# US 12,721,976 B2 · Guidewire devices having shapeable tips and bypass cuts > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 12,721,976 B2 - Document ID: US12721976B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 18/589,282 - Filed: 2024-02-27 - Published: 2024-06-20 - Granted: 2026-09-01 - Earliest claimed: 2016-07-18 - Assignees: Scientia Vascular, LLC - Applicants: Scientia Vascular, Inc. - Inventors: John A. Lippert; Edward J. Snyder; Clark C. Davis - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12721976B2 ## CPC - A61M 25/09: Guide wires - A61M 2025/09083: {having a coil around a core} - A61M 2025/09091: {where a sheath surrounds the coil at the distal part} - A61M 2025/09133: {having specific material compositions or coatings; Materials with specific mechanical behaviours, e.g. stiffness, strength to transmit torque} - A61M 2025/0915: {having features for changing the stiffness} - A61M 2025/09166: {having radio-opaque features} - A61M 2025/09175: {having specific characteristics at the distal tip} - A61M: DEVICES FOR INTRODUCING MEDIA INTO, OR ONTO, THE BODY (introducing media into or onto the bodies of animals A61D7/00; means for inserting tampons A61F13/26; devices for administering food or medicines orally A61J; containers for collecting, storing or administering blood or medical fluids A61J1/05); DEVICES FOR TRANSDUCING BODY MEDIA OR FOR TAKING MEDIA FROM THE BODY (surgery A61B; chemical aspects of surgical articles A61L); DEVICES FOR PRODUCING OR ENDING SLEEP OR STUPOR {(Electrotherapy, e.g. producing anaesthesia by the use of alternating or intermittent currents A61N1/36021)} ## Abstract The present disclosure relates to guidewire devices having shapeable tips and effective torquability. A guidewire device includes a core having a proximal section and a tapered distal section. A tube structure is coupled to the core such that the tapered distal section extends into the tube structure. The tube structure includes a plurality of bypass cuts formed tangentially within the tube structure to increase the flexibility of the tube structure and to reduce the tendency of resilient forces from the tube structure to disrupt a shaped distal tip of the guidewire device. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A guidewire device comprising: a core including a proximal section and a distal section; a tube structure coupled to the core such that the distal section of the core passes into the tube structure, the tube structure comprising a first section, a second section distal of the first section, and a third section distal of the second section; and an adhesive disposed at a distal end of the tube structure that couples the tube structure to the core, wherein the adhesive extends into the third section of the tube and is not disposed in the second section, wherein the tube structure includes a plurality of cuts extending transversely into the tube structure, each cut forming one or more beams defined by a remaining section of tube material, each beam connecting two adjacent rings of tube material, wherein the first section of the tube structure includes two or more beams between adjacent rings, the beams of the first section being arranged to avoid a preferred bending plane in the first section, wherein the second section of the tube structure includes a single beam between adjacent rings, the single beam being the only beam between each pair of adjacent rings of the second section, the beams of the second section being arranged to form a preferred bending plane in the second section, wherein the third section of the tube structure includes two or more beams between adjacent rings, wherein at least a portion of the distal section of the core passing through the second section of the tube is a flat ribbon having a major plane lying perpendicular to the preferred bending plane. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The guidewire device of claim 1, wherein the second section is between 0.45 cm and 5.5 cm in length. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The guidewire of claim 1, wherein the beams of the second section alternate in position from a first side of the tube structure to a second side of the tube structure, the second side being opposite the first side by 162 degrees to 198 degrees. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The guidewire of claim 1, wherein the beams of the second section are aligned on a single side of the tube structure to form a backbone of aligned beams connecting the plurality of rings within the second section. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The guidewire device of claim 1, further comprising a coil disposed within the tube structure so as to be positioned between an outer surface of the distal section of the core and an inner surface of the tube structure. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The guidewire device of claim 1, wherein the tube structure is formed from a superelastic material. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The guidewire device of claim 1, wherein the first section is a two-beam section with two beams between adjacent rings, and wherein a stiffness of the tube structure is continuous across a transition between the two-beam section of the first section and the one-beam section of the second sections. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The guidewire device of claim 1, wherein the second section includes an intermediate point, and wherein the rings of the second section proximal of the intermediate point have an average ring thickness that is greater than an average ring thickness of the rings of the second section distal of the intermediate point. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The guidewire device of claim 1, wherein the adhesive extends into the tube and between two or more rings in the third section of the tube structure. ### Claim 10 A guidewire device comprising: a core including a proximal section and a distal section; a tube structure coupled to the core such that the distal section of the core passes into the tube structure, the tube structure comprising a first section, a second section distal of the first section, and a third section distal of the second section; and an adhesive disposed at a distal end of the tube structure that couples the tube structure to the core, wherein the adhesive extends into the third section of the tube and is not disposed in the second section, wherein the tube structure includes a plurality of cuts extending transversely into the tube structure, each cut forming one or more beams defined by a remaining section of tube material, each beam connecting two adjacent rings of tube material, wherein the first section of the tube structure is a two-beam section with two beams between adjacent rings, the beams of the first section being arranged to avoid a preferred bending plane in the first section, wherein the second section of the tube structure is a one-beam section with a single beam between adjacent rings, the single beam being the only beam between each pair of adjacent rings of the second section, the beams of the second section being arranged to form a preferred bending plane in the second section, wherein the third section of the tube structure is a two-beam section with two beams between adjacent rings, wherein at least a portion of the distal section of the core passing through the second section of the tube is a flat ribbon having a major plane lying perpendicular to the preferred bending plane, and wherein a stiffness of the tube structure is continuous across a transition between the two-beam section of the first section and the one-beam section of the second sections.