Guide flutes for catheter manifold

Claim 1

A multiple luer catheter assembly including: a catheter manifold, and a catheter connected at its proximal end to the manifold; a plurality of luers serially arranged in said manifold, each luer having a tubular longitudinal section contained in said manifold and a tubular intake section for enabling fluid communication between the associated longitudinal section and the environment outside of said manifold; a plurality of tubular connector members, each connector member positioned between and substantially coaxially joined with two adjacent longitudinal sections, said connector members and longitudinal sections forming an enclosure defining a longitudinal passage through at least a portion of said manifold and in fluid communication with a lumen of said catheter, said passage having a proximal portion with a nominal diameter, and a distal portion with a reduced diameter substantially less than said nominal diameter; and an elongate guide means formed in said enclosure along at least part of said proximal portion and extended radially inward to form in said passage a coaxial guide conduit with an effective conduit diameter substantially less than said nominal diameter, said guide means engaging and capturing a distal end of a tube as said tube is removably loaded into said passage by a proximal end of the passage, to substantially align said tube distal end coaxially with said proximal portion while permiting fluid flow through said passage to said lumen between said enclosure and tube exterior.