The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jan. 10, 2012
Filed:
Jul. 17, 2002
Applicant:
Stephen James Field, Canterbury, GB;
Inventor:
Stephen James Field, Canterbury, GB;
Assignee:
Smiths Group PLC, London, GB;
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Assistant Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
A61B 8/14 (2006.01);
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
Abstract
An embryo replacement catheter has a flexible extruded shaft of a transparent polyurethane with a bore extending along its length. Gas bubbles of a diameter in the range 5μ to 10μ are incorporated into the thickness of the wall of the shaft by adding gas during extrusion. The bubbles are selected to increase the visibility of the catheter under ultrasound imaging whilst still enabling material flowing along the catheter to be seen.