St. Paul, Minn.-based medical device company Smiths Medical received CE Mark approval for its Jelco IntuitIV safety IV catheter, an intravenous infusion device designed to help clinicians and healthcare workers reduce the risk of unintended needlestick injuries.
Manufactured in Latina, Italy, the Jelco IntuitIV safety IV catheter is designed to activate automatically when removing the guide needle from the patient’s blood vessel. A cylindrical tip protector encapsulating the tip prevents the sharp point from coming in contact with anyone other than the patient, the company said.
About 3.5 million incidents of accidental needlesticks with “sharps” happened every year. Smiths’ safety IV catheters could shield or encapsulate the sharp tip of a guide needle, which often causes needlestick injuries when using a conventional IV catheter, according to the press release.
“Our Jelco line of safety devices has a long history of quality, innovation and safety,” president Srini Seshadri said in prepared remarks. “We are pleased to be able to offer a solution that helps to keep clinicians and healthcare workers safe from needlestick injury and the potentially detrimental consequences. It is Smiths Medical’s goal to help make every medical intervention successful for the patient as well as the caregiver.”
Smiths Medical will launch the product in October 2012.