Introducer components, assemblies, and methods thereof

ChangeBridge: Patent Grants - Medical Devices (A61M)

Published April 7th, 2026

Detected April 7th, 2026

Summary

The USPTO granted Patent US12594403B2 to Bard Access Systems, Inc. for introducer assembly components used in vascular access procedures. The patent covers an assembly including a needle with a valve over a needle slot, and an access guidewire loaded in a ready-to-deploy state. Inventor Glade H. Howell developed components allowing immediate guidewire advancement into blood vessel lumens upon needle tract establishment. The patent contains 17 claims.

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What changed

The USPTO granted Patent US12594403B2 for introducer assembly components and methods. The patent describes an access guidewire loaded in a needle assembly fluidly connected to a syringe, with a valve over a needle slot that seals the guidewire in a ready-to-deploy state. This allows immediate advancement of the guidewire into a patient's blood vessel lumen upon establishing needle tract access.

For medical device manufacturers, this patent establishes intellectual property rights that may affect competitive product development. Companies developing introducer assemblies, vascular access devices, or related catheter placement systems should review this patent for potential freedom-to-operate considerations or licensing needs. Healthcare providers using such devices are not directly affected by the patent grant itself.

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Source document (simplified)

← USPTO Patent Grants

Introducer components, assemblies, and methods thereof

Grant US12594403B2 Kind: B2 Apr 07, 2026

Assignee

Bard Access Systems, Inc.

Inventors

Glade H. Howell

Abstract

Disclosed are introducer components, assemblies, and methods. For example, an introducer assembly can include an access guidewire loaded in a needle assembly fluidly connected to a syringe. The needle assembly can include a needle and a valve thereover. The needle can include a needle shaft including a needle lumen, a needle slot in a proximal portion of the needle shaft, and a needle hub over the proximal portion of the needle shaft but proximal of the needle slot. The valve can be over the needle slot with a valve port aligned with the needle slot. The access guidewire can be loaded in the needle lumen and sealed therein by way of the valve port in a ready-to-deploy state of the introducer assembly. In this way, the access guidewire can be immediately advanced into a blood-vessel lumen of a patient upon establishing a needle tract thereto with the needle assembly.