Atraumatic tip geometry for indwelling devices

An indwelling device for insertion in a biological tubular structure, the indwelling device comprising:

• an elongated device having a body and opposing ends, the body having a bending stiffness transverse to a longitudinal axis that is greater than a stiffness of the biological tubular structure;
• and
• an atraumatic tip member having a proximal end and a distal end, the proximal end extending from at least one of the opposing ends of the elongated device, the proximal end having a first bending stiffness transverse to a longitudinal axis and the distal end having a second bending stiffness transverse to the longitudinal axis, the second bending stiffness being less than the first bending stiffness,
• wherein the elongated device comprises an actuation mechanism to selectively elongate the elongated device from a first length to a second length, the second length being longer than the first length,
• wherein the elongated device comprises a pair of expanding devices disposed on the opposing ends of the elongated device, the pair of expanding devices being actuatable between a retracted position and an extended position to permit application of a tensile load to the biological tubular structure when the elongated device is in the second length.