Guide wire-catheter assembly

A guide wire-catheter assembly, comprising:

• a catheter tube having a longitudinal channel, and
• a guide wire configured to be movable in the longitudinal channel and arranged to maneuver and guide the catheter tube through a human or animal body to locate the catheter tube at a desired location,
• wherein the catheter tube comprises a bendable part near its distal end, wherein the bendable part comprises, in a circumferential direction of the catheter tube, a varying flexibility, such that exerting a longitudinal compression force in a proximal direction at a compression location distally of the bendable part results in bending of the bendable part,
• wherein the bendable part comprises a first material extending over a first part of a circumference of the catheter tube, and a second material extending over a second part of the circumference of the catheter tube, wherein the first material has a first stiffness and the second material has a second stiffness, wherein the first stiffness is larger than the second stiffness, such that exerting a longitudinal compression force causes bending of the bendable part in a predefined bending direction, or
• wherein grooves, recesses or openings are provided to decrease stiffness on one side of the catheter tube and/or reinforcements are provided to increase stiffness on another side of the catheter tube, such that exerting a longitudinal compression force causes bending of the bendable part, and
• wherein the guide wire comprises an expandable part, wherein the expandable part is movable between a non-expanded position, in which a cross section of the expandable part is smaller than a smallest cross section of the longitudinal channel of the catheter tube, and an expanded position, in which a cross section of the expandable part is larger than the smallest cross section of the longitudinal channel of the catheter tube,
• wherein, when the expandable part is in the non-expanded position, the guide wire can be moved completely in and out of the longitudinal channel of the catheter tube,
• wherein, when the expandable part is in the expanded position, the expandable part is configured to exert the longitudinal compression force on the compression location in order to bend the bendable part of the catheter tube;
• wherein the bendable part of the catheter tube, excluding grooves, recesses or openings, has a constant thickness in the circumferential direction, and wherein the catheter tube and the guide wire are arranged concentrically with respect to each other when the expandable part is in the expanded position such that the bendable part will bend in the predefined bending direction when a compression force is exerted on the bendable part, independent of the rotational position of the guide wire, and
• wherein the compression location of the catheter tube is formed by a distal end surface of the catheter tube defining a distal opening of the longitudinal channel, wherein when the expandable part exerts the longitudinal compression force on the compression location, a contact surface between the expandable part and the distal end surface of the catheter tube is ring shaped and extends around the distal opening.