Appeal No. 2004-0479
Application No. 09/780,864
that it is important to have the catheter 15 and hub 16
transparent and made of polyurethane.
Cambron also teaches that the catheter and hub assembly is
to be made of polyurethane due to polyurethane's radiopaque
properties. Cambron teaches that polyurethane's radiopaque
properties are important because it is often necessary to
determine the precise location of a catheter within its host
by X-ray examination. Therefore, one of ordinary skill would
have recognized that catheter 15 and hub 16 are to be made of
polyurethane for this reason as well.
Furthermore, we find that Cambron teaches the use of
polyurethane in order to avoid the leaching of the blended
material, which adds radiopaque, into the patient's body. We
find that since Cambron teaches to form the catheter of
polyurethane, Cambron also teaches or suggests to form the hub
of polyurethane so that the blended material in the hub would
not leach into the patient's body when the hub is in contact
with fluids that are or could be injected into the patient's
body. This finding is in line with Cambron's explicit
teachings that Cambron's invention relates to polyurethanes,
2121
Page: Previous 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007