Abstract: A needle-suture combination employing a heat shrunk sleeve to attach a needle to a suture. One or more heat shrunk sleeves might also be incorporated into the combination to provide a controlled release suture or to provide a linked tandem suture.

Abstract: A drainage device has a collection chamber for receiving liquids and gases from the body of a patient, an underwater seal chamber and a one-way outflow valve. A partition extending across a portion of the device forms the underwater seal chamber, which prevents the flow of atmospheric air from the device into the pleural cavity of the patient, above the partition and the collection chamber below it. The underwater seal is created at the lower end of an extension connected to the inlet to the device by liquids drained from the patient. The one-way outflow valve communicates with a trap chamber for collecting liquids inadvertently conducted toward the valve. The trap chamber is closed off from the underwater seal chamber but is connected to the collection chamber by means of a passageway through a wall separating the trap and collection chambers.

Abstract: A method of preparing a sterile double package by inserting a sterile article into an inner package which has been sealed on three sides, inserting the inner package into an outer package which has three sides sealed, sealing the remaining side of the outer package to form a double package, sterilizing the contents of the outer package, and sealing the fourth side of the inner package through the outer package.