Health care workers who suffer accidental needlestick injuries are at significant risk of contracting life-threatening diseases including hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV-AIDS. It has been estimated that 600,000 to 800,000 needlesticks and other sharp injuries occur among health care workers every year. Not only do these injuries cause anxiety and concern, the follow-up blood testing that is required is expensive and time-consuming,
To alleviate this problem, Dr. J. Martin Hogan, M.D., of the City of Hope, a leading cancer hospital and biomedical research center in Duarte, Calif., invented an intravenous catheter with safety features that protect health care workers from accidental needlesticks. City of Hope was awarded a U.S. patent for the device in 1992.
The catheter's inner needle is passively covered as it is withdrawn from the catheter after insertion into a patient's vein.
The device shields the health care worker from accidental needlestick injury and potential exposure to blood-borne diseases such as hepatitis and HIV-AIDS.
This story was originally published in 2007.
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