Hemostasis valve with catheter/guidewire seals

Abstract

A hemostasis valve which includes a tubular body having a lumen therethrough and an elongated housing attached to the tubular body. The body has a recess formed in one end. The housing has a longitudinal bore at one end and a compression chamber formed at another end which communicates with the bore. A resilient seal which comprises a cone-shaped membrane portion disposed in the recess for substantially blocking and controlling the loss of body fluids from the lumen. A compressible second seal for selectively opening and closing the bore in response to a compressive force is disposed in the compression chamber. The compressible seal has a longitudinal first passageway that communicates with the bore and a raised annular portion which serves as a selective opening to the bore. The compressible seal responds to compressive forces so as to reduce or increase the size of the opening provided by the raised annular portion to selectively seal or unseal the bore. The hemostasis valve includes a rotatable end cap configured to exert a compressive force on the compressible seal when rotated in one direction relative to the housing, and releases the compressive force when rotated in an opposite direction. The compressible seal is configured to allow an instrument accessing the lumen to be repositioned or removed while maintaining an adequate seal capable of preventing substantially all loss of the body fluids beyond the compressible seal without the user having to rotate the end cap to release the compressive force acting on the compressible seal.