Appeal No. 2000-0651
Application No. 09/024,732
an elongated, flexible, tubular drain body member having a
proximal end, a closed distal end, and a lumen extending
therebetween, the tubular drain body member being of a length
such that placement of a distal end portion into a patient’s
urinary bladder will leave a proximal end portion extending
beyond the urethral meatus, the distal end portion being
preformed so that when unconstrained it forms a bladder
retention coil lying in a plane extending at a perpendicular
angle to a longitudinal axis of the tubular drain body2
member, the distal end portion further including at least one
aperture extending from a peripheral surface of the tubular
drain body member to the lumen, and a unitary tubular
stiffening device insertable into the lumen and being
sufficiently rigid to render the bladder retention coil
rectilinear to facilitate insertion of the tubular drain body
member into the patient’s urethra, the tubular stiffening
device having an open distal end and an unobstructed internal
lumen for permitting urine to flow therethrough as a signal to
2Obviously, claim 9, line 8, omits the word --to--
following the word “angle”. This obvious informality should be
remedied during any further prosecution before the examiner.
4
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