Hemodialysis catheters have been utilized as a conduit for the treatment of End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD). In the case of long term dialysis, chronic dialysis catheters are placed under the skin. Dialysis treatments occur at least three times a week, with repetitive attachments of syringes, blood lines, and caps to the luer fittings. This ongoing stress to the luer fittings can result in damage such as cracking or breaking, leading to the need for replacement. Replacement involves completely removing the catheter surgically and replacing it. Since the procedure must be performed surgically, it greatly increases cost, time, and harm to the patient. Synectic was approached to develop a catheter repair kit for replacing cracked or broken female luer lock connections on patient's existing catheters. The biggest challenge was developing a universal design for all acute and chronic catheters, that was easy to use by clinicians and could be performed non surgically.
Synectic's solution
Synectic started by performing an assessment of the existing catheter design to determine if a repair could be performed using the existing equipment. Since the repair requires the old catheter tubing to be cut and a new clamp applied, sufficient tubing needs to be available. Once it was determined that this was not possible, given the current length of exposed tubing, a new catheter and connector were designed. Our engineers designed the connector in such a way that there was only one way to assemble it. This made it fool proof and clinician friendly allowing the kit to be used with minimal training. Additionally, the connector was designed to have two components, minimizing the chances of dropping, or losing a piece during installation. To fully round out the kit, accessories were developed that aided the clinician in repairing the catheter. Finally, packaging was designed and developed for sterility, ease of use, and optimal shipping and storage.
