Nxstage Medical, Inc.

Steven C Alford

James M Brugger

Christopher D Pierson

William J Schnell

Mark Florence

A method of making a needle guard includes providing a mold having a portion defining a volume, the volume being a hollow cylinder with non-uniform walls with a pair of slots therein, the slots being open at one end and closed at the other end, the pair of slots having a major portion of constant width. The walls are thicker at the other end than at the one end. The method includes filling the volume with polymer and releasing a molded part from said mold and cooling a molded part resulting from the filling and releasing such that temperature that the widths of the pair of slots is non-uniform after cooling. The needle guard has upper and lower jaws defining a channel and coming together at a hinge. A winged needle can be inserted between the jaws, with the wings of the winged needle passing through slots between the jaws.

Needle guard

A needle set includes a needle guard and a winged needle. The needle guard has upper and lower jaws, each of the upper and lower jaws defining a channel and coming together at a hinge. The upper and lower jaws are separated by slots in sides of the needle guard, which slots divide the sides into upper and lower side walls, respectively. The winged needle can be inserted between the upper and lower jaws, with wings of the winged needle passing through the slots. The hinge has an opening and a tube connected to the winged needle passes through the opening.

A bandage can be used to secure a needle to an access site so as to prevent unintended movement or withdrawal of the needle from the access site during administration of a treatment to a patient. After treatment, the needle can be removed by manipulating a portion of the bandage. Another portion of the bandage can be maintained in position over the access site during needle removal and can be used to promote clotting of the site after needle removal. The bandage may include a clotting agent, a hemostasis pad, and/or a clot-promoting structure. Additionally or alternatively, finger pressure can be applied to the access site through the bandage. For example, the bandage may include a viewing window without any adhesive to allow visual monitoring of the access site during treatment. Finger pressure may be applied to the viewing window and thereby to the access site during and after needle removal to encourage hemostasis.

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Marysville, WA, United States of America

Steven C Alford