Arterial infusion catheter

Claim 1

A catheter for use in arterial infusion of fluids and the like, said catheter comprising a cannula formed of a material sufficiently rigid to facilitate insertion thereof into an artery, said cannula having a distal end and a proximal end, a part of said cannula at the distal end having a plurality of cutout portions spaced around the circumference of said cannula and separating said distal end from the main body of the cannula, said cutout portions being separated by ribs extending longitudinally between the main body of said cannula and its distal end which ribs are formed integrally with said cannula, a flexible material extending completely over each of said cutout portions along the inside surface of said cannula and having A modulus of elasticity less than the modulus of elasticity for the material which forms said cannula, the flexible material covering each of said cutout portions having a plurality of slits therein to provide for discharge of fluid from inside of said cannula through said slits when the fluid pressure in said cannula exceeds the pressure on the outside of said cannula which preventing the retrograde flow of fluid into said cannula regardless of the pressure difference between the inside and outside of said cannula.