Needle assembly

Abstract

A needle assembly has a needle hub that has a body to which are formed two plates at opposite sides thereof in a parallel relationship. The plates have respective upper edges and lower edges that lie substantially along respective planes, so that the needle hub may be stably placed onto a surface by means of the respective edges. A partition is formed orthogonally proximate to the front ends of the parallel plates. The partition and the parallel plates together provide upper and lower three point stable supports for the needle hub. A notch at the partition provides a guided line of sight to the tip of the needle for the user. The connector at the proximal portion of the needle hub has a non-conventional configuration that allows it to mate only with a counterpart special connector of a fluid conveying device that has a complementary non-conventional configuration.

1 - 20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . A needle assembly, comprising:
 a needle hub including a main body extending along a longitudinal axis having an open proximal end and a closed distal end;   a needle having a distal tip including an aperture and a proximal end connected to the closed end of said hub to establish a through passage between the aperture of the needle and the open end of the hub;   wherein said hub includes two plates positioned at opposite sides of the main body, said plates each having an upper edge and a lower edge, the upper and lower edges of each of said plates slightly curved inwardly to form a concave configuration for each plate, said two plates bonded along the main body in parallel to each other, the respective top edges of said two plates lying substantially co-planarly along an upper plane and the respective bottom edges of said two plates lying substantially co-planarly along a lower plane so that the respective top edges form one rest support and the respective bottom edges form another rest support for said needle hub when said needle hub is placed onto a flat surface using the respective top edges or the respective lower edges of said two plates.   
     
     
         22 . The needle assembly of  claim 21 , further comprising a partition positioned orthogonal to and separating said two plates from the closed distal end of said hub whereto the proximal end of the needle is connected. 
     
     
         23 . The needle assembly of  claim 22 , wherein said partition is substantially rectangular and has an upper and a lower edge, the upper edge of said partition lies in a coplanar relationship with the respective upper edges of said two plates and the lower edge of said partition lies in a coplanar relationship with the respective lower edges of said two plates, so that the upper edges of said partition and said two plates form a stable multiple edge support for said needle hub and the lower edges of said partition and said two plates form another stable multiple edge support for said needle hub. 
     
     
         24 . The needle assembly of  claim 21 , wherein said needle hub comprises a proximal portion that includes a substantially cylindrical body having an outer surface and two protrusions extending from opposite sides of the outer surface at or proximate to the proximal end to engage with a counterpart connector of a fluid conveying device. 
     
     
         25 . The needle assembly of  claim 29 , wherein the fluid conveying device comprises a syringe, a fluid line or a fluid store. 
     
     
         26 . The needle assembly of  claim 21 , wherein the needle comprises a spinal or epidural needle. 
     
     
         27 . The needle assembly of  claim 21 , further comprising a notch at said hub to provide a line of sight from the distal tip of the needle to a space defined between said two plates to guide a user to correctly insert the bevel end of the needle into the patient. 
     
     
         28 . The needle assembly of  claim 27 , wherein the notch extends from a top edge of said partition. 
     
     
         29 . A needle assembly comprising:
 a needle hub including a body extending along a longitudinal axis having an open proximal end and a distal portion including a closed distal end;   a needle extending from the closed distal end; and   two plates bonded to opposite sides of the body in parallel to each other, said two plates each having a top edge and a bottom edge, each of the top and bottom edges of said two plates slightly curved inwardly to form a concave configuration so that the two ends of the respective top edges of said two plates lie substantially co-planarly along an upper plane to form one rest support and the two ends of the respective bottom edges of said two plates lie substantially co-planarly along a lower plane to form another rest support.   
     
     
         30 . The needle assembly of  claim 29 , further comprising:
 a partition bonded to said body orthogonal to said two plates, said partition having a top edge that lies substantially coplanarly along the upper plane and a bottom edge that lies substantially coplanarly along the lower plane so that the ends of the top edges of said two plates and the top edge of said partition form a multiple edge top support and the ends of the bottom edges of said two plates and the bottom edge of said partition form a multiple edge bottom support for said needle hub when said needle hub is placed onto a flat surface using the respective top edges or the respective bottom edges.   
     
     
         31 . The needle assembly of  claim 29 , wherein the body of said hub comprises a substantially cylindrical body having an outer surface and an opening at the proximal end to a bore through the cylindrical body, two protrusions extending from opposite sides of the outer surface proximate to or at the proximal end to engage with a counterpart connector of a fluid conveying device. 
     
     
         32 . The needle assembly of  claim 29 , wherein the fluid conveying device comprises a syringe, a fluid bag, a fluid line or a fluid cassette. 
     
     
         33 . The needle assembly of  claim 29 , wherein the needle comprises a spinal or an epidural needle. 
     
     
         34 . The needle assembly of  claim 30 , further comprising a notch at said hub to provide a line of sight from the distal tip of the needle to a space defined between said two plates to guide a user to correctly insert the bevel end of the needle into the patient. 
     
     
         35 . The needle assembly of  claim 34 , wherein the notch extends from a top edge of said partition. 
     
     
         36 . A method of manufacturing a needle assembly, comprising:
 providing a needle hub including a body extending along a longitudinal axis having an open proximal end and a distal portion including a closed distal end;   extending a needle from the closed distal end;   bonding two plates to opposite sides of the body in parallel to each other, said two plates each having a top edge and a bottom edge; and   configuring each of the top and bottom edges of said two plates slightly curved inwardly to form a concave configuration so that the two ends of the respective top edges of said two plates lie substantially co-planarly along an upper plane to form one rest support and the two ends of the respective bottom edges of said two plates lie substantially co-planarly along a lower plane to form another rest support.   
     
     
         37 . The method of  claim 36 , further comprising:
 bonding a partition to said body orthogonal to said two plates, said partition having a top edge that lies substantially coplanarly along the upper plane and a bottom edge that lies substantially coplanarly along the lower plane so that the ends of the top edges of said two plates and the top edge of said partition form a multiple edge top support and the ends of the bottom edges of said two plates and the bottom edge of said partition form a multiple edge bottom support for said needle hub when said needle hub is placed onto a flat surface using the respective top edges or the respective bottom edges.   
     
     
         38 . The method of  claim 37 , further comprising:
 forming a notch at said hub to provide a line of sight from the distal tip of the needle to the space between said two plates to guide a user to correctly insert the bevel end of the needle into the patient.   
     
     
         39 . The method of  claim 38 , further comprising:
 forming the notch at a top edge of said partition.