Jul 23, 2020

Public workspaceIV catheter making

This protocol is a draft, published without a DOI.
  • 1University of California, San Diego
  • George Lab @ UCSD
    Tech. support email: olgeorge@ucsd.edu
Molly Brennan
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Protocol Citation: McKenzie Pavlich, Olivier George 2020. IV catheter making. protocols.io https://protocols.io/view/iv-catheter-making-bie2kbge
License: This is an open access protocol distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License,  which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited
Protocol status: Working
We use this protocol and it's working
Created: July 09, 2020
Last Modified: July 23, 2020
Protocol Integer ID: 39098
Bend cannulas into a curved 90° angle making sure that the curve is not too sharp (1.5 cm from tip of bending tool)

Create a ruler from tape and mark all important sections
Start >> 15 cm >> Stop        ** SMALL tubing should be a total of 15 cm 
Ÿ Make mark at 4 cm in from stopping point      ** Silicone ball will be placed here
Ÿ Make a mark 2 cm from starting point     ** LARGE tubing should be a total of 2 cm


Cut and mark tubes   
* Small tubing 15 cm
* Large tubing 2 cm
* Mark for silicon ball at 4cm from ending point of small tubing

When finished cutting tubing, dip starting end of the small tubing (make sure not ending side) into CitriSolv to temporarily increase the diameter of the tube. Also fully submerge larger tubing in the CitriSolv. Let sit for 10 minutes

Thread small tubing over the bent end of the cannula and make sure that the tubing is touching the start of threaded portion of the cannula. (It will shrink as it dries and this will ensure it is as close as possible to the cannula when dried)

Let small tubing dry for around 2 hours

Thread larger tubing on the smaller tubing and make sure it is touching the start of the threaded portion of the cannula as well

Let dry over night
Cut mesh into round shape
Place the cannulas in the mold. Have the threads of the cannula sitting into the threads of the mold


Place top of mold onto the other side of the mold that is holding the cannulas. Make sure the seal of the mold is tight, has no gaps and doesn’t wobble

Put whole mold into the vice. Make sure the vice is level and not tilted

After putting the mold into the vice, bring the following supplies to the hood:
  • Vice with mold
  • Spatula
  • Dental cement powder & liquid
  • Mesh pieces
  • Weigh boats for mixing the dental cement
  • Silicon

Mix dental cement powder with the liquid to create the dental cement


Quickly fill each well with the mixture using the spatula. Make sure that the mixture has sunk to the bottom of the mold before adding more


Place mesh on top of wet cement then add a bit more to seal mesh in place. Let dry at least 30 minutes and then take them out of mold
Shave off any rough edges around the base/port of the catheter, then flush them with water to ensure no leaks or holes