plastic receiving bag. The apparatus includes a mixing chamber into which the solutions can be delivered, a bacterial organism retentive filter for sterilizing the mixture of the solutions received from the chamber, such a receiving bag, tubing for transferring each of the solutions to be chamber, and second tubing for transferring the sterilized mixture from the filter to the bag. All are combined and then sterilized as a unit. In one embodiment of the invention, the bag is placed in a vacuum chamber to facilitate transfer of the mixture through the apparatus and the mixing chamber has a baffle or system of baffles for creating turbulence in the solutions while they are being mixed. The diameter and length of each tubing leading into the chamber from a solution holding container is preselected with respect to the viscosity of the solution in that holding container, so that both solutions reach the chamber at the same time or in a selected order and are mixed in an equal or preselected proportion therein.

Growing community of inventors

Crystal Lake, IL, United States of America

Robert A Miller