Illuminated urethral catheter

Claim 1

An illuminated drainage catheter including a flexible transparent catheter tube having distal and proximal ends and an internal drainage lumen extending the length thereof and open at the proximal end of the tube and at or adjacent the distal end of the tube; a drainage adapter having an internal collecting portion with major and minor axially aligned aperatures located on opposite sides of said portion, and drainage member extending laterally of said axis including an aperature at the free end thereof adapted to be connected to a liquid drainage receptacle and a passage extending from the collecting portion to such aperature; a fiber optic member including an elongate flexible light transmitting fiber optic having proximal and distal ends, a light emitting surface extending around the circumference of a length of the fiber optic adjacent the distal end thereof, a mounting member on the proximal end of the fiber optic for attachment to a light source whereby light from the source is transmitted to the fiber optic, along the fiber optic and is emitted from the area of light transmitting surface radially outwardly of the fiber optic, a fluid tight connection joining the proximal end of the catheter tube to the major aperature of the drainage adapter; the proximal end and mounting member of the fiber optic member being located outwardly of the catheter tube and drainage adapter with the fiber optic extending therefrom through the minor aperature, the internal collecting portion and major aperature of the drainage adapter and into and along the interior of the catheter tube with the distal end of the fiber optic located adjacent the distal end of the tube and the light transmitting surface extending along a length of the tube; the interior surface of the minor aperature resiliently engaging the exterior surface of the fiber optic to form a fluid tight sliding joint therebetween thereby the fiber optic may be axially moved with respect to the minor aperature to move the light transmitting surface along the catheter tube to a desired location while maintaining a fluid tight seal between the fiber optic and the minor aperature so that liquid flowing along the lumen is discharged through the drainage member.