Abstract: An apparatus and method for flow and temperature analysis during collection of a urine sample, and for simultaneously maintaining the urine sample sterile. A disposable vessel for collecting the urine is mounted on a commode adapter, and includes a variable capacitor, with a capacitance value which varies with the amount of urine in the vessel. The variable capacitor forms a part of a capacitance bridge. A microprocessor controlled by a clock is used to periodically sample the varying capacitance value as fluid flows into the vessel, and thereby determine the flow rates of the fluid. A tube is provided which communicates with the interior of the vessel for drawing off a sterile sample of the urine for laboratory analysis, and a drain is provided which is operable without contacting the urine. Temperature sensing means are provided for detecting the temperature of the fluid as a function of time, comprising a thermistor or an infrared optical sensor.

Abstract: A trocar assembly comprising an elongate trocar obturator having a piercing tip at its front end, an elongate trocar tube in which the obturator is housed, and a tubular protective shield mounted concentrically around the obturator between a normally extended position in which the obturator tip is covered and a retracted position in which the obturator tip is exposed. Further included is a spring acting on the protective shield, whereby the shield is forced to the retracted position to expose the piercing tip when the trocar is being inserted through the wall of a body cavity and is biased by the spring to the extended position to shield the piercing tip once the trocar has pierced the wall. A protrusion extends radially from the shield. A leaf spring element has one end anchored relative to the obturator and a second end biased to contact the protrusion in a manner preventing movement of the shield from the extended position toward the retracted position when the element is in contact with the protrusion.

Abstract: A method is provided for obtaining cervical cell culture specimens. The method makes use of a test device which may be used in conjunction with the manual cervical examination prior to delivery. The device includes an elastically resilient sheath adapted to grip a finger and a sterile pad of absorbent material on one end adapted to collect and retain the cell culture specimen. A kit is provided as well, the kit including a support member for maintaining the device in an unrolled, elongated, unrolled configuration and is designed so as to maintain sterile conditions and minimize contamination during storage and transport.

Abstract: A single-use Veress-type pneumoneedle that has a flanged handle and a fixed valve subassembly that permit the pneumoneedle to be gripped like a syringe when it is being inserted. The stylet body is either a solid rod or a hollow tube. Insufflating gas is carried into the abdominal cavity through the lumen of the needle when the stylet is a solid rod or through the stylet lumen when the stylet is a hollow tube.

Abstract: An apparatus for viewing a region within a body cavity or the like. The apparatus includes an elongate light pipe having a distal end and a proximal end, which light pipe illuminates the region to be viewed adjacent the distal end of the pipe. An objective lens system is carried at that distal end which in a preferred embodiment forms a focused real image of the illuminated region. This image is transmitted to the viewer through a series of relay lenses and, at the proximal end of the apparatus, through a viewing lens system. The light pipe and the lenses are composed of a polymeric material such as styrene, polycarbonate, acrylic, or the like, and are preferably aspheric lenses.

Abstract: A trocar assembly consisting of a trocar tube subassembly and a separable, interfitting trocar subassembly is described. The trocar tube assembly includes a hollow body having a first front opening in which a trocar tube is mounted, a second rear opening for receiving the trocar subassembly, and a manually pivotable flap valve mechanism mounted within the body. The trocar subassembly includes a head having a central bore in which are mounted the (1) rear ends of an elongated obturator having a pyramidal-shaped piercing head with a triangular-shaped base, and a concentric tubular shield having a triangular shaped front opening for the piercing head that is formed by bevels in its leading edge that have approximately the same slope as the surfaces that define the three sides of the piercing head, and (2) a coil spring backing the shield for biasing the shield between retracted and extended positions.